TOYS, TOYS, AND MORE TOYS!!!

Footballs, bouncing balls, race cars, dump trucks, talking toys, music toys, loud toys, too many toys. Toys all over the place. Ethan has a huge toy basket that we keep his toys in, but the ones that he always wants to play with seem to all be at the bottom of the basket. One by one he methodically picks through each toy until they are all on the floor. What were we thinking when we bought him all these toys. I think it's payback from when I was little. I've been known to make a mess or two.
Looking back, Mom and Dad were on to something. When we went to the store, I would go to the toy department and ask Mom if I could get a toy. Mom had four responses and four responses only.
1. "NO!" That's exactly what it meant. There was no other interpretation for it. You might as well hang it back up. Or in my case throw it down the aisle, yell, scream, and cry in a feeble attempt that my Mom would buy it just to shut me up. Really the only thing that got me was a beat down. Not at the store, never in public. You would just get the stare maybe a pinch, just a taste of things to come. Not is the car, the car ride home was generally quite, the calm before the storm. Occasionally along the way home I'd stop whinning. Only to look up at the rear view mirror and seeing my Mom still starring at me. It was official, when we got home I had a date with the slippers. Now Mom's next response was of course my favorite.
2. "YES" This doesn't mean it was mine just yet. It wasn't in the bag. If it wasn't in the bag , it wasn't mine. There was always a chance of me messing up. For example, fighting with my sister in the store would definitely result in having me put the toy back. As long as I behaved I could have the toy.
3. "Go ask your Dad." Usually this meant NO with a slim chance of a YES only because when I asked Dad he would respond, "What did your Mom say?" or "Go ask your Mom." If I really wanted it, I'd do my three laps around the store to find Mom (two in one direction and one in the opposite) just to ask Mom again. Which brings me to her forth of four responses. this was her world famous and personal favorite response. I think she got this one trademarked.
4. "Next time." I say this was her personal favorite because it was most often used. And although she said "next time" it didn't always mean the next time we went to the store. It could mean next week or next month. It was toy limbo. The next time I asked her could very well get another "next time" answer. But you said next time last time. Then came the stare.

To make a long story even longer, my point is that I know now what my Mom knew then. It's not that she didn't want to buy me more toys, it's because she didn't want more toys all over the house. She didn't want to have to keep telling me to put away my toys. When it comes to Ethan, all her previous responses are in retirement. It has been for a year and a half. Now her responses have turned into "What does Ethan need?" or "What does Ethan want?" or 'I'll get that for Ethan." Some of his toys he's never even seen. They are still in boxes. Some are in his closet. Others are in the attic. As much as I hate saying no to my son, I think it's going to have to be....."Next time Ethan. Next time."