She didn't really play with them very much; she was more interested in opening the package and finding out if she had a common, rare, or ultra rare Squinkie. They come with a color-coded list for you to check.
Char found an ultra rare Squinkie once, and she almost hit the ceiling. You would have thought she won the Powerball. She couldn't wait to buy more Squinkies and do it again. That rare-thing is a pretty good gimmick. It's a total lie, but it's a good gimmick.
I can't find Squinkies anywhere now (except under my car seats), so I think they were discontinued. That's okay because Char had jumped the Squinkies ship and landed into the Hatchimals camp.
The Hatchimals aren't much different from Squinkies except that instead of being packaged in a Mystery Hut that you open, they come in an egg that you hatch. Char skipped reading the directions the first time we brought a set of Hatchimals home. She insisted that I had to hold them under my arms while I took a nap. I felt pretty dumb with these eggs incubating in my armpits.
After 30 minutes nothing had happened. It turns out that is not how they are hatched at all. You have to the rub the shell's heart with your thumb until it breaks though it.
Sheesh...
These also come with a "rarity guide", so you can see if you hatched something that is common, rare, ultra rare, or a limited edition.
No, I take that back. These things are worth real money right now. For months Charlotte has been asking for an egg carton of Hatchimals, and for months we have been telling her, "Maybe you should put that on your Christmas list." The egg carton was about $12 back in September, but since October the shelves at all of the local Targets have been bare. It is the same at Toys"R"Us. You can buy the carton on eBay, of course, but the prices are ridiculous.
Unfortunately for us, Char had picked one of the "Hot Toys" for this holiday season.
Daphne had a pretty good solution. She thought about buying a few small sets of Hatchimals, and putting them in a real egg carton. That would have worked. But then, out of the blue, I spotted these while shopping for wood glue at Walmart.
Daphne had conferences at school that evening, and I had Char with me. How could I buy a carton of Hatchimals without Charlotte knowing? She is only seven; I couldn't distract her by leaving her in the car or somewhere else in the store by herself. I checked a few aisles to see if I had any students who were working there, but for once I didn't see anyone familiar.
So, I have an almost-impossible-to-find-must-have-toy-for-2017 right in front of me, and I have to walk away. I don't get to save Christmas. I don't get to be the hero. I get to be the guy who buys wood glue.
Then I had an idea. While Charlotte was looking at the little FlipaZoos (they're like a Squinkie that flips over to be a different Squinkie), I ran around the corner and took a picture of the Hatchimal cartons. I texted the pic to Daphne and told her which Walmart we were in. She could stop on the way home, and hopefully there would be a carton left.
In my excitement I had forgotten that Daphne's phone doesn't get a signal at work. She received my text about the same time she got home. Because Walmart is only four miles from our house, Daphne was willing to put her coat back on and go back into the cold night - what a trooper.
The conquering hero returned with her spoils 25 minutes later! We slapped a high-five in the kitchen. Go team!
P.S.
The next morning at breakfast Char asked me, "Dad, when is the next daddy-daughter night?"
"Next week. Why?"
"Maybe we could go back to Walmart? I think I like FlipaZoos now!"
Sigh...
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