Sticker Shock

Taking my kids into Toys R Us is like putting an epileptic chihuahua in front of a strobe light. We generally avoid this at all costs.

Their old metal swing set had become unsafe, so Jay dismantled it Saturday. We decided a while back that we wanted to replace it with one of those nice wooden sets. The kind that neither of us had as a child- I don't recall if those existed back then for home use but if they did, we couldn't afford it anyway. It isn't something that is necessary, obviously, but something we would like to do. We decided to ride out to Toys R Us, Sunday after lunch and see what they had & how much.
The sliding door at the Toys R Us must seem like the gates of heaven when you"re 6 & 3. Immediately they spotted the display of Toy Story themed toys and off they went. After we did our research in the play set department I took the kids over to the book aisle...this would be safe. WC quickly located a Bakugan book he just had to have & CJ a Thomas the Train sticker book. They held their treasures until they located a bin of medium sized rubber balls in tie die colors. Okay, fine $.1.99 each. Then the personalized water bottles. WC really wanted one to take to his summer day camp. Sure, that seemed a reasonable request. Nothing else, we are looking at spending money on a play set. No more. That was fine until they reached the guitars. WC wanted one but understood he would have to wait...CJ had to be threatened with taking him back to the car with nothing.
We check out & the girl tell me the total is $42. I swipe the card & complete the transaction before it hits me. What the hell did we spend $42 on? I scan the receipt still standing at the end of the check out. Thomas the Train the sticker book...$12.99...For a sticker book?! Jay rummages into the bag and says, "Honey, you just bought him 800 stickers!"
O...M...G...