Window Shopper

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Searching for some things for another blog I write, I began to find so many things for baby and toddlers. There is so much out there to choose from if you know what to look for at least. When looking for baby gifts, if you want to find something that is really different so that you do not give the same thing everyone else did, just search out the unique gift section of any online store. There are some really great things there. For instance, I ran across things like a nature gift basket that has some stuffed toys of non-domestic animals, a bird house that opens for a baby to grab things out and so on. It seems to be a good gift for a baby that is just learning to grab and hold on. How about a baby’s first teddy bear that can be held by very small hands. Very huggable.

Looking for gifts for toddlers is not much different. Usually, the classification starts at one year up for them. You can find a whole lot of good toys and clothing. My only concern is for safety and where it was made. That works for baby too. But the toddler items are plentiful. Everything from wooden blocks and toys to very complicated items are all available with a quick search using the words toddler and unique or gifts.

But I have to tell you that the best gift I have seen in quite a while for a small child or baby is a personalized book that my sister has for her granddaughter. The baby is still way too little to read it herself but she is fascinated with the pictures. Her name is all over the book but in such tasteful ways that you just enjoy reading it yourself. For instance, the cover of the book has a fall picture with leaves all over the ground but in front, all the leaves spell out her name. That is so cute. I discovered that all the pictures had her name spelled out in large letters so that when she gets to the age that she starts recognizing her name, she will be able to know it very quickly. And I have to tell you that this is not like some of those cheesy books that were personalized. This is on a much higher level of excellence. Well done.

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I am sure I mentioned that our extended family has a new member, right? She was born to my niece making Mollie Beth my grand niece or great niece, I believe. And she is absolutely beautiful, smart and all sorts of things that work for little bitty kids like her. At this time, I believe she is almost 3 months old. Since I cannot get out to see her, she will look so different to me by the time I can see her again. And so big!

Reports coming in from a proud grandma say that she is already on solids, teething, has a major preference in types of music. This kid is smart. She has learned how to get grandpa to hold her too. There are times for one and then the other. Don’t forget great-grandma either. She gets a turn at holding her majesty. And the aunts are hanging around a lot too. Of course, being teens, they are fascinated with baby Mollie.

Because I do not get to see her right now, I will not see some of her milestones and that’s sad. I would love to watch her say things (apparently she is saying a few things already. I did mention that she’s smart), see her love of music, watch her give grandpa a fit which she is apparently quite good at doing. I am blown away at the fact that this kid can talk already. Most kids don’t do that for months, just make gurgle noises.

But my problems will not last forever so I will get to see some of her firsts, I know. Say, Christmas is coming. Now that’s another first for her. She was born in May. Missed my birthday by about a month. Too bad. I can’t wait to see her get one of her first dollhouses, baby dolls and maybe Barbie. Right now, she has a ragdoll that she will not part with. I remember Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy. I had one. Do you notice how hard it is to get the really good ones anymore? Well, she will have the best of everything if it’s affordable. This is going to be one really spoiled brat!! Hahaha. Nah, she is loved and there is no question whatsoever. I love it.

Thing is, with this being the computer age, I suspect she will be on one by the time she’s 4 or 5 if not sooner. Good thing too. Kids these days seem to grow up on the computers. If they don’t get there that soon, they lose out. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. Having a kid on the computer all the time doesn’t leave much time for anything else, does it? They have to have time outside too. That was something I had a lot of, time outside. We didn’t have computers when I was growing up, just had to use our imaginations. I think kids today need that more than ever. So, Mollie Beth will need to use that imagination of hers instead of always using the computer. As a great aunt, I will have to tell her that……a lot, I imagine.

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One of the things I love about the internet is that you can shop and find the best places to purchase those things that normally you do not have the bucks for if you shop at the local stores. That’s what I love about why buy.com rocks. It rocks because they have thousands and thousands of products that have slashed prices. You can save so much money going right to buy.com.

They have amazing prices plus FREE SHIPPING offers. I like their price comparison search engine that shows you the competitor’s prices along side buy.com prices. Their prices win, hands down. And how about the coupon for new customers…All brand new customers receive an exclusive $10 off of their $10 order coupon which is valid on any purchase. Add that to the huge selection of products, the free shipping offers, the price comparison engine plus much more and you already know why buy.com rocks, don’t you.

Now if that is not enough for you, Howie Mandel will give you the “What’s Shakin’” feature and Ryan Seacrest will show you the Deal Of The Week! Awesome. For just a bit more about why buy.com rocks, I have prepared you a small video. Enjoy!

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If you have waited until now to buy the toys, it could be a real stretch to get them. But, the top toys this year are varied but more or less predictable. First, the Wii is on top of the games list. Everyone wants a Wii this year. Hot item. Don’t forget to add the games! Next, you will find the PS3 console and the bundles that go with it. After that, XBOX and Nintendo with PSP coming up on them. These are truly hot items in the games department.

If you are looking to surprise the boys and girls with something a bit different, the word is robots. You will simply have to look for yourself because the list is rather long and varied on that subject. I will say that the stores have stated that they are down on sales this year so it is possible to get that really great robot toy at the last minute.

Learning and educational toys are hot as well. It’s a great idea to give your children something that will teach them what the schools will not. You can start with children 3 and up with the wonderful learning toys available.

