Drops of Jupiter

My son, Usama, just graduated from KG-II to class-1 with flying colors. He has done a really excellent job..getting 100% in EVERYTHING, which is 40% more than the highest marks I every got! His teacher's love him and he is the light of my life and the apple of my wife's eye. One might expect the first born in every family to be this evil, cunning, brat but, al hamd o lillah, he's turned out well and the credit goes to my wife.

I had promised my son that I'd get him any toy he likes if he comes first...provided the toy was below a certian monetary value. And somehow, and I think this he gets from my wife, I ended up making a deal with him that I'd get him three toys of his choice if he came first, two choice of his choice if he came second and one toy of his choice plus a toy of my choice if he came third. How I can end up with such a deal and be smug about my negotiating skills is beyond me!
I am vividly reminded of how what happened the last time (yeah, it's been a while!) since I bought my wife a piece of jewelry. We roamed all the shops on our street (and there are quite a few!!) until she, being a true Venusian(only in her case, I think she really IS from Venus!), could finally decide on what to buy which was from the first shop we visited and the item happened to be the first item that had caught her fancy!

So ayways, we went to TOYS R US ("'Coz that's where the really GOOD toys are!", says Usama) last night. After we roamed the aisles for a good part of two hours, Usama was still undecided about what to buy. He picks up a toy brings it to where we are and says,"I want this one also!" and puts it on the small pile that he has recently started gathering in a corner. Soon there are many mini-piles all over the store, of toys of every nature -- ranging from figurines of super heros and robots to car models and remote controlled helicopters. As I begin to loose my patience and the strength in my legs, my fatherly instinct kicks in and I pick two toys from the most recent pile he has been gathering and ask him if he would lke me to buy both of them for him. Five minutes later, we are out of the shop. Later, my son confides in me that he liked a few other toys which I can get him the next time we visit the shop!

My son -- a true amlagamation of Martian negotiation skills and Venusian scrutinizing abilities. My son, the Jupitarian!