Send Us Your Dinosaur Stories

Readers of If Grandpas Grew Like Trees know that the character Anthony has a toy Tyrannosaurus Rex that he carries wherever he goes. Our own family experience was that both of our sons had a dinosaur phase around ages 5-6. They were completely enthralled by the idea of these ancient, fierce-looking creatures.  Our older son would tell us that his plans were to be a “dinosaur studier” and a race car driver.

Our bookshelves held several dinosaur picture books, duct-taped at the spine due to overuse. Beside the books were buckets of small plastic dinosaur models.

One memory we still laugh about: Once when the boys’ grandma came to visit, we saw one of them corner her with a dinosaur book. He was drilling her on the correct pronunciation of each creature.

When the kids were a few years older, there was an excavation of a mastodon skeleton underway in a rural area near Glen Ellyn IL, not far from our home at the time. This was a matter of great excitement, even though it was not quite a dinosaur. Visitors to the site were permitted, and we went to see the hole in the ground.  A few more years later, we went to see the restored Perry Mastodon on the Wheaton College campus. 

The surprising thing was how long the boys’ interest in ancient creatures lasted—well into their elementary school years.  And a couple of Christmases ago one son sent us a large picture book dealing with the latest findings and theories about dinosaurs.

Do you have a favorite memory of kids and dinosaurs?  Send it to us and we’ll include it in our newsletter.