A whole new low...

My son's birthday is coming up...well, it will be coming up, right now it's still 3 months away, but being a typical 13 year old, he's been making a birthday wish list for quite a while now.  At the top of the list is an "Arena Air Soft Gun".  Supposedly the 5 air soft guns we've already purchased him are not good enough for him to use for anything other than playing with his friends in the backyard...he could NEVER actually use one of those guns at the Air Soft ranges they go to.  The one he wants costs about $225, which is more than we are willing to spend.  So I told him a while ago to keep "an eye out" and when we were ready to start shopping, about 2-3 weeks before his birthday, we'd start searching for sales/deals. 

It seems he took what I said to mean "when you find one on sale let me know and we'll rush out to buy it for you immediately".  He showed me one the other night and then pouted when I said it looked nice, but I'm not buying his gift 3 months early.  He begged, pleaded, gave me puppy dog eyes, pulled out all the usual stops...but then he sunk to a whole new low:

 Yep...he used his sister!  I laughed, gave him credit for creativity and originality, then said no again and went about whatever it was I was doing...only to hear my phone notify me of a text a minute or two later.  I ignored it, knowing it was him being his usual stubborn self.  Then I heard another notification, and another...and another.  So I reluctantly picked up my phone...

By this time, the tears are rolling down my face, I'm laughing so hard my stomach is cramping, and it's taking all my strength not to just give in...but I held strong and said that as much as I appreciated the laugh, the answer was still no.  I also suggested that he consider that going into "suck up mode" prior to getting the gun might help convince me to get it for him...of course he's still mulling that idea over. 

And yes, my son is now known as "baba".  Harper can't say Anthony yet, so that is what she calls him.  He claims to hate it, but I see him smile every time she says it, so I don't really believe him...and besides, what kid who doesn't adore his little sister would have THAT many pictures of her on his phone?