I plunked Elliot down on the floor after the third failed attempt to get him to sleep* and said “I’m going out.” Brian (wisely) didn’t ask questions. I grabbed my coat and drove alone for the first time in who knows how long and went to Benny’s (a local chain store). Google said they closed at 9, but when I arrived a big sign said “Open Nights ‘Til 8PM”. I checked the clock and it was 7:58. I went in. It smelled the same as when we went there with my Dad as kids.
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I regularly donate, sell, or at least rotate the kids’ toys to keep them under control. We don’t have tv so Leland doesn’t know about all the great toys for sale out there, and we go quickly past or around any toy section at the store. I like to stick to open-ended, non-electronic toys but we have plenty that don’t fit that criteria, too.
But then the Benny’s circular came, and there was a toy that looked an awful lot like an impact hammer, and Leland is really into impact hammers (and pretty much every other kind of truck, thank you Truck Tunes Vol. 1 and 2 . . . and desperation on long trips where we count trucks . . . ). He is the one who found it on the page. (Side note: Easy entertainment for 2 little boys – throw all the circulars on the floor and let them rip/move/scrunch them)
It’s not an impact hammer, more of a bulldozer with a drill on the back, and from Paw Patrol (a show I think). It’s not electronic at least. But this striving-for-minimalism-or-at-least-less-clutter Mom turned into a crazed Black Friday shopper and I had to have this toy.
So there I was, at 7:58 scanning the toy aisle at Benny’s 2 days before the toy even went on sale – I wanted it so bad I would’ve paid full price that very night. No impact hammer. I scan again, I check to make sure that was the entire toy section. It’s past 8 now. And then a nice young man in a tie asked if he could help me and I gladly accepted. No impact hammer. He took my name and number to hold it for me if they found one. I probably talked about impact hammers a little too much and probably had crazy eyes but I was on a mission, and excited to be talking to an adult.
The next day I line up my brother to check another Benny’s the day they go on sale if I don’t find one. The day the sale starts arrives, and I call the store with my name – no one answers. I call the store my brother could run to – no one answers. I remember another one close to me – someone answers! They check – they have one! They hold it for me. We all go out in the pouring rain and retrieve it (as stealthily as possible since Leland was with me). It’s kind of dinky, actually. But for $11 I will be giving my child an impact hammer for his birthday in May!
*Elliot’s sleep is pretty terrible lately – I think it’s a 10 months thing. Sleep regressions are hard when sleep wasn’t that great to begin with. I have a motto, however, because we subscribe to the “wait-it-out” method of sleep training – I made it up myself, and I think it’s pretty catchy: No sleep training = no complaining. So I’m not complaining, just explaining 🙂
I found this post about 9 months helpful: http://babyshrink.com/2010/why-your-9-month-old-baby-is-so-difficult-all-of-a-sudden
Old Rose and Silver 