Just once, you remembered. If thousands of times, you probably

would forget. And I guess it was something you really, really liked, so you father did all he could to get it. This is totally different than the case with your kids. I think you wife is right. I only allow my kids to buy toys they really like. If they like three toys, they have to figure out how to pick one. And you may just get one toy for (say) a month, so they really need to think hard about which one they want.