A while back I resolved that there would never be a Tickle Me Elmo or any other equally annoying derivative of the silly little red monster in my house. I’m just not very fond of the little guy at all.
I don’t know where my hatred for Elmo stems from actually. As a child I was an avid watcher of Sesame Street so you would think that I would have at least some kind of a bond with the him. Perhaps it was the craziness that occurred when the first Tickle Me Elmo was released. That has to be it.
That’s why, when my Brother-in-law asked me a while back if I was going to get Zach the TMX for Christmas I said "Hell NO!" I was certainly not going to buy into the craze and lose my dignity over a little red doll. When he asked if he could get it for Zach my initial reaction was a strong NO. Then I thought about it some more and realized just how much Zach would love it and told him if he really wanted to get it for him it would be okay. Apparently he dropped the idea, which I was just fine with.
Between then and now, Zach has gone a little Elmo crazy. The boy loves him some Elmo. He asks for his Elmo jammies at night after his bath. He has Elmo slippers that he would wear all of the time if I hadn’t bought them just a little bit too big for him (they tend to fall off his feet about 2 seconds after we put them on). He has a set of Sesame Street books that have Elmo in every single one. He carries these books around the house like they are glued to his hands.
So, reluctantly, I added the TMX Elmo to the Amazon wishlist that I keep for the relatives to give them gift ideas for Zach. My mom saw the Elmo on there and decided that she wanted to get him one. I had pretty much ruled out the idea of anyone getting it for him when I saw what the prices had escalated to. Apparently, my mom decided money was not an issue and just bought him one for $89 on Ebay.
I’m actually happy that Zach will have his Elmo on Christmas morning. I really think he will love it probably more than anything that I’ve purchased for him so far. I’m just really disappointed that my mom bought into the hype and spent that much money on a toy that will be played with for a few months and then forgotten. I’m also really disappointed that someone just made a huge profit because of my mom’s impulse purchase. I know I can’t control everything, but I sure do wish she would have asked me about it before she spent that kind of money. For one thing, I happen to know that she doesn’t have that kind of money to spend.
The kid will be 18 months old the day after Christmas. Do you really think he’ll appreciate the fact that she spent $89 on his gift. Do you have any idea what I could have done with that much money?
Yep. Too expensive. I paid regular price and it was still too much.
However, Zach will LOVE it. Seriously. Yeah, like any other toy he will get weary of it, but he will keep going back to it.
We’re not too into Elmo over at my old homestead. We have some Elmo stuff (hand-me-downs) but neither one of the G’s are really into him. I’m glad. That whole talking in third person thing gives me the heebie jeebies.
$89 for a toy? I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.
I could pay half of a week’s worth of daycare with that much money. Maybe I’ll just leave my Zac at home with the talking Elmo all day and see how well that works out.