Learning the hard way

Let me start by inviting anyone who knows how to say this toy's name, to please share with me. It's spelled Bakugan, though AJ pronounces it something like bat'-o-go-mon'.
It's apparently THE hot toy amongst the preschool crowd, as well as with some boys we saw at Target who were probably closer to 10. It's kind of like a transformer in that it converts from a ball into a little robot/alien. But it's more than that because to get it to pop open, you have to drop it on a little card that I suspect has a magnet inside. There's a bunch of them that somehow battle, and each toy has particular "powers", though you have to visit a Web site I think to learn what those are.

On Monday, after our visit to the eye doctor, I bought a grey version of the one you see above for AJ. He was so excited! He couldn't wait to show his friend Aric at school who apparently has four of these things.

I told him no, he'd just have to tell Aric about it. They're not supposed to bring toys to school.

Well, guess what AJ did on Tuesday. He snuck it to school. And he lost it. Less than 24 hours after he got it.

When Jeff picked AJ up that night, AJ told him what happened. They searched unsuccessfully, and one of the teachers promised to keep looking.

When I got home from work that night, AJ immediately told me what happened, adding, "I'm sorry I took my bat-o-go-mon toy to school."

"I'm sure you are," I replied.

"When can we go to a store and get a new one?" He asked. He was so confident that Mommy could fix anything.

"We're not," I answered. "You lost your toy. You don't just get another one."

Oh, you should have seen his face. For a split second it showed shock. He was not expecting that response. And then the tears started. Some lessons are so painful.