Normally this time of year I’m buying a batch of Summer Survival Gear Treats. I like to buy a new CD for the driving back and forth to lessons and camp; a new outdoor toy or two; a new board game; some craft supplies; maybe a new video game.

This year, we seem to be all set. We’ve bought all the CDs, and/or the kids are too old for them now. (I’d like to get The Book of Mormon soundtrack because they’ve loved the few songs I’ve shown them on YouTube, but the lyrics to a lot of them are…not ones I want them singing absentmindedly next year in school.) We already own a Stomp Rocket and a plasma car and a hula hoop and some jump ropes and a scooter. We’ve got Skip-bo and Wits & Wagers and Scrambled States. Our video game shelf and craft bin overfloweth, and I just got a big bag of kid books from the library book sale.

I did buy one thing:

Webkinz Deluxe Membership (screen shot from GanzEStore.com), which gives access to a bunch of otherwise-locked games and merchandise and so forth on the Webkinz site. The tipping point for me was a sale: normally it’s $45 for a year’s membership, but June 10th-13th it’s on sale for $33.74. (If you want to get the 3-month one so it’s just a summer thing, it’s $11.24.) The year-long one comes with the ability to add other accounts for $5 each, so I got it for myself (*embarrassed cough*) and added the three kids who play Webkinz. It’s hard for me to explain how thrilling this has been for us, and in fact I find I’m reluctant to try to persuade you that this isn’t a very foolish thing to spend money on, and maybe we should just change the subject. But it was Very Exciting for four of us at my house, and the year-long subscription also comes with a free Webkinz pet (online version only, no plush version), a fawn I kept for myself. It also comes with a monthly batch of virtual money, so I am saving up for a Sun Fox. …Okay, NOW I’m too embarrassed to discuss it anymore. (SUN FOX FOR ME!)
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Last year I suggested we get together a list of what we’d resorted to for Father’s Day presents, so that THIS year we’d have more ideas to consider.

I continue to recommend the Click ‘n’ Dig Wireless Remote Finder (photo from Amazon.com). We’ve had it a year, and Paul still says “Best. gift. ever.” about twice a week. One of the four sensor thingies broke after being dropped one (1) million times, but we still had a spare so we just replaced it. We keep the remote itself nailed to the wall so it can’t get lost. If we broke another of the little sensor thingies, I would buy another set without even thinking about it.

Last year, Alicia mentioned getting a travel coffee press/mug (photo from Amazon.com) with fancy coffee, for good coffee at the office or on business trips.
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Last week I talked about the gifts we were getting/considering for Edward, who is turning 8 next month. This week it’s Elizabeth’s turn: not “girl gifts,” but gifts for a child who is, as it happens, a girl.

Owl apron (photo from Amazon.com). The one I bought her was from Home Goods and has an all-over pattern of owls, but I can’t find it online and this one is cute too.

Personalized street sign (photo from Amazon.com). She’d expressed enthusiastic interest in it a number of months ago as a gift idea for a friend’s birthday party, saying she’d want one for herself, too. But then we realized with the shipping time it wouldn’t arrive before the friend’s party, so we gave up on the idea. When Paul and I discussed still using the idea for Elizabeth’s birthday, we got hung up on not knowing what the quality of the sign would be like, and not even knowing if she’d still want it now—especially if her friend didn’t have a coordinating one. Plus, I know this is a gift for HER and SHE likes the pink, but if _I_ were getting a personalized street sign I’d want it to be GREEN. And I’m not sure that shade of pink would go well with her magenta walls. So anyway, we’re not getting it for this birthday. But maybe I’ll mention it to her again and see if she still wants it at Christmas.
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I have TWO 8-year-olds to buy for, so I’m going to split it up into two posts. Today will be the things we’re getting for Edward. I dislike saying “Gift ideas for an 8-year-old BOY,” even though he is in fact a boy and there’s nothing wrong with that, because a ton of stuff the twins are interested in is neither “boy” nor “girl.” I’d hate to imply that just because I’m buying a gift for a boy, that gift would only be right for boys. So let’s call it “Gift ideas for an 8-year-old who is like Edward.” That’ll get the search results.

Scholastic 2013 Book of World Records (photo from Amazon.com). He saw this in the Scholastic catalog from school, and I made a mental note and then ordered it secretly.
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A couple of weeks ago I bought myself a Webkinz fox (photo from Amazon.com), after seeing the kids play Webkinz and feeling envious. I felt a little silly, but I shouldn’t have: for less than $10, I have had evening after evening of games. NO THEY ARE NOT BABY GAMES, SHUT UP.

And it could have been even less than less-than-$10, if I hadn’t been so picky about getting the fox. But I WAS picky about getting the fox, so it was $9.90. (I also considered the hedgehog.) (Photo from Amazon.com.)
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I hope that this post will not give you the impression that I disapprove of candy at Valentine’s Day, or that I avoid it. FAR FROM IT. I give my own kids a candy gift, and I like that they come home with a little assortment of treats from school, too: it’s nice to have a candy holiday in between Christmas and Easter, just to keep the spirits up in the cold sad part of winter.

