Rookie Mistake Leads to Ultimate Quest

So, Chuckles has been potty trained since Halloween 2007. However, he is still wearing diapers at night. I never made an issue of it since he's such a crap sleeper, I did not care. However, he will be turning 4 this spring and Size 6 diapers don't really fit all that well. I needed to switch him to Huggie Goodnites or Pampers UnderJams, which are like a buck a piece. He's only wet about half the time, so I'd be throwing $3.50 out per week. In the garbage. Without even using it. The economics just didn't seem to be working out in my favor.

Anyway, around Thanksgiving, we casually mentioned that he might want to try keeping his diaper dry. We also mentioned that milk and water turn into pee and going before bed helps you stay dry all night and so on. When the new year came around, we started putting stickers on the calendar in the morning when the diaper was dry. After a week or so, I asked, "Chuckles, if you keep your diaper dry seven nights in a row, you might get a prize. What do you think you would want?" And he instantly said that he would like the Disney Pixar Cars Red the Fire Truck 1:55 die cast vehicle. Alrighty then. There's something about the certitude that's refreshing.

Flash forward to two days ago. For the first time ever, he's kept his diaper dry 4 days in a row and I realize that I should go buy Red so that I have him/it here when the day comes. I have now been to Meijer, two Targets, Lo*Mart, Big Lots!, Dollar General, and a handful of Walgreens. Every single store has Cars vehicles but none of them had Red. I picked up a Dinoco Helicopter and have been assured that it can fill the gap until a Red can be obtained. I need to find Red.

Apparently, these vehicles are shipped to the stores in mixed lots and the boxes can have anything in them. According to the lady at the second Target, they can't go into the back and bring out more until the display is depleted. The Target display was half-empty, which I pointed out, but apparently, it needs to be more depleted than that (no wonder our Target always looks so poorly-stocked). I'm trying to more Walgreens tomorrow and a pair of Oscos and then next week, I'll try the Targets again since they should be unstocked and restocked by then. If you are looking for Snot Rod, Boost, or Lizzie, those are in great supply at all the stores right now.

Take-Away Lesson: Have the prize in hand prior to promising it. Also, if your kid has/likes a lovey, have two. Both lessons I have learned the hard way.