We had our first instance of having to buy two of something to avoid conflict. Ryanne had a 'color pad' (magnetic drawing pad) in the car that dates back to living in Japan. It keeps her quiet and occupied on most of our trips. It's easy to clean up and mostly all stays together (pen and pad, at least) so there's no searching for pieces to make it work.
It's been getting pretty abused - stepped on, dropped, etc. It's missing all of its stamps. It's cracked and has to be pushed back together periodically. It still worked, though, and she was happy with it.
Recently, Corin wanted it. Desperately. She wasn't in the car so I let him have it.
When I got it back, the magnet from the pen was gone. It was small so I wasn't terribly worried about him passing it, but I was concerned about his sister not having anything to color with in the car.
Off we went to Target. It dawned on me, as I looked for a new pad with him, that if she had one, he was still going to want one. Fortunately, they make a younger age pad (shorter cord, bigger stamps, more recessed magnet) so now he has one, too.
They sit back there quietly playing with their pads - trading stamps, trading pads, talking. It's bliss. Even if it was twice the price.
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