And that, my friends, is why you don't go through the toy aisle with your three-year-old.

I went to Target today with Art to get him a scooter and a cash register.  He's been pretty good lately about sticking to our planned purchases, so I felt confident about taking him into the toy section.  Well, I found the cash register (complete with tiny conveyer belt, scale and microphone with authentic, fuzzy amplification!) and he found a big blue gun that shoots nerfy-type balls.  All of a sudden he was saying he didn't want the cash register.  No.  He just wanted that other toy.  Well, I managed to convince him that we didn't come for that gun (to which he said, "But I did come for that toy!) and we looked for the scooter.  Out!  They didn't have it!  He saw a rescue helicopter, complete with tfoo-tfoo-tfoo-tfoo sound and propellers that go when you squeeze a trigger.  And that, my friends, is why you don't take your three-year-old to the toy aisle.  You end up buying the helicopter because you had said we were going to get two toys at the store and you can't come home with just one that he said he didn't want anyway.  

p.s. The cash register proved to be pretty fun anyway and he said to me later at home, "You know momma, I do like this toy!"  And the helicopter is pretty fun, too.  It was talking while we watched a nature show.  It said, in a high-pitched voice, "I don't like that fish!  That fish is scary!"