But I know enough from seeing/hearing OTHER people discuss it that not everyone is of the same mind. For those who are trying to avoid candy for various reasons but still would like to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a gift for the kids, here are a few ideas:

Sticky Mosaics heart box (photo from Amazon.com). I have mentioned Sticky Mosaics often enough that you already know we’re fans at my house. This heart box is a fun project we’ve also given as birthday-party gifts.

Hide ‘n’ Peek Chocolates game (photo from Amazon.com). If you look at the reviews, you’ll see that a lot of people thought this was a good Valentine’s Day gift for a child, and that unfortunately there is one main problem with it: the lid doesn’t fit on right. So it kind of depends on how important that feature is for the game to be a success. If you’re going to store it in a bin anyway (if you’re like me and wouldn’t want to assemble the toy every time you put it away, for example), it won’t matter—but it might be disappointing anyway.
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Henry is going to a birthday party in a couple of weeks. I asked him what the birthday boy likes, and he said “NINJAS!!” So we are looking at ninja ideas.

Ninja costume (photo from Amazon.com). I bought this costume for Henry, for Halloween next year. It might also make a fun gift idea. But when I bought it for Henry, it was marked down to $8.50 on a post-Christmas clearance; now it’s $16-something. I find it difficult to pay more for things I could have gotten for less. Also, I’m not at all sure about the quality: the reviews are quite mixed, and for me it was worth the risk for $8.50 and for my own kid—but I feel more nervous spending $16+ and giving it to someone else’s kid.

Matryoshka ninjas (photo from Amazon.com). This was the very first search result, which is good because I never, ever, not in a dozen years of ninja birthday parties, would have thought to look for such a thing. And yet—this is exactly the sort of toy I would have found enduringly interesting as a child. Hm. Well, we’d be unlikely to be duplicating someone else’s gift!
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Nothing. There isn’t anything. Gift card, maybe.

As we enter the Land of Teens, I’m finding it more and more difficult to choose good gifts. It’s partly that the things teenagers would like to receive are usually out of our price range now. And it’s partly that teenagers seem less delighted in holidays and gifts in general.

Well, we muddle though as best we can, relying heavily on these ideas:

1. Stuff from Zazzle (screenshot from Zazzle.com). I started messing around making custom things on Zazzle, and the children were RIVETED. You could make your OWN STUFF?? And then HAVE IT?? And then they started browsing, and of course they were cracking up at every lame joke the rest of us have heard a hundred times, because the world is all fresh and new to a child, and that world includes rude homework/gassiness jokes. Zazzle stuff is pretty expensive, but they have sales all the time for 50% off in a particular category, such as mugs or t-shirts. I have the kids send me links to things they like or things they custom-designed, and then those make good gifts.

2. Game/movie/book tie-in stuff. This is where we generally find the greatest riches. Is the teenager a fan of Minecraft? Portal? Harry Potter? The Hunger Games? Then it is your good fortune to live in a capitalistic society, because if there is any product that can be tied in, it will exist.
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Here is the problem I run into at Christmas: I want to show you gift ideas, but some of my family members read this blog, and some of the things I want to show you are things I bought for them. Solution, after much brow-wrinkled concentration: tell family not to read blog this month.

Bent Objects (photo from Amazon.com). Paul saw this book somewhere and bought it for my brother’s wife (that sounds so biblical, but if I say “my sister-in-law” it could be Paul’s sister, and it would be less interesting that he’d impulsively bought a gift for her). He thought it seemed perfect for her. It seems to me that it would also be great if you need a fun and whimsical gift for someone who’s a little difficult to buy for. It’s a good “everyone will pass it around” book.

Miracle Fruit Tablets (photo from Amazon.com). Oh, these look SO As Seen on TV! But do you remember awhile back when it seemed like all the magazines/shows were doing pieces on this special berry you could chew that would make sour things taste sweet? There were, like, PARTIES where you could partake of this miracle berry? And I thought, “This sounds so cool! Where can I buy this product?” and the answer was “Nowhere! Someone has to bring it to you after visiting some other country!” OKAY THEN. But here is a packet of it! On Amazon! Clearly I have bought a packet, and we will have a party.
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I know many of us like to wait until after Thanksgiving to start thinking about Christmas, but today is the annual Melissa & Doug half-price sale on Amazon, so I urge you to consider making an exception. I think of Melissa & Doug as a highly reliable brand, as well as a brand that pleases people if I bring it to a birthday party. It SMACKS of Quality Family.

Now, when I say “half-price,” I think we all know that Amazon can be a little sneaky about that: some of these items are more like half off suggested retail price, which means more like a third off regular Amazon.com price. STILL. Others are truly half-off, and all are at least nicely on-sale. Every year I like to first see if there’s anything I want to buy for the kids for Christmas, and then I stock up on a few things for birthday parties, and a few more things to put in Christmas toy donation boxes. Some highlights of this year’s sale:

Melissa & Doug Ice Cream Set (photo from Amazon.com). My mother has this set, and it’s one of the hits of the playroom. The ice cream scoops are magnetic so they stick nicely to the scooper and to the cones; you can even do a double-scoop.
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