who needs a $15 yo-yo anyway????

They came home retelling the tale of the visitor from chapel. As the "visitor" (that's what they called him) told the story of NED walking the dog, and visiting the Eiffel Tower and eating spaghetti, he showed a yo-yo trick that corresponded to each vignette. The boys were awed at the things you could do with a yo-yo.

The visitor was actually a motivational speaker. His aim was to motivate the children to "Never give up", "Encourage others" and "Do your best". My children came home motivated to buy a yo-yo. Who could blame them, really? He was inspiring. He could do cool things.

Maybe the N.E.D. actually stands for:
Never give up on asking your parents for a yo-yo.
Encourage others to buy a yo-yo.
Do your best to get your parents to buy you the yo-yo.

You may be shocked to learn that the motivational speaker actually...SELLS YO-YOs...after his performance. So, Miles and Avery drooled as they watched their peers buy the Ned-yo ($6.50), the Boomerang ($10) and the Cosmic Spin ($15). The boys told me they be just fine with the cheap one.

They went to bed thinking about all the yo-yo tricks they so desperately wanted to do.

I went to bed remembering how Miles called me into the family room to show me his yo-yo trick that afternoon. "Watch Mommy!" And then he proceeded to take a super ball and raised his hand into the air and lowered it gently to the ground. He spun around and then gingerly picked up his ball again. "What do you think?"

"I think you need a yo-yo....maybe for Christmas."

Less than 24 hours later, I happened to be at the Mall of America. Really, this was a coincidence. I did not rush out to make all his yo-yo dreams come true. I approached a colorful store with kites, Frisbees, and you-know-whats. The memory of Miles twirling around his super ball/"yo-yo" flashed in my mind. I had to.

I went in and asked for a yo-yo that could enable a six-year-old to do tricks.

fifteen bucks? sold.

I go to pick them up in one hour. I can hardly wait.