One

When Clara Grace’s first tube of toothpaste was squeezed dry sometime in early March, she received her first education in the mass marketing of products designed to appeal to her age. As her shopping cart rolled down the toothpaste isle, her Daddy asked, “Which tube do you want, the car toothpaste, the elephant toothpaste, the superman toothpaste, the horse toothpaste, the cat toothpaste, or the Elmo toothpaste?”

Clara Grace replied, “I want the elephant.” Two isles away however, she experienced sudden buyer’s remorse and told her daddy, “I want the car.” They wound their way back to the hundreds of toothpaste tubes and her Daddy picked up one with a red racecar.

The only problem at that point, was that Clara Grace did not wish to relinquish her elephant tube in exchange.

“You can only have one,” her daddy told her.

Clara Grace thought for a moment and then answered with her usual astounding logic, “I want one car, one elephant, one superman, one horse, one cat, and one Elmo.”