toy store and runs people over
to get the "latest and greatest" Tickle Me Elmo or whatever toy happens to be "hot" this year. Most of you who know me, know I don't know an iPhone from a Wii and I am definitely not the most trendy, savvy person on earth (No, I STILL don't own an iPod!) I am proud to report that I am STILL not "that parent." HOWEVER, last night I am beginning to feel I was making pretty good strides towards it.It all started with Brookey's Barbie and the Diamond Castle craze. She loves the movie, the dolls, the music ("Protected" by Katherine McPhee is her favorite song: http://barbie.everythinggirl.com/diamond-castle/). So for the past few months, she's had her eye on the "Diamond Castle" dollhouse. Every time we go to Target, we look at it and I promised I'd tell Santa. Every time we have gone to Target in the past few months, it's been there--retailing for $59.99. So last night, I escape to go pick it up for her and low and behold Target is sold out--it's no where to be found on the shelves. Darn it. Oh, well-i decided to just go home and order it online. Well, it just so happens that this "Diamond Castle" thing happens to be the most sought after toy this year. There were NOOOO Diamond Castles to be found from Eureka to Visalia (if you know CA geography, that is roughly a 500 mile span!). Not at Target, Toys R Us, Amazon, Sears, Wal-Mart...everywhere SOLD OUT. Oh, except eBay where people are selling it from $189-$325!!!!! I am not in that psycho parent category to pay that much for a dollhouse and I hope I never, ever will be!!!!
Scott and I collectively called all of these stores and it was no where to be found. Some store employees laughed at us right away and some were nice enough to check the shelves only to report "no luck." The store in Novoto, CA (about 30 miles from our house) said they were too busy and would "call us back." Yeah, sure. So we went to bed and decided we'd just get her the Leap Frog Reading System something-or-other.
At about 10:00pm our phone rings. It's the Target in Novoto. They seem to have located ONE last Diamond Castle in the depths of their warehouse. They could hold it for us for 24 hours. Working 5 days a week doesn't exactly lend itself to driving an hour on a two-lane road to pick up a toy at any time of the day. But my dear husband, being the dedicated dad he is, sacrificed himself at 7am this morning to make the drive to pick up the Castle for his little girl. Of course, he got to the store and they acted like they had no idea what he was talking about ("We would never hold anything over night!! Who said we would??") Typical Target customer service. But finally, after much haggling (begging??), the Diamond Castle is in our possession.
Leave it to Brookey to decide she likes the most popular toy of the season. My only question now is...how much can we get for it on eBay??!
Parents of the year!
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