Speaking of Elmo, I remember when my son was about three years old and there was a KCET drive for money for Sesame Street and other public television.

If you pledged $50, they would send you an Elmo. This was a plain old red Elmo, no techy stuff back then. My son saw this and just couldn't understand why he couldn't have that Elmo. That was about 17 years ago, so $50 wasn't chump change. He never got that Elmo.

Television and advertising sure build the hype for the big sales, don't they? And our kids fall for it, and our parents fall for it, etc. Not that the stuff you buy, like this TMX Elmo isn't cute or whatever, but it's just an example of the power of advertising and demand.

Hope you all get the special things you want!