Can a four year old “win” your birthday? Well mine did!
Yesterday Liam announced that he wanted to go to IDA to get a birthday present for me - “like a toy or a chocolate bar or a Coke”.
So, off we went. I was less than thrilled at the gift ideas. I already have a house full of toys, I don’t personally need one yet too. A chocolate bar would be OK I suppose, but as for a Coke… well I was impressed that he already knows the way to my heart… but I’ve got an unlimited supply of Coke in my pantry at all times, I don’t really need another overpriced can of it.
However, I was super excited to witness the process of him selecting a gift for me all by himself - at an IDA no less.
We walked up and down every aisle. Even the vitamin aisle where he exclaimed, “oh no, this not right” before searching harder for the toy and game section. I was shocked to witness that he did NOT want to buy me a toy (he just wanted to look for himself) but a board or card game instead, knowing how much I love games! Unfortunately after inspecting the price of all the games, he sadly concluded that they were “too many monies” and wandered off.
A bag of chips caught his attention - as “Daddy loves chipies” and this brought him into the small food section of the store. From there he found the chocolate bars and the drinks. As he wandered down the aisle he suddenly pointed to a vintage looking 4-pack of bottled ‘Georgia Peach’ Coca~Cola and stated, “Daddy, you not have this kind of Coke before!”. My jaw dropped.
This specific Coca~Cola product - along with the ‘California Raspberry’ flavour - has been on my wish list for a year and a half now since it was released, but to my knowledge it is only available in the United States. I’ve asked friends to be on the lookout for this product as I’ve searched stores and online suppliers who will ship to Canada. I’ve even reached out to Coca~Cola directly through social media asking that a sample be sent to me; seeing as I am an official shareholder after all! Nothing. No luck. So I gave up.
Finally my four year old finds it in our small neighborhood pharmacy on my birthday; oddly reminiscent of Coca~Cola's creation by Dr. John S. Pemberton in 1886.
I think I surprised Liam by how excited I got. He immediately mirrored my energy and became so excited and proud that he had found a gift I genuinely wanted and appreciated.
And to him all it was, was just another Coke.