Whatever you may be looking for, now is the time to get out there and find it. There are only a very few shopping days left until Christmas. As of this writing, only 5 days are left. Boy, time sure flies when you’re having fits fun, doesn’t it.

Happy Shopping!!!

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If you are worried about recalled toys this year, I have a website for you to access. Please go there and check out the toys that are on recall so that your children are not affected by this problem. For those who have not noticed, many recalled items are from China. Please be extra careful to choose only those toys that are from the U.S. or have not occurred on the recall list. I have to say that if I were buying toys, I would certainly not buy any toys from China no matter how much I thought they were safe.

Please remember Aqua Dots that have the date rape drug ON the beads. If a child swallows it, they could become incredibly sick or die. Here is the Recalled Toys page for you:

Toy Recall Alert–Check BEFORE you buy!

Be safe out there and Happy Shopping!!

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When I was still a kid, my parents made sure I had some really good board games for Christmas. Then, when I wanted to play them, we played at least a couple of times all together. After that, I had friends who loved playing those games too. Board games might be passe’ or maybe not. I do believe that people are still interested in them because everyone can participate whereas computer games are difficult unless everyone is on their own computer.

So, what type of board games are still available? Well, of course, the old standard..Monopoly. That game alone has so many variations that it will take quite some time just viewing them. For instance, there is the standard game, the electronic bank edition, Spider-Man 3 Monopoly, Monopoly Jr. Disney edition, Disney Pixar Monopoly, Monopoly Spongebob, Monopoly Express, Littlest Pet Shop Edition, Monopoly Tropical Tycoon DVD Game, Monopoly, Here and Now and last but certainly not least, Monopoly Luxe with a $7,500 price tag. There are more, of course, but I needed to stop for a bit.

Anyone for Monopoly?

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There are times when I simply think that I live in another world. When I was growing up, I loved to play softball. Boys played baseball..girls played softball. Boys got to play in Dad’s club, little league and so on. Girls got to play in Dad’s club. That’s it. But I loved it. I had a really great glove and a bit if skill, if I do say so myself. The brand names were Rawlings and Louisville Slugger. The bats were Sluggers and the gloves came from Rawlings. Ah but now, things have changed.

I went to a baseball equipment site and took a look around. It was awesome. I haven’t seen that type of equipment for baseball ever. Of course, I haven’t played softball since I was about 12 either. Not going to tell you how many years that was but it’s been a LONG time. Take my word. Anyway, for those who are interested in that sort of thing, you should check the site out.

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Faith-based toys are now being tested in the Bible belt in some 400 Walmart stores. These toys have been sold in Christian stores for years but now the mainstream stores are beginning to see that Christians are wanting more. Bible based action figures such as Samson, David, Daniel, Noah and a 12 inch talking Jesus are being test marketed to see how much market there is for such toys.

One company has brought this to the discount giant, One2believe. They offer the action figures that have so far been sold only to churches and Christian stores directly. They call it the “battle for the toy box” and they are definitely serious. Along with Walmart, they have added Target stores as well. They plan to put the Biblical superheros into the large stores all over the country.

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After the first of the year, or so say the toy companies, the consumer will be paying much higher prices for the toys they now are buying for Christmas. Buyers can expect to pay 10% higher prices for the increased vigilance of the toy industry and the stores that sell them. Due to 3 million lead-tainted toys from China, toy makers and stores are spending more on safety.

For instance, Barbie, which sells for about $6.99 now could go up to $7.70. The analysts say that this is the biggest single price hike in a number of years. They also say that consumers are likely to see higher prices on many other Chinese imported items like children’s clothing and fish.

Apparently, the largest increase in cost comes from the stores, toy makers and the third party testing sites who are making absolutely sure of the product prior to releasing it to market. The cheaper costs of the Chinese items have been due to Walmart and other discount stores campaigning for lower costs.

Companies have been in emergency mode for some time now since the last three recalls.They have removed items from the shelves and sent them to third party testing to make sure of the safety. Most of this is going to come out in the consumer prices on the shelves. Testing, overtime and labor will drive the price up in the short term but the ongoing safety vigilance will end up costing enough for the price to rise permanently.

The toy industry is pushing for federal regulations on mandatory toy testing and inspections but the Senators are interested in even more regulations than that like fines for selling tainted toys or failing to report such dangerous items.

This is only my opinion here but I believe that a certain amount of safety rules should be in place but I do not believe it is in our best interests for the government to put things like fines for selling and failing to report the toys. This is beginning to sound like it could end up being a witch hunt eventually. This is not a good idea.

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K-Mart, having awakened from a deep sleep for many years, has decided to cash in on the idea of ethnic toys. Obviously, Black and Hispanic dolls have been here for years, they have not actually looked ethnic, rather looked more like the toy company used the white doll mold and then changed the color tone of the hair and skin. Not a great idea but all that was out there.

Now, K-Mart says that it is the only discount store doing this. They will have multicultural dolls that will be more like the ethnic group they are depicting. The campaign is starting next week with nearly four dozen different types of multicultural dolls on the shelves.

The reason they’re doing this? The statistics say that one in three Americans is a minority. That seems to be strange. With that many people being called minority, it seems to me that at least one group, not white, will eventually be the majority. Interesting. For now, K-Mart says they are doing their part. Yeah, to get more incoming cash. Don’t do us any favors there, K. The cash ain’t coming to our pockets.

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