We Don't Need New Toys Today

Today I earned nearly an 'F' grade in motherhood due to my lack of patience. I don't tend to post on the blog about my uglier moments. On the bright side, instead of making broad pronouncements today about The Way Things Are and The Way Things Are Going To Be From Now On! (like I usually do on bad days), I realized within a couple of hours that this was going to be "one of those days." I said to myself, "This is going to be One of Those Days and, by the end of the day it will be over, even if it gets really stinky in the meantime."

Anyway, amidst all of my failures as a mother today, John and I had a nice moment that made me feel good. We had gone shopping at Target and I decided to try to buy a few toys for our airplane ride to California next week, using some gift money my parents-in-law had given the children for that purpose. I explained to John that we'd be looking through the toy aisles (which normally we do not do), that we'd be looking with our eyes, not touching with our hands, and I told him the parameters for the kinds of toys I was looking for (small enough to fit in our carry-on, quiet, not delicate, and something we don't already have).

We then walked up and down six toy aisles. John didn't grab. He did eagerly point out different toys to me, which we'd then analyze. That was too big, that was too loud, we have that thing already, and that thing is like a monster and Mama doesn't like monsters. So on and so forth and we got through six aisles of toys finding nothing that was suitable for the airplane, not even the Doodle Pads I was looking for.

I thought surely John would be very upset. I'd told him we were going to buy toys and now I was telling him that I didn't find anything that met our criteria. He said something like, "I have an idea! Why don't we just take some toys we already have?" He sounded so sincere about it. I replied, "That is a good idea!" Then he explained, "Yes, we'll take some toys we already have. How is that for a deal?" I said it was a good deal indeed. He reiterated, "Because the rule is that we don't buy a toy if we already have a toy." Then in loquacious three-year-old fashion (does the child ever stop talking?), he went on and on about the rules, how we already have toys, we don't just buy more, that would be so silly.

Don't get me wrong, John expresses childish avarice at times, but it was so lovely to hear some wholesome sentiment shine through.