The po po car

Don't tell this story to MrDartt.
The other day, my mom and I took the boys to Wal-Mart. We had to get a few follow-up birthday presents for Big Boy, who celebrated his third birthday.
During the trip, Big Boy saw one of those little cars kids can drive. It was a Dodge Charger with a Hemi engine. It was a police car. It was awesome. It had police emblems. It had lights.
If I haven't mentioned it, he's going to be a SWAT team member for Halloween. Ever since he got his costume (it is SO cute -- handcuffs, sunglasses, a flashlight, a walkie-talkie, a baton and a baseball cap), he's been talking about how he's a po po and he's chasing and catching bad guys. So of course the car was the answer to his dreams.
He really wanted to get that car. He made my mom take him back over to look at it again after we'd walked away. He talked about it all the way home -- "I drove my po po car and I got a bad guy and put him in the back and then he escaped and then I followed him and then I chased him up a hill and some other po pos helped me get him and we put him in the car and then I drove him to the jail and then he got out and then I chased him and then I drove my po po car home," and so on.
We got home and he talked about it all night. How he wants it for his next birthday (tomorrow, when I turn 4, he said).
I told him we'll have to save up for it. It costs a lot of money (the damn thing costs $300).
"Well, you save money when you buy groceries," he said. "You and daddy just need to buy a lot of groceries and then you'll save a lot of money and then you can buy the po po car."
He called me down to his bedroom four times after I put him to bed, so he could tell me how much he wants that po po car and how he likes it.
This has NEVER happened. There's been stuff at the store, like toys, where he'll say, "Can I get that ball?" and I'll say, "not today," and he'll say, "okay," and we'll never talk about it again.
But all night, he talked about that car.
"I REALLY want that car."
"I need that car."
"We can go back to the store tomorrow and buy groceries and pick up that car."
"Are there more of those cars? What if somebody buys that car?"
Finally he fell asleep. The next morning, he called me down (his customary morning greeting) and I went down to get him.
Here's what he said: "Mommy, I don't want that po po car any more. I want the Barbie car."