The Power of the Zord

In trying to figure out how to make giving Joshua his shots less traumatic, I switched from evenings to mid-mornings. Either way it's not easy to be required to intentionally inflict pain on your small child (that's the way it's supposed to be). On Saturday I let him pick out a new toy. He had his mind set on a Spiderman plug-and-play video game that he had seen previously. I wasn't too thrilled about his choice because I knew he would become board with it quickly and it wasn't really worth what it cost, I'm sure most toys these days are not worth what they cost. But, with Joshua I can't just tell him "No, I don't like that and pick something else," because then he'll want it even more. Gentle persuasion always works best with him. So we put the game in the basket and instead of immediately going to the check-out, we continued looking. He looked through the isle of the cool boy toys containing all the super-hero, action-packed and transforming figures and nothing peaked his interest as much as the Spiderman game. Then he saw it! I think it must have been like in the movies where the lights get dim, the one thing suddenly glows like it's being lit with rays strait from Heaven and all of the angels are singing in one accord. It was a Power Ranger Dino Mega Zord! This was a toy he had not seen at the other Walmart location. If you have not kept current on your Power Rangers, then you cannot fully comprehend the excitement at that moment of a 4 year old boy. This Zord is pretty impressive, a tall robot-like creature that could be taken apart and made into five separate animals and then reassembled back into the Dino Mega Zord and there's even a small sword. The game lost all it's desirability instantly, I was glad. What was even more exciting was when we discovered that there were other pieces - Dino Rangers - that we could get to add to the Zord to make it even taller and more impressive. It took going to 2 different Walmarts, but I found all four parts. I told Joshua he could pick one each day if he promised he wouldn't scream and hit when he got his shot. Monday he was so thrilled about the toy, he hardly flinched for his shot. Tuesday and Wednesday went the about the same, it was nice to see him so happy. This was an excellent plan because by Thursday Joshua was holding up the last toy and said, "Mom, I'm already waiting, can you hurry up and give me my shot?"