A Story About Thomas

This is why the blogosphere is so cool. No sooner do I get my first comments on my first post on this blog than I discover a great deal.

My 4yo son loves Thomas. Loves, loves, loves. He's a Thomas the Tank Engine freak.

(If you look over at my personal blog you can find posts about him and his Thomas here, here and here.)

So what do I come across today? A ToysRUs coupon good for one free Thomas & Friends train engine! I found the coupon at Nicole's Nickels, a blogger I only just discovered by participating in the Ultimate Blog Party of 2009, my motivation for finally starting this blog in the first place!

The coupon is only good for today and tomorrow, so if you want to find any left you might want to drop everything and skedaddle out there right now. The coupon is good for one of four different engines:

• Thomas the Tank Engine
• Lights and Sound Percy
• Sir Handel
• Peter Sam

It's valid for in-store only. No substitutions or rain checks. Only one coupon per person, and they will keep it at the register (no matter how much your little guy might want it back).

I took my son with me when I went to Toys R Us. And here's where I have a confession to make: This was his first time in that store.

Remember how I mentioned that a good way to not spend money is to simply not go shopping? Ahem. Another good way is that, when you do have to go shopping, leave your kids at home.

I cannot tell you how cool it is to have a 13yo that can play babysitter for errands like these. It has changed my life. Especially at times when The Hubs is gone. (He just got back from his TDY late this afternoon. Yea!)

But I still took Peter with me to the store. He was standing there by the computer when I came across the coupon and was just so excited and I really wasn't thinking straight; I was just thinking about how much fun it would be to watch him pick out which engine he wanted.

Well then.

Have you ever gone to a Toys R Us? With a four-year-old who's never been in one before?

Now I know what you're thinking, but before you go there and jump to any conclusions I just have to say -- We were very good!

And I say "we" because, really, it's the mom in charge, right? (At least that's how it's supposed to be?) And yes, Peter got really excited. I mean, all those engines. Not to mention the rest of the store. And it didn't help when we went up to the register the first time only to learn that we had picked the engine in the wrong packaging; that is, it didn't coincide with the bar code on the coupon.

So we had to go back and luckily were able to find the right engine with the right sku number.

They were out of Lights and Sound Percy. But what Peter really wanted was Lights and Sound Thomas. In fact, he's talked about Lights and Sound Thomas since before Christmas, to which I always said, "You already have two Thomas'". To which he always replied, quite logically, "But not Lights and Sound Thomas!"

But Lights and Sound Thomas was not on the coupon, and I stuck to my guns. So what does he pick?Another Thomas! A regular one, that is. (Not Lights and Sound. Keep up with me here.)

But what do I care -- it was free!

** Just a thought: If you don't happen to have a little Thomas Freak of your own, but you do have a Toys R Us nearby, you could go pick yourself up one of these engines to donate to a charity at Christmas time (or anytime). These engines are so great for little guys, and tracks are completely unnecessary; they're happy just pushing them around.