On the Tip of my Tongue

Joshua wanted a new pair of shoes for school.
I thought it was a reasonable request. His other ones were worn. OK. I could go for that.

BUT, the shoes he wanted were $59. *ahem!* I don't spend that much money on a pair of school shoes. Brian and I conferred and agreed on how much we'd be willing to spend for Joshua's shoes. And if he wanted those $59 shoes, he was going to have to come up with the difference.
The problem was, Joshua insisted he would't be able to get shoes for $35. They would be junk and would fall apart in a matter of weeks. I listened to his rant, and then told him I wanted to have a look for myself. (Joshua had been looking for a while and was sure his $59 prize shoes were the best we were going to find.)
Humor me, son.
Sitting right next to the shoes Joshua wanted, I found a pair (same brand) which were on sale for $49, and with the purchase of those shoes you would receive a $10 gift card to the store. A little math, and those shoes were only $39.
I thought I'd found a solution. He couldn't tell me they were junk, and I was willing to go up $4. Problem solved, right?

Not so fast!

The heel was too high. They would be uncomfortable.
Really??? He wouldn't even try them on. He just knew he would't like them. As you wish. I'm still not spending $59 on tennis shoes!
We walked down the aisle and around the corner and found another display of shoes. And, wouldn't you know it, there was another pair on sale for $39. AND, Joshua actually liked them!
BUT his size was not in stock. We found a store employee who called three other stores until she found his size, and we went to get them!

As we walked out of the store - Joshua pleased with his new shoes, and me pleased with the fact that they were only $39 - I remembered Joshua's previous lament. His angry declaration that we would NOT be able to find shoes in my price range which would be acceptable to him.
And it was all I could do to keep myself from saying it. I TOLD YOU SO!!!

Ahhh. I feel better now. That's been on the tip of my tongue for a week!