The Broken Toy

A lesson in confidence and patience.

Ryan had been playing with his yellow and slightly rusting Tonka truck for three years at least before one of the wheels came off and rolled over into the kitchen.

“Grandpa, my wheel just came off. Can you fix it for me?” asked Ryan.

Grandpa Mick picked up the truck, inspected it, and then picked up the wheel, walked over to the trash and put it in.

“Hmm, Ryan, you can get another one when you’re old enough to buy one yourself. Maybe four or five years from now, when you’re 12 or 13. It’s no good anymore.”

The 7-year-old ran over to the trash and pulled out the truck. It was half as big as he was.

For the next thirty minutes, Grandpa Mick watched his grandson fiddle and pound and force the wheel back on. At first, you could tell it was forced on, but after he made a few more adjustments, the truck was rolling as it should across the floor, and Ryan continued his play.

After doing that a few minutes, Ryan looked up at his grandfather and said, “See Grandpa? We didn’t need a new one. We just needed to fix it.”

“You’re right, Ryan. It just needed someone who knew how to fix it. I probably shouldn’t have thrown it out to begin with. Good job.”

“I didn’t know how,” Ryan said, “But I figured it out on my own.”

“So you did, Ryan. So you did.”