Unintended consequences of naming my car

boonedocks · Jan 28, 2016

When we picked up our new Tesla in June of 2015 I decided to let the kids, 7 & 9, pick her name. Because they were an integral part of it and because they were there when we christened her with her new name they felt like Evie became a part of the family. As software updates came out and Evie began to do things like parallel park herself, the kids thought she was learning and growing up. When A/P was released and Evie could effectively drive herself the kids literally squealed with excitement that she had learned something new. I share all of this because doing the simple thing of letting them name our new car and allowing them to be part of our new Tesla ownership the kids treat Evie with more respect than I have ever seen towards an object. They take great care with putting their rolling backpacks in the car to and from school. When we have to do the very seldom stop by for fast food, they take great care keeping Evie clean. When she gets dirty from rain, they inform me that Evie needs a bath LOL LOL.

All of this said, I just wanted to share how the simple act of allowing the kids to participate in our new car ownership changed everything about how they look at a car.

JenniferQ · Jan 28, 2016

That is so sweet. But I worried it was going to end with her in the "hospital" or gasp, the "sales lot!" I guess she'll be in the family forever now. :love:

tstafford · Jan 28, 2016

Wonderful.

Festerfeet · Jan 28, 2016

Great to get the kids involved in the ownership experience.

I was a bit concerned that you have a name for your car but call your kids 7&9! :wink:

boonedocks · Jan 28, 2016

@Festerfeet Gotta keep a little privacy you know

Rockster · Jan 28, 2016

I have a different consequence of naming a car...

Many years ago, I used to drive an BMW M-Roadster that my wife and I named "Isabella." One fateful day I spun out on a sharp turn near my home and sent "Izzie" sliding into the weeds. Only these weeds were mixed with very large rocks, which were sufficient to severely damage Izzie's undercarriage.

I called my wife to tell her what happened and then called BMW Roadside Assistance. His first question was, "Is anyone hurt?" I told him that no, there were no injuries. I'm sure I sounded shaken, however, because I was certain at this point that my very new Izzy had just been totaled.

A few minutes later, while still chatting on the phone with BMW to arrange a flatbed, my wife arrived at the scene. I didn't want to be rude to the BMW guy by suddenly starting a second conversation with my wife without explaining myself, so I told the BMW guy, "My wife is here." I then turned to my wife, gestured at Izzy and said, "I think she's dead."

I'll leave the BMW guy's response to your imagination.

ohmman · Jan 28, 2016

I have the same experience as boonedocks. I even give Sparky a kind voice which talks to the kids.

As a failsafe for the inevitable trade-in, might I suggest you tell them what I did? Sparky lives inside the car. It's like his clothing. When we get a new one, he'll just have a new set of clothes. Voilà! No stress about selling it.

Quantum` · Jan 28, 2016

So many adults are irritated when kids ask "Are we there yet?"

Well they ask because they have no perspective of where they are or how far they've gone. Show your kids on a map the whole journey, tell them about how long it will take, and let them know you're 1/3 there, or 3/4 there, so they can grasp the big picture.

Show them a little respect for their intellect.

AngelArm1110 · Jan 28, 2016

Quantum` said:
So many adults are irritated when kids ask "Are we there yet?"

Well they ask because they have no perspective of where they are or how far they've gone. Show your kids on a map the whole journey, tell them about how long it will take, and let them know you're 1/3 there, or 3/4 there, so they can grasp the big picture.

Show them a little respect for their intellect.

I like the way you think

santana338 · Jan 28, 2016

Quantum` said:
So many adults are irritated when kids ask "Are we there yet?"

Well they ask because they have no perspective of where they are or how far they've gone. Show your kids on a map the whole journey, tell them about how long it will take, and let them know you're 1/3 there, or 3/4 there, so they can grasp the big picture.

Show them a little respect for their intellect.

Our current family road trip car has a 7" screen and line drawing maps for GPS. Once the kids figure out we were the red arrow and the time and distance to our destination was on the upper left of the screen, the question changed from "Are we there yet" to "Dad, zoom out so I can see how much farther we have to go to get there in 3 more hours". Much more fun!

taurusking · Jan 28, 2016

Quantum` said:
So many adults are irritated when kids ask "Are we there yet?"

Well they ask because they have no perspective of where they are or how far they've gone. Show your kids on a map the whole journey, tell them about how long it will take, and let them know you're 1/3 there, or 3/4 there, so they can grasp the big picture.

Show them a little respect for their intellect.

My 6 yr old daughter actually asks me "Can I look at the navigation map daddy?"

When I was 6 yrs old ....all we had was a paper map to look at :biggrin:

Max* · Jan 28, 2016

My 5 year old does the same thing "move your elbow, I can't see the damn map!" (no she doesn't really talk like that)

She also asks to keep the trips tab of the energy app on the bottom screen, so she can see where the end of it is. "Is the dot at the end the next charger or our final destination?" is a question I often hear on multi-supercharger stops.

Footbag · Jan 28, 2016

Max* said:
My 5 year old does the same thing "move your elbow, I can't see the damn map!" (no she doesn't really talk like that)

Sure she doesn't ;-)

Ugliest1 · Jan 28, 2016

ohmman said:
I have the same experience as boonedocks. I even give Sparky ...

