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Strollerderby
A Fatherly Review of the Hottest Holiday Toys
Thank god my daughter is not old enough to fall victim to the toy crazes that strike America each year. I still remember the Care Bears and Cabbage Patch Dolls of my own childhood and how I yearned ever so mightily for a cellophane wrapped cherub.
Then I grew older and the crazes had something to do with martial arts turtles and power park rangers or something. Girls soon clouded my vision and the toys were forgotten.
And now, I wait. I’m on the flip side. Instead of begging and pleading for gifts, I imagine I will one day be forced out into the December cold, charging with the hordes into packed stores in search of gifts — no, the gift.
The hot gift. The It Toy.
Shoot me now.
Like I said, my daughter is still too young to be prodded and poked into wanting the popular gift, which means I still have a little time to teach her that maybe, just maybe, the holidays mean a little bit more than things.
Oh, who am I kidding. I kind of want one of these hamsters.
The San Francisco Chronicle Moms blog compiled a list of this year’s hottest gifts, and I have to say I’m only partially impressed by the desires of today’s children.
The Zhu Zhu Pets hamsters look cute and are supposed to giggle and squeak, but at prices of up to $60 you can bet there won’t be a rodent under our tree this year. Plus, the name. If you buy one of these, you essentially have to name it Petals — as in Zhu Zhu Petals. No?
Bakugan. I have no idea what this is. But it sounds delicious.
Twilight dolls. I am sooo excited my daughter is too young for this craze and can only hope that when she’s old enough to get into silly books, the main female character won’t be a complete wimp who sits around and waits for boys to save her. Worst. Character. Ever. Definitely not waiting out in the cold for this gift.
Transformers Revenge action toys. You can combine these things to basically make Voltron. Awesome.
Tiana dolls. Too early to say. See note above about wimpy female characters. I hope when this movie comes out in December, we finally see a kick-ass girl princess.
Fisher Price Smart Fit Park. There is no. freaking. way. I’m spending any amount of money for a video game that simulates running in the park when you can open the door and make your kids go run in the park. Never going to happen. Ever.
Any requests for the It Gift this year?
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5 Comments
[...] written a few days ago about holding back judgment on the character until we had a chance to see her in action. I couldn’t stand the idea of [...]
How Does Tiana Rank in the Princess Pantheon? | Strollerderby commented on Dec 15 09 at 11:31 amjeannesager commented on Dec 06 09 at 9:31 amJust based on reading the books to my daughter, Tiana seems like the princess who finally has some grit. Here’s hoping!
Laure68 commented on Dec 06 09 at 2:34 pmMike, I kind of understand your basic sentiment around the Fisher Price DDR-type thingy. However, I see you have a girl. I have a boy who never, ever wants to sit still. We can spend all day in the park, come home, and then he still wants to run around. I was considering this just so I could have a few minutes to myself to, I don’t know, go to the bathroom or something. Or use it for a rainy day. (It is still much cheaper than a membership to one of those indoor-playground places.) Still not sure if we will get it or not, but I can see the use of it.
Dad commented on Dec 07 09 at 9:45 amSaw Princess and the Frog over the weekend. Didn’t expect to like it, but I did. Tiana does have more grit than other princesses. (disclosure: I do work for a division of Disney. Opinions are mine only.)
Lorraine commented on Dec 16 09 at 1:02 pmI concur with Laure on the Fisher Price thing. Boys don’t sit still. Ever. I have two sons and rainy days and winter always get me down.
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