Soon we'll be the Dursley's...

With the child's impending 8th birthday we've been doing the whole party planning (why does it cost so much to throw a birthday party for a child?) and purchasing of toys that she has requested. We're saving the iPod nano for Christmas if you're wondering. If you watch Cartoon Network or Nikelodeon you've probably seen all the one's she's requested. I swear that's where all products should put their commercials. Kids are so easily swayed by commercials. She could be watching any channel and a commercial for a cable company or paper towels comes up and she has to make sure we are using that one. Yeah sure we are honey, change the channel.



For this birthday she wants a few things but on the top of her list are Zhu Zhu pets. Basically electronic hamsters. At one point she had asked for a hamster but I nixed that idea. 3 dogs, 1 snake, and 1 chinchilla is about 5 pets past mommy's max. Plus I abhor hamsters. They bite and they eat their own poo. NO. So when this lovely electronic version came out I was very pleased. Me and just about every other parent in the United States. You know how I know this? Because I waited until this week to go out and buy one. HAH! Dream on baby. Getting the set up, wheel, tubes, car, what not, is very easy. You can totally get a hold of those. The hamster proper? Getting your hands on one of those is an Act of God. They are sold at Amazon (for $45), Toys-R-Us (for $9.99), and Walmart (for $8). I went to a Walmart this past weekend and got the set up stuff but they had no hamsters. The hubby stopped at every Walmart and Walmart super store between San Antonio and Beeville (80 miles south of us) and could not find a hamster. Apparently when they come in there are people waiting. Apparently they are now more popular than gun ammo which is what most people are waiting at the Walmart trucks for. WTF? It's an $8 electronic hamster that runs off of AAA batteries.


I called our local Toys-R-Us' and after many many minutes on perpetual hold come to find out that they got a shipment this morning but there was a line so they were all gone within minutes. Um, I'm sorry what? OK there will be another shipment on Friday but they don't know if there will be any hamsters on it for sure but you're welcome to try. UGH. So not what I want to hear. I am a card carrying member of today's instant gratification society. I should be able to go to the store and get it off the shelf. Ya'll need to make bigger orders! Apparently people are buying them in bulk, marking them up, and selling them on Ebay. Go, look, be horrified. I've shown you the stupid prices for them here, compare them with what they are going for on ebay. Oh and while I'm at it why oh why is Amazon selling them for $45? Anyone? Asinine. I even called my friend in Florida to see if she could call her local stores to find one in stock. No such luck. I was going to call my friends in San Diego to have them do the same but it wasn't 10am on the west coast at that point.

So I finally get a hold of 1 more Toys-R-Us this morning. This one isn't even in San Antonio proper, it's over in Selma which is like a north east suburb 20 miles away from my work. They got 80 in this morning (they open at 10am) and when I called at 11 the still had 20 left. Oh and no, they won't hold them for anyone. Bastages. The only person I know that works over there is the Airforce ER doctor that is my neighbor and helped save my life when my brain exploded. I suppose I could have called him up and begged him to drive to get a Zhu Zhu pet from Toys-R-Us during his lunch break (if they even take them) but really, wouldn't you fell a bit silly? Yeah me too. So I jumped in my car and hauled ass (I may have pushed a few speed limits) all the way across town to get a stupid freaking electronic hamster that is more precious than gold this close to Christmas. Really it's the only reason I could figure that these retarded little $8 toys are so back ordered! In October! Worse than Cabbage Patch Kids in the 80's. I didn't get to have one of those, btw.

So for all of you moms and dads out there: If your child wants something specific please do not do like I did and wait until 1 week prior to the date needed. Make damn sure you know you can get a hold of it and if not then tell all of your friends to keep an eye out for you. They wouldn't bother themselves with something you want but if your kid wants it bets have it that they'll find it for you!

Fortunately for me they still had like 15 in stock when I got to the store. Well maybe fortunately for them because after being on the phone all morning if I hadn't gotten the stupid things (I just went ahead and bought all 4 varieties) I may have had to kill someone. Just sayin'...