09/01/2026
Excited for them to open! This may need an age limit! Despite being a mechanic full time myself, may need to fight over this play area with my toddler LOL š¤£
Behind the Build Monday: The Mechanic!
This weekās Behind the Build is a special one because this space is inspired by Chris!
If you know Chris, you know that working on cars isnāt just his career ā itās genuinely something he loves. He spends his days working as a mechanic, but somehow after working on cars all day, heāll still come home and will happily head right to the garage to work on a project out thereā¦if Bobbi letās him. š¤Ŗš Cars, motorcycles, engines, tools, fixing things and figuring out how things work have always been a huge interest of his.
Itās one of those things that has become both a career and a hobby for him. Whether heās fixing something thatās broken, working on one of our own vehicles, helping someone else with theirs, or just tinkering around in the garage, itās definitely his happy place.
And now with two little boys, it makes it even sweeter. Spencer already loves cars, motorcycles and anything with wheels, and we have a feeling there are going to be plenty of days spent in the garage with Dad as our boys grow up. ā¤ļø
For Bobbiās contribution to the mechanic themeā¦ I should probably mention that I cannot fix a thing. š But I do have one funny connection to a mechanic shop from growing up.
Last week when I talked about Blackās Flower Shop, I probably should have explained our neighborhood a little better. Mark & Mary Black owned the flower shop, and their kids were Carly and Jared. Carly and I were good friends, so we were always around.
Right next door to the flower shop was the original West Side Auto, owned by Bruce & Tracie Black. Their kids, Stephanie, Quentin & Whitney, lived right behind Mark & Maryās house and the flower shop. And then Uncle Tom owned the nursery next to Bruce & Tracieās house and West Side Auto. The nursery made a GREAT place for us to ride our bikes around and pretend we were riding horses. š But ā¦ that is another completely unrelated tangent for another day! Basically, there were kids everywhereāand we treated the businesses like extensions of the neighborhood. š
Letās face it, we werenāt exactly helpful at any of these businesses, but that never stopped us from showing up.
At West Side Auto, we were mostly there to bug Tracie to take us somewhere, ask for money to go buy Beanie Babies (the Squishys/Nee-Dohs of our time š), tattle on the boys, or complain about poor Betty the babysitter because she wouldnāt let us do something.
Poor Betty was technically supposed to be watching Stephanie, Quentin & Whitney, but somehow ended up with the entire neighborhood. š That woman deserves her own post someday.
So no, I didnāt pick up any mechanic skills from all those hours spent around West Side Autoābut I did apparently learn that mechanic shops are great places to hang out and bother people who are trying to work. š
So back to our post when we started creating our little village for Little & Wild, there was absolutely no question that The Mechanic needed a spot!
We want this space to give little ones a chance to pretend theyāre working right alongside Dad, Mom, Grandpa, Grandma or whoever the mechanic is in their life. Theyāll be able to grab their tools, work at the workbench, check the tires, fill up with pretend gas, put a car on the lift and figure out exactly whatās āwrongā with it.
Now we want to hear from you! ā¬ļø
What was your FIRST car?! š
Bonus points if you remember the year, make and model ā and we definitely want to hear it if your car had a nickname or a funny story attached to it! Bonus - Bonus points if you show us a picture!
šBONUS GIVEAWAY:š
A random person who comments & shares our post will be picked to receive a FREE open play card to Little & Wild!
We canāt wait to read these. I have a feeling there are going to be some good ones. š
We'll see you next Monday for another behind-the-build reveal!