Hey I like your name choice!

JRod0802 · Jan 28, 2016

ohmman said:
As a failsafe for the inevitable trade-in, might I suggest you tell them what I did? Sparky lives inside the car. It's like his clothing. When we get a new one, he'll just have a new set of clothes. Voilà! No stress about selling it.

Explaining loss to children can be hard. It's hard to know how someone is going to react to losing something (or even someone) that was special to them. On one hand, you don't want to traumatize the kids, but on the other hand, it's important to prepare our kids for the real world. I'm reminded of the when actor Will Lee (who played Mr. Hooper on Sesame Street) died:

At the time of Lee's death, instead of recasting the role, the writers and producers of Sesame Street decided to create an episode that taught their young audience about the difficult topic of death. Research was conducted to ascertain the messages they wanted to convey about the topic, as well as the effect the episode would have on the young children who watched it. They were advised by experts in the fields of child psychology, child development, and religion. Studies conducted after the episode was produced showed that most children understood its messages about death, and that they experienced no long-term ill effects. The episode, written by head writer Norman Stiles, aired on Thanksgiving Day 1983; the cast and crew reported that filming it was an emotional and touching experience. The episode, which set the standard for dealing with difficult topics on children's television, was called heartbreaking yet affirming, and one of the proudest moments in the show's history.

Mr. Hooper - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sesame Street - Goodbye Mr. Hooper - YouTube

Obviously a car is no Mr. Hooper, but if you know you're kids are attached, it's still a loss that your kids would have to go through. A loss of something that's special to your kids. I would honestly say that the best course of action is to tell them the truth. Let them know what's happening and why, and be willing to listen to them and how they feel. Give them time to process it. Though it might be hard, it'll be the truth, and you'll prepare your kids to know better how to deal with tough emotions.

Half Dollar Bill · Jan 28, 2016

boonedocks said:
All of this said, I just wanted to share how the simple act of allowing the kids to participate in our new car ownership changed everything about how they look at a car.

Great story. Ours is named Evey (though my wife pronounces it "Ehvy" but that's a different story) so nice choice.
I've got a nephew that loves the car. Any time the we get together he's always asking his dad if we can take my car, but sadly since we don't have the rear seats and can only fit 5, we often wind up taking their minivan. We went to a Tesla boutique in the mall and he was telling the sales reps about the car. That was funny.
When I told him and his sister about doing a presentation with the car for a school, he asked if I could do one at their school. He's in IN and I'm in VA so the logistics would be interesting but I told him to give my contact info to his science teacher to see if the teacher was interested. I haven't heard back yet but classes just started up again so folks have been busy. I know they'd get a kick out of it so I'll remind him once or twice. But yea, teach them well, they're the future.

CHG-ON · Jan 28, 2016

Smartest thing you could have ever done from both involving the little gems to caring for your car. Great job!

boonedocks said:
When we picked up our new Tesla in June of 2015 I decided to let the kids, 7 & 9, pick her name. Because they were an integral part of it and because they were there when we christened her with her new name they felt like Evie became a part of the family. As software updates came out and Evie began to do things like parallel park herself, the kids thought she was learning and growing up. When A/P was released and Evie could effectively drive herself the kids literally squealed with excitement that she had learned something new. I share all of this because doing the simple thing of letting them name our new car and allowing them to be part of our new Tesla ownership the kids treat Evie with more respect than I have ever seen towards an object. They take great care with putting their rolling backpacks in the car to and from school. When we have to do the very seldom stop by for fast food, they take great care keeping Evie clean. When she gets dirty from rain, they inform me that Evie needs a bath LOL LOL.

All of this said, I just wanted to share how the simple act of allowing the kids to participate in our new car ownership changed everything about how they look at a car.

ediot · Jan 29, 2016

boonedocks said:
When we picked up our new Tesla in June of 2015 I decided to let the kids, 7 & 9, pick her name.

for about 30 seconds, i thought you've named your kids "7" and "9"... second day of avoiding caffeine hasn't gone well for me i guess :tongue:

as for letting your kids get in on the fun and to name the car, it's such a smart and cool thing to do!

Max* · Jan 29, 2016

ohmman said:
I have the same experience as boonedocks. I even give Sparky a kind voice which talks to the kids.

As a failsafe for the inevitable trade-in, might I suggest you tell them what I did? Sparky lives inside the car. It's like his clothing. When we get a new one, he'll just have a new set of clothes. Voilà! No stress about selling it.

JRod0802 said:
Explaining loss to children can be hard. It's hard to know how someone is going to react to losing something (or even someone) that was special to them. On one hand, you don't want to traumatize the kids, but on the other hand, it's important to prepare our kids for the real world.

I think it's a bit of a stretch to compare a death to a car sale. I had my previous car for a while, and when I sold it, I told my kids it was falling apart and it was time to sell it and get something new.

Kids are smarter than they look. Know what my 5 year old says now? "When I grow up, I'll have a gas car, and once it starts falling apart, I'll get an electric car"

yo mama · Jan 29, 2016

@ boondocks - our family had a very similar experience. My twin 11 years olds settled on "Sterling." It's cute the way they/we talk about Sterling, as if he were a family pet or something.

Unintended consequences of naming my car

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