I was denied the GI Joe aircraft carrier as a child. A few things came of this:
My dad said "It's too big! Where would we put it?". At 8 feet long, I STILL managed to come up with some reasonable solutions. I was crafty at 6. My dad said "It's too expensive. We dont' have that kind of money". I said "That's OK. Santa Claus will get it for me. He's RICH."
Five minutes later, I learned that Santa Claus didn't exist.
Fast forward to today. I think to myself "You know, I oughta look around on eBay and buy it, just for kicks." Know what happened next?
"HOLY SHIT that thing IS huge! Where would I put it? These assholes want HOW MUCH for this damn thing?"
This, combined with my newfound fondess of the phrase "Stop crying, or I'll give you something to cry about" has completed my transformation into my father.