"80 Big Ones," Cameron, 10/20/13

On Sunday, 10/20/13 Anne and I had the pleasure of taking two of our grandchildren, 8 year old Cameron and his little sister 5 year old Carina to lunch at Ruby's, a 1940's, 50's style family restaurant.

After lunch, we walked to the toy store so each child could select a gift. Carina chose a paper doll kit and we let her add a pink jump rope.

Cameron loves to play with Lego but the elaborate Lego set he had his heart on cost $80. It was too much and I asked him to put it back, which he did. But I saw his face fall as it slipped into sadness.

Anne suggested we buy it for him. And my mind began to wander as I remembered long ago when our middle son Kevin was 6 years old and in a toy store, he fell in love with a big red fire truck  It was much too expensive and I had him put it back.

He was crestfallen and I had a change of heart and let him have it. From the moment we got home he started playing with that fire truck and he kept playing with it day after day. He kept it near his bed when he went to sleep at night, even sleeping with it the first few nights, and that toy became a staple in our home for years afterward.

It was one of the best buys I ever made.

I also thought about when I was about Cameron's age and was at a bookstore with my grandfather, I chose a baseball book that was much too expensive for him. But he couldn't find the words to tell me no. I loved that book and read it many times and to this day it is still in our family.

So of course I told Cameron he could have that Lego set.

When we got home, he started building with the Lego pieces and was still building when his parents arrived later and he didn't want to stop playing with it. I heard him tell his mother "it cost 80 big ones" ($80) which is true.

He also told her this Lego set was one of the key toys he was going to ask Santa Claus for and now he would take it off his list. I smiled to myself, for it was already clear that this Lego set was special to him.

Years from now when Cameron is an adult, maybe he too will look back as I do fondly that day with Kevin in the toy store or also fondly to that day in the bookstore with my grandfather. Hopefully he will feel a sense of joy having received that Lego set, one that perhaps he will be able to share with his children.

In any case, to me it was a wise investment in his childhood.

Dick