"Broken Buzz" is definitely one of those stories that Mommy wants to remember!
Our lighted tree-topper went out this year, and Brisco and I were on a search for a new lighted star. At Target, we came across some really cute Disney ornaments. After checking them all out, Brisco was thrilled to be taking home a new Buzz Lightyear ornament.
Brisco insisted on holding the Buzz ornament while he sat in the cart. I "strongly encouraged" Brisco to let me place it in the back of the cart, so that it wouldn't break. He was certain that he could hold onto it himself. We walked over to the tree-toppers. I turned my head for one instant and then (out of the corner of my eye) saw the following unfold:
Brisco winded up and used all of his strength to throw Buzz out of the cart, straight toward the ground. There was a rather loud breaking-glass-sound and Buzz was in two peices. I was actually pretty amazed the break was so clean. It had sounded like poor Buzz shattered into a million peices.
I'm embarassed to say, my first impulse was to pick-up Broken Buzz, hide him on a random shelf, grab a new Buzz, and hightail it out of the store (after paying, of course). Once I took a few breaths and tried to maintain composure, two things stopped me:
#1 There were roughly ten or so moms nearby watching like hawks to see my next move.
#2 More importantly, Brisco was staring straight into my eyes (it felt like he was staring down into the depths of my heart) to see what I would do next.
So here was Mommy's brilliant solution:
I picked up Broken Buzz and placed him in our cart gently. I tried to use my best Love&Logic voice and told Brisco, "This is so sad. Buzz is broken. We're going to pay for him and take him home with us anyway. You'll need to figure out how you're going to solve this problem. You could throw Broken Buzz in the trash or your could ask Daddy to help you fix him."
Throughout the remainder of our shopping trip, Brisco could be heard recounting what happened from several aisles away:
"I broke Buzz. Buzz is broken. We're going to take him home. I'm going to ask Daddy to help me fix him."
While checking-out, the lovely woman at the counter said, "Are you sure you want this Broken Buzz?"
Mommy said, "Oh, we're in way too deep at this point. We'll definitely need to take Broken Buzz home."
Brisco said, "I broke Buzz. Buzz is broken. We're going to take him home. I'm going to ask Daddy to help me fix him."
The entire car ride home, Brisco kept repeating: "I broke Buzz. Buzz is broken. We're going to take him home. I'm going to ask Daddy to help me fix him."
When we arrived home, we set Buzz on the kitchen counter to show Daddy. Of course, Matt was working during his peak season, so he came home really late that night. Matt went in Brisco's dark bedroom to kiss him goodnight, and I could hear Brisco recount the entire incident from the baby monitor:
"Daddy, I broke Buzz. I threw him from the cart. We took him home. Daddy help fix Buzz."
Brisco recounted the story for everyone in the family. It was several days before Buzz was fixed, and it was fun for Brisco to hang him on the tree. So it's my hope, Brisco Clay, that if Mommy and Daddy are doing anything right, you'll think about throwing items out of shopping carts from now on. xoxo.
