Lessons to be learned from an Action Figure and a 5 year old

You know how you love your kids?
Just have this unending well of love.


and sometimes,
it seems like there is a temporary shortage
(when they color the walls, or dump gallons of juice on the floor)
maybe not of love,
but definitely of patience.

and then other times,
there is nothing big enough to contain it.
It runs over and spills out
and you see them as they were created to be seen
and love them as they were created
by a loving Heavenly Father
to be loved.

We were Christmas shopping
(we had a gift card)
at a certain store


the collections of "stuff" there constantly amazes me
(Is it rude to say junk? because I think a lot of it is junk)
it is so eclectic, you never really know what you will find

and if you don't buy it then,
there is really very little chance of ever
ever
finding it again.

For some strange reason
I had taken all the kids in with me
(Don't ask me why, I plead temporary insanity)
and Caden found these.
Halo 3 Battle Helmets

I expected the begging to begin,
I was waiting for it.

and then in a voice of awe,
Caden said

"Mom, Dad would think these were so cool."

I glanced over and with a quick "uh huh" and kept moving.

"Mom, can I..."

"No Caden, we are not buying toys today"

"But Mom, for Dad?"

"Put it back honey, I can't find what we need, we'll come another time,
and if it is still here we will get it. I don't want to stand in line."

"Okay, I'll hide it so no one else gets it."

He talked about the stinkin helmets
non stop for three days.
Non-Stop.
How much Ryan would love them,
How cool they were,
How he was going to get them
and they would be
the best Christmas Present Ever.

How do you not cave to that?
So on Christmas Eve
I took him back to get the dang helmets.

He was so excited he couldn't even walk,
he had to run.

As soon as we walked in,
I knew we were in trouble.
Big Trouble
There was almost nothing left in the whole store.

He ran right to the hiding place.
Nothing.

We went back to the place we had found them.
Nothing.

We went through all of the empty toy shelves.
Nothing.

His little head bent
he quietly said
"I guess we were too late."
"I even brought my tooth fairy money to get it
so you couldn't tell me we don't have the money for that."
and the tears started rolling down his face.

I couldn't stand it.
It was all I could do
to keep the tears from rolling down my face.

That was it.
I called Ryan.
Desperate for something to fix it.

Fabulous man that my husband is,
he reminded me that there was another

in Orem
that we could check out.

We were on a mission,
with tears mopped up
and high hopes.

I was praying and crossing my fingers
that we would find it.
I didn't think I could take the heartbreak again.

We searched and found nothing.

Desperation.

I told Caden to walk through the toys one more time
and keep looking.

He came back with a huge smile on his face.

He had found this
the package was torn open
all the accessories were missing,
but it was a bonafide
Halo 3 Action Figure.

He was sure
that Ryan would LOVE it.
(he reminded me that the helmets were cooler, but...)

He held it tightly and marched to the front.
Where he pulled out his ziplock bag
that had all the money
that he had ever earned, been given, found,
in his short five years.
It totaled around seven dollars.

I convinced the lady that she should give us a discount
since it was open and missing all the pieces
and she rang us up.
I slipped the lady our gift card
and then took a dollar out of his bag
and handed that to her as well,
so that Caden could pay for it.


As soon as we got home
he carefully taped the package back together.
(used almost a whole roll of tape)
and then helped me wrap it up.
and signed the wrapping himself.

He was so excited
that he accidentally told Ryan
that it was an action figure
the second Ryan walked in from work.

When I gave him the eye
he quickly explained to me
that he didn't say what kind of action figure it was.


He was so excited for Ryan to open it.
He could barely sit still
and kept telling him how he got it just for him
with his own money
because he knew that he would LOVE IT.

Ryan loved it.


I love that little action figure
that lives on Ryan's night stand.

Because that little
Halo 3 Security Guard
reminds me how much I love Caden
and what he was willing to sacrifice
because he knew his dad would love it.


What a kid.


P.S.- That kid's birthday is coming up,
and guess what I found on Amazon.com
yep,
Halo 3 action figures
and Helmets galore.
I think,
he is going to love it.