Day Two Hundred Sixty-Three
I hereby solemnly swear that I will stop begging you to help with Christmas Crazy after this post. For real. This is my last pleeeeeeeeeease. The next time you'll hear about it will be the end-of-project photo that we all look at in amazement because HOW DOES THIS THING WORK?
I still can't answer that question. I just know that it does.
(An aside - this year's photo will not be the WHOLE project. I have a pickup of toys that I will be doing from that place I used to work at a week after the main delivery is going to be made. The photo will be the internet's entire contribution, though.)
The total as of this very moment is at $7750, which is nothing short of fantastic and amazing and ... thank you so much. Of that $7750, there is $1310 in cash money that I need to go spend on magical toys and gifts cards.
Which is why I need a different kind of help. If you have a minute, drop a comment or tweet or Facebook comment and let me know what Must Have toys and such I should go find. I mean, if I'm going to leave my house to shop, which is what is going to have to happen, it is going to be the most epic of shopping trips. Give me some objectives. Bonus points for ideas for boys and gender neutral toys because obviously I have this whole girl thing sort of understood.
Or at least as much as anyone can understand teenage girls. (Why are they so ... teenagey? I wonder that a lot. You would think that evolution would have led to less teenagish teenagers by now. ANYWAY.)
While I'm busy with this whole begging for your help thing, can we wrap up the Amazon Wish List? It's down to just a few hundred dollars worth of items and it would be swell if it were completely cleared. Confession: I keep upping the number of Amazon Fires. I'm going to keep doing it, too, because they are an incredibly perfect gift and the price dropped back down under $40. We should send them all to Center for Victims.
The PayPal link is also active, just in case you want to make that $1310 shopping spree even more challenging. Technically we're working on the gift cards that make it possible for the shelter to fill in any gaps, but still. Make my life harder! Please!
I have to cut everything off on Saturday, so move quick if you want the karma and warm fuzzies that goes with making the world a better place one holiday gift at a time.
And thanks again for making this corner of the internet so full of magic and good.
(That's 2018's magical end photo. Have I mentioned how much I love making that mountain each year? BECAUSE I DO. Make it harder. Send more stuff. LET'S DO THIS!)
Monday, December 7, 2020
Reader Comments (4)
Two words - magnetic tiles. Brand doesn't matter, just get what's on sale. They're gender neutral and great fun for kids of all ages. My 1 year old loves them, my 5 year old loves them, and I've seen kids of all ages (including teens) playing with them. Even my husband and I get a kick out of building with them and the kids.
Magnetic tiles for sure. Rescue bots and other transformers. Hot wheels tracks. Kinetic sand. Table top foosball game. Paw patrol for little boys/kids. There’s this pooping flamingo game that every kid under 5 seems to want (gotta go flamingo). Ryan’s world vault or treasure chest. My boys play non stop with plastic dinosaur or animal figures. Slime, play doh, silly putty. Magna doodle or boogie board.
My 11 year old son really likes card games - Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, Exploding Kittens, Taco vs. Burrito and Sleeping Queens (which he mostly plays with his younger sister). He also likes to play with any kind of sports equipment including play level football and hockey helmets.
A toy garden. My kids had this and I loved to play with it too: https://www.amazon.com/CENOVE-Toddler-Flower-Building-Educational/dp/B07Z38QXJF/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=toy+garden&qid=1607444741&sr=8-4
Music toys of any kind.