Metabot

I occasionally shop with some friends at a "missionary" store. Basically, everything is donated by stores (like Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Dominicks, Costco) when they want to get rid of inventory. Translation: they usually donate closeouts, food close to expiration, seasonal items, etc. All the money made is to support food pantry around the Chicagoland area. Pretty cool.

Anyway, since I bring the kids, they usually get a treat since everything is pretty cheap anyway. The stock is always different so you never know what they'll have. Sometimes the kids with pick candy or a snack, but sometimes they have toys.

Reed managed to find a treasure (certainly in his mind)... A red (his favorite color) robot (Transformer-like) 3D puzzle to put together. He was in love! He's great at puzzles so I overlooked that it was for ages 8+. Who cares that he isn't even 4 yet, a 12-year-old would have struggled to put this beast together.

Over the course of two days with the skilled expertise of two architects, we successful constructed the Metabot! The dreams of battling the Metabot vs. Bob's 20-year-old Optimus Prime Transformer quickly faded when we realized this Metabot made of rigid foam could barely be touched, let alone fight other robots made of plastic.

Reed, however, showed a lot of maturity and actually understands that it isn't a "play" toy. He handles it very carefully and enjoys looking at it. You'd understand what restraint this must take when you see him bash and smash most of his other toys, like any other red-blooded, almost-4-year-old boy would do.

I think I got my $3 worth of entertainment out of it, but we've abandoned all thoughts of purchasing more in the series from the internet.

So Proud!