Wagonrific!

My daughter has been wanting a wagon for quite a while now. My husband and I have been telling her that she needs to save up her allowance so that she can buy one, but that's gone over like a lead balloon. Save up money? When there are so many things she can buy right now? That's just crazy!

For a while, we were considering getting her a wagon for Christmas. The problem was, wagons are kind of pricey, and we still haven't gotten over the whole train table incident. Would this be just another toy that would collect dust? So, we decided not to get it for her, and got her other toys instead.

But I felt bad. Yes, I'm a wimp.

So I told Grandma and Grandpa that she'd like a wagon for Christmas. I even found it on a great sale at Target the day after Thanksgiving. Guess who got a wagon for Christmas?

I was really curious to see what she would do with her new aquisition. Would it be this year's train table? Nope! She won't get out of it! She wants to sit in it to watch t.v. and to eat her snacks. She wants to be pulled around the house in it. She's been trying to get the dog to get in it. If she could sleep in it, she probably would. Yes, that wagon is just the greatest thing ever and she has the best grandparents in the whole wide world.

Of course, if Mommy and Daddy had bought it for her, it might be a whole different story...

Mommy, can I please have a train table?

A few years back, my husband and I had the great idea to buy my daughter a train table for Christmas. It seemed like it would be the perfect gift for her because she always loved the train tables at friends houses and at the stores. It was like pulling teeth to get her away from them, and she would never forget where there was a train table. We used to go to a bookstore that had the kids section upstairs, and in it was a train table. Guess where she would head as soon as she was through the door? Yup, up the escalator to the beloved table. So, what could be a better gift for her?

That Christmas Eve, my husband spent hours building the table and setting up the entire city on it. When he was done, it looked something like this:

Within moments, the table looked something like this:

Yes, she dismantled the entire city. But wait, it gets better... That was the last time she ever "played" with her lovely train table. It now sits collecting dust in our spare room.

I've often considered putting it on eBay, but I know what would happen. Suddenly it would become a toy that she couldn't live without. I'd hear what I always hear from her when I try to get rid of something of hers- "I've been looking for that toy for a long time!" Yes, it's been cleverly hidden for the past 3 years.