Remote Control Car

Over the holidays, good friends of ours drove to Grand Forks, which is just a couple of hours away, and just on the other side of the Canadian/American border. They wanted to take advantage of the fantastic post-Christmas sales and spend some time together as a family.

These particular friends are what I consider to be power shoppers. They seem to intuitively know where to shop, when to hit the stores and make a beeline to the very best deals to be had.

They returned home laden down with shopping bags and boxes galore! They were able to fully stock their liquor cabinet, fill up their already packed closets, and bring gifts for everyone in our family to enjoy.

One of the absolutely best purchases they made was an incredible remote control car for their youngest son. Regularly retailing for as much as $250 US, they were able to get a steep discount, checking out at a mere $50!! This remote control car is huge - nearly two feet long. The range from which you can control the vehicle is unbelievable, and what is more, the trunk opens up to reveal a fully functional top-of-the-line MP3 player, complete with stereo sound speakers!

Our family had to make a special trip over to our friends' house just to have a look at this dream-come-true remote control car, for ourselves! Our own son was dumbfounded. He had never even seen any vehicle, even close to the likes of this remote control car. This baby sported an all leather interior with working horn and headlights, and is modeled after a BMW sports coupe. The paint job is a metallic, midnight black. My son was in absolute awe and drooling with envy. Without him saying a word, we already know what toy has moved to the top of our son's list of wants! We only hope we'll be as fortunate when finding a similar deal of our own.

In the past, we have done our best to find the best remote control toys for our kids. Last year, we were delighted to find one of hottest toys of the season - Robosapien - at a mere fraction of the original cost of up to $140. We just happened to be in a local store, just after Christmas. Some fortunate child must have received two of this much longed for toy and one was returned to the store shortly thereafter. We ended up with the extra one, paying a mere $20 to account for it previously having been opened. Upon arriving home, we were pleased to discover that on top of the already ridiculously low price, our new toy also contained at least $10 worth of brand new batteries! Our son was thrilled with his new toy and spent hours programming it to carry out a host of various tasks.

Sadly, the novelty didn't take long to wear off, and Robosapien now sits on a shelf collecting dust. All our son can talk about now is getting a remote control car, just like his friend. As parents, we are torn between knowing how quickly he'll move on to the next latest and greatest toy, and wanting to fulfill our son's every childhood fantasy. In the end, we know, that all the toys will be just a blur. We can only hope that the joy that these toys temporarily bring, will long remain a happy, childhood memory.