A lesson from Spike

On one of our shopping trips to Target, Samuel spotted and coveted a larger than life remote control Dino named Spike. This massive Pre-historic creature came fully loaded along with a hefty price tag of $150.00.

"Sorry Sammy, I don't think Santa has room in his bag for something THAT big", I said. "But I'm sure he'll get you another one that's just as fun."

Santa looked and looked. The boy already owns every dinosaur Target sells with the exception of "Spike". Santa settled on a dragon that roars, stomps and breaths fire, well, not really. While continuing my search at the Children Museum a nice YOUNG lady at the counter showed me a giant egg that when dissolved in water, fizzles and grows "into a really big dinosaur" she said. "It's way cool", she promised. I pulled out my 15% off coupon, handed her 5 bucks and headed out with the magical egg in hopes that my dino loving 4 year old would think it was "way cool" too.

Christmas morning came and all the children shouted with glee as they pulled the big blanket off of their Santa toys that sat unwrapped next to the fireplace. (Santa would never have sufficient time to wrap every good boy and girls one special gift. At least not at our house!)Samuel examined his purple magic egg and waited patiently while all of the family gifts were opened.

Finally, the moment came and we pulled out a big bucket from the basement and filled it with warm water just like the directions said. We watched and waited. Nothing. No sparks, no fizz, nothing. We both got distracted and went on to do other things. I came back an hour later and still NOTHING. While Samuel wasn't watching I pulled out a hammer a gave the blasted egg a big whack. "Look Samuel. It hatched!" I shouted. He ran in and examined it. "WOW, I just know it will grow big into a remote control dinosaur!" he said.

My heart sank. "Well, I don't think it will do that but let's watch it grow." We watched and waited some more. Still nothing. He spent most of his day telling me how he could tell it was growing.


He had fun getting his hands wet and swimming it around the bottom of the bucket. "Santa got a DUD!", I thought to myself. I had every intention of marching into that Museum and demanding a full refund (my whole $5 worth). As the days have gone by, Samuel is still enjoying playing with his microscopic stegosaurus. He has added lizards, insects and all kinds of things to his bucket of water and has been as happy as can be. Lessons learned: You don't always get what you want; You don't always get what you think your getting; Looking at life through the eyes and imagination of a child is priceless. I think it turned out okay after all.