"The Claw decides who will go!"

Any parent these days should recognize those words from Toy Story. Probably every one of you have told your children how those machines are a big rip-off. Well, not for my son. He took five dollars of his money over to one recently and came back with four items. It wasn't beginners luck. He is slowly filling his room with things he got out of those machines. He is totally fascinated with any vending product though. If you can stick a few coins or a dollar into something and get something out, he wants to do it. He begs to do it.

He begs for everything though. We went into the grocery store the other day and he asked for everything he saw, and some stuff he didn't see but was sure it was there somewhere. It was as if his only hope for happiness in life depended on him getting SOMETHING from the store at that moment. My solid answer was no. It almost became a game, except he was getting exasperated. We got to the checkout line and he was still going strong. I reached down and gave him a big hug and said, "I love you as though you were my only begotten son!" Well, he is. The lady in front of us started cracking up laughing. My son was not the least bit amused, but it did give him pause before he started right back into it again.

And, if you are looking for a card that has just the right thing to say for an awkward situation, check out Someecards.com. You may want to make sure there is nothing on the floor you wouldn't want to roll on before you go there. Check out Life is Crap for your Christmas shopping.....