The quest for Vader
Tonight I tried to snooker William into thinking that Wal-Mart was fun, and for the first time the whole thing fell flat. The conversation went something like this:
After the first five minutes at the toy store of chasing Will around as he yelled every two feet—I want this! I want this one! I don’t want Spiderman anymore, I want Batman!—I remember why we never go there anymore. Laura in her typical fashion settled instantly on a stuffed animal which she hauled all around the store begging for her allowance, and since it was rather past due we bought it for her. But even though she’s more tactful, you can still watch her angling for her budget—how far might we go? The $10 bobcat? The $15 My Scene doll? It’s absolutely exhausting.
Fortunately William is still gullible here and there. He may not think Wal-Mart is cool anymore, but he still thinks fixing muffins in the morning or cornbread for dinner is just loads of fun—as long as it involves breaking Humpty Dumpties. If I had to pick, that’s what I’d prefer.
Only three minutes left on my bid!
42 seconds and no other bidders!
My friend got it for me! The quest for Vader can finally end!
Mommy (in a cheery tone): William, do you want to GO TO WAL-MART WITH MOMMY!?? We can look for Darth Vader!Notice how I omitted that we were going for groceries? I wasn’t born yesterday. But evidently neither was he: it didn’t work, and all because we made the mistake last night of going to Toys R Us in Charlotte looking for a Star Wars Galactic Heroes Darth Vader. He loves those Star Wars guys so much, and we’ve never even seen Darth. I now know after searching fruitlessly on Amazon et al that Mr. Vader is a collector’s item already and can only be purchased on E-Bay, so I have a friend on a bidding quest for me (since I am sure I’d be bankrupt in about 20 minutes if I ever set up an E-Bay account. Even now I feel the horrible bidding pressure—17 minutes and 55 seconds to go and someone else could get my Darth Vader!!).
William (in a defiant tone): No!
Mommy (still cheery): Do you want to stay home with Mommy instead while Daddy goes to Wal-Mart?
William (in a petulant tone): No, I want to go somewhere good! I want to go to the toy store.
After the first five minutes at the toy store of chasing Will around as he yelled every two feet—I want this! I want this one! I don’t want Spiderman anymore, I want Batman!—I remember why we never go there anymore. Laura in her typical fashion settled instantly on a stuffed animal which she hauled all around the store begging for her allowance, and since it was rather past due we bought it for her. But even though she’s more tactful, you can still watch her angling for her budget—how far might we go? The $10 bobcat? The $15 My Scene doll? It’s absolutely exhausting.
Fortunately William is still gullible here and there. He may not think Wal-Mart is cool anymore, but he still thinks fixing muffins in the morning or cornbread for dinner is just loads of fun—as long as it involves breaking Humpty Dumpties. If I had to pick, that’s what I’d prefer.
Only three minutes left on my bid!
42 seconds and no other bidders!
My friend got it for me! The quest for Vader can finally end!
posted by Lisa at 7/06/2005 08:23:00 PM
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