Cute kid

[Boozy]

I'm in line at a hardware store behind a man and his son, who I'd guess was about three years old.

The boy is carrying a huge rubber ball - almost as big as him. The store sold them out of these giant bins at the entrance. My mom, who was with me, said she'd noticed the little boy carrying this ball around the store and how cute it was.

So father and son get to the head of the line, and everything goes on the belt, including the ball...and then dad says to the cashier, "Don't ring that through, we're not buying it". And the little boy starts to cry...not a tantrum, just tears.

It almost made ME cry. I felt so bad for that kid. Why did the father let him carry that ball around if he wasn't going to buy it for him? My mom told me that its possible that the little boy was told from the beginning that the ball was not going home with them, and he was just sort of hoping to get one over on his dad.

Still a sad sight, though.

[mariamousie1]

That was mean. They probably gave it to him to keep him occupied, but if you need to do that you should bring something from home. I guess the kid should learn to deal with disappointment though, so he can handle it later in life. I guess I'm of two minds.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

My girl sometimes picks up stuffed toys and hugs them very sweetly and shows them to me in stores. She pats them and mothers them and kisses them.

My girl has a lot of stuffed toys at home.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I'm guessing the kid picked it up and dad let him to avoid a tantrum while he was shopping? I think a lot of parents let the kid carry something around and then give it back at the register to avoid a scene...at least then they can deal with the brunt of the tantrum as they are leaving. I can't tell you how many times I have "left it out of the bag" so the parent could avoid a tantrum. If they were lucky the kid would forget by the time they got home and actually unloaded everything.

[Gawdzillers]

My girl sometimes picks up stuffed toys and hugs them very sweetly and shows them to me in stores. She pats them and mothers them and kisses them.

My girl has a lot of stuffed toys at home.

It's a shame that she'll probably grow out of them.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

She'll probably outgrow everything she has. At least, let's hope so.

[Becks]

For what it's worth, I'm 28 now and STILL have an extended collection of stuffed animals.

That reminds me...I have to find my Popple and take it to work.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I have adopted several stuffed animals from the lost and found. They live in my car. I have a duck, which lives on my dashboard and has no name, an elephant named Skinny (according to his tag), a pink dog named Puddles (also according to his tag) with a rattle in his butt (the poisonous rattle-dog ), and a Happy Meal toy dog (from The Dog collection; actually he looks kinda like the one on this cover). The latter 3 all live in the little cubby holes in the dash. I also have a crab that an ex got me in Ocean City, MD a few years ago, which lives in the back window and is now a sickly shade of orange from the sun, and a beanbag chihuahua my mom found in Gettysburg. His tag says Junito but his real name is Pablo .

[myswtghst]

I'm 24 and still have a collection of stuffed toys. Some in the car, some in my bedroom, and even a little stuff Lab on my desk right in front of me at work.

[GingerBiscuit]

Oh, we have tons of stuffed toys. The boy has loads of polar bear plushies, I have random ones, including a stuffed octopus.

[Bloodsoul]

*huggles his 1988 Powermaster Optimus Prime* Not as soft as a plushy, and there are some pieces missing.. some (ahem) new paint jobs... no, I'll never let him go! Evar! ^_^

[Sunsetsky]

When I worked at walmart, parents oftened gave their kids one of our toys to play with. And once they got to me, they would hand me the toy and say "We're not getting it. Just wanted to give him something to play with while I shopped." Then I would have to listen to the kid scream for half an hour while I checked them out.

If you want to keep your kid entertained, I think the best thing to do would be to bring a little toy of their own to play with.

[SongsOfDragons]

Cuddly toys...well the only ones I have left within actual reach of me (i.e. not preserved in the loft) are all rather recent - a big stuffed rabbit, a big floppy stuffed duck, a cuddly swan from Abbotsbury, a purple star-shaped Smooshy, three giant cuddly microbes (Pox, sleeping sickness and flu) and a blue plush Cthulhu with poseable wings. And soon I shall own a Watermeat from the Gaia Store - http://www.gaiastore.com/servlet/Detail?no=193

[draftermatt]

It wouldn't matter if they did bring something for the kid to play with. The kid would see all the fancy new toys and want a new one.

Or loss prevention would accuse the kid/parent of stealing it as they walked out.

[Sliceanddice]

It's a shame that she'll probably grow out of them.

wait... were suppose to grow up???????