It's barely 8 AM and I've already experienced my fill of frustration for the day. Things started out great, but my son's new toy caught his eye this morning, and unfortunately, it was so new that it was still in the packaging.

Still feeling a little tired, I decided that a new toy would provide enough of a distraction for me to start making a pot of coffee and maybe get in a few minutes of quiet time on the couch. Boy was I wrong.

After about 15 minutes of twisting, tearing, and I'm sad to admit, a little swearing (I'm definitely not a morning person), I finally had the toy free from the packaging and in front of him. He was so happy and engaged by the new toy. For about three minutes. Nice.

I'm not exactly sure why, but almost any toy I've unwrapped the past few years has been a similar experience in swear-inducing frustration. The way these things are sealed, wrapped, double-tied and blister-packed, you would think that these toys were a flight risk. What was so special about that one tiny piece of plastic, the one that was neither integral to the toy itself, nor particularly exciting without it, to warrant it's own plastic-covered wire tie - was someone going to steal this one little piece of the toy after deciding that the rest of the parts were not worth the effort?

Utterly ridiculous, and now my son is playing with my cell phone, which has kept him busy for almost 20 minutes. At this point, I can't be anything other than amused. Like I said - I've had my fill of frustration for the day ;)