Jingle All The Way

Did you ever see the movie Jingle All The Way (circa 1996)? It’s the one where Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad battle against each other to find this one specific toy for their kids for Christmas. {Yeah me for spelling Schwarzenegger right on my first try!} I remember the movie being predictable but fun, and at the time I found it a bit farfetched. Nobody in their right mind goes to all that trouble for one single toy, do they?

Now let us re-phrase that question: Nobody in their right mind goes to all that trouble for their kiddo, do they?

Yes, they do.

Fast forward fourteen years to the present day, December 15, 2010, and I could be starring in this movie with Arnold. Actually, these days Arnold looks a bit old to be the father of a toddler, so maybe I could star with someone like Brad Pitt. Ahhh yes, me versus Brad Pitt in a Christmas shopping battle - thats a much better visual.

Justin and I aren’t big on buying Kendry more toys because he has more than he can handle already. We also decided to buy him just one large present as his gift from us this year, something memorable that would last him awhile. And if it did happen to fall in the toy category, we wanted it to be an outdoor toy because our house sure ain’t getting any bigger. Behold, the perfect gift: the TONKA TOUGHEST MIGHTY DUMP TRUCK!

Not only is it a Tonka (aka one tough toy) and perfect for outside play, but Kendry has recently started calling every truck he sees a “dunk truck”.

I imagined Kendry emerging Christmas morning to find this enormous Tonka truck beneath the tree, wrapped in a huge red bow. I could already see his eyes light up. I saw him playing with it all Christmas day and even attempting to climb into the bed of the truck. (By the way, this Tonka truck is apparently HUGE so it may actually be possible for a small child to sit in it. Yet another awesome selling point, don't you think?)

I found this truck on Amazon about two months ago and put it on my shopping list for Christmas, figuring I would wait until we got a little closer before I purchased it.

(insert forehead slap here)

In my defense, I didn’t think I was waiting too long to get this ordered because I am on Amazon Mom which gives me special shipping benefits, so getting it here before Christmas would be a cinch.

(another forehead slap)

Today I logged on to Amazon ever so excitedly to get the truck ordered and what do you think I found? “The vendor is out of stock for this item. Please see another vendor.” What?! So I quickly went in search of another Amazon vendor, only to find a single one that wants $99!! Yesterday I could get the truck for $29.99.

At this point I’m thinking “Okay, don’t panic. I’ll just go find it at another store like Walmart, Kmart or Toys R Us.”

Or not.

Apparently this truck is a popular toy this year and EVERYONE is sold out. The best I could find was on ebay and it would cost me at least $55, assuming it was a legitimate sale and the seller could actually get it to me by Christmas. Too risky.

Yes, I am aware that my kiddo is only 19 months old. He will not likely remember anything about this Christmas, nor will he burst into tears if his beautiful yellow Tonka Toughest Mighty Dump Truck isn’t sitting under the tree come Christmas morning. But his mommy might be shedding some tears here shortly if she can’t find this darn truck somewhere.

So to all the Brad Pitt daddies out there who were smart and bought the Tonka Toughest Mighty Dump Truck before I did, you’d better watch out. This mommy is desperate!

On a more serious note, if you are reading this and happen to know where I can still find this truck please let me know. Otherwise I am looking at the Fisher Price version.

Is it just me or does the name Fisher Price sound pretty rinky-dink compared to TONKA?

**UPDATE**

Grandma found one online AND my local Kmart had two left, so Kendry gets his Tonka for Christmas!