Toys R Us

Last week Toys R Us announced that it is going out of business. Today it kicks off its liquidation sale. Deep discounts are promised.
 
None of this matters to me. First and foremost: my kids are grown. The need for promising (read bribing) a trip to Toys R Us after getting shots at the doctor, or for good behavior in any of a number of situations has long past. And these days, any toys I need to acquire for grandkids or nephews are purchased either at Walmart or online. Walmart because it’s convenient and cheap and I buy some of my groceries there anyway. Where else could I toss a toy or box of crayons into the cart along with my milk and eggs? And online because, well, because I basically hate shopping in stores. Always have. And Toys R Us was a place I particularly hated to shop. Especially around the holidays. The parking lot. The crowds. Kids of all ages running hither and yon, up and down the isles.
 
So, I have absolutely no sentimental stirrings about the world’s biggest toy store closing. I never really wanted to be a Toys R Us kid. And Geoffrey the Giraffe. Don’t even get me started…
 
However, there is one thing. One memory. I took my middle son to Toys R Us for his tenth birthday. I gave him $50 and told him he could pick out whatever he wanted. He got his own cart and set out like a little man. I was not to follow him. I followed him, but at a respectable distance. He filled his cart with things that surprised me. Things to hang on his bedroom wall. Things that teetered on the edge of appealing more to teens. He didn't home in on any of the toys I figured he would have wanted. What struck me most though, was how seriously he took this shopping trip. The focus with which he selected each item. The way his face looked as he concentrated on adding up the prices as he kept a running tally. The way he carefully laid out each item at the cash register and then handed over the money and received his change.
 
Thank you Toys R Us.