Toy shopping is harder than I thought it would be!

[Incubus]

I have two younger half brothers, 5 and 2 years old (they are from a second marraige, and young enough to be my kids :eek: ) and I was going Christmas shopping for them this evening. At first I thought, “Oh this is going to be easy. I know what toys they play with, typical boy-type stuff.”

Then I went to some toy stores and looked around. And every toy I saw, I found a reason why I shouldn’t get it. See, I have sympathy for my dad and stepmother in that there are going to be some toys they don’t want their kids playing with, and other toys that will be a future pain in the ass. Factors that were of concern:

-Toys that have 1,000 parts, 957 of which will be lost, scattered to the winds of the space under the refidgerator, behind the couch, and tumble into the heater vent :eek:

-Toys that emit noises in excess of 90 decibels. My dad’s house has thin walls

-Toys that have some sort of gooey, vile-smelling novelty substance which will inevitably get spilled somewhere inacessible and crust over.

-Toys with a theme my dad and stepmother would not approve of. If I’m in doubt, I’ll move on.

-Toys I would feel compelled to keep for myself before wrapping them

-Board games which offer up a dynamic field of play allowing players to employ various strategies to win, a fascinating 3 hours of play for a 24 year old, but boring as hell for a 5 year old. It would still be fun to teach my brother how to play Axis and Allies someday

Shopping for my brothers was fun, and I put far more thought into it than I anticipated. I thought shopping for my parents, folks in their fifties who have little in the form of hobbies or leisurely pursuits, would be the big challenge this year, but it seems the youngest of the family proved to test my mettle this time. I also saw a lot of cool ‘educational’ type toys, stuff about the solar system, or learning to read, etc, but I was shocked how much this stuff cost- $40.00 for a book that reads the story/words aloud as the child turns the pages…for five bucks I could get just the book itself and read it to my brother enough times to know what was happening!

Oh well, I figure as long as I don’t get them clothes, they will be ecstatic.

[Morgyn]

Legos and wood blocks–the big Legos since one of the kids is only 2 and you don’t want to risk him trying to eat them. Those plus a large cardboard carton or two will probably make you their hero. Play Doh is good, too.

[don_t_ask]

Real musical instruments are good for little kids. Buy them from music shops not toy stores. Things like shakers, maracas, chinese blocks, tambourines, bongos and Hohner Marine Band harmonicas are fairly cheap, will last for years and may prove inspirational.

[ioioio]

Two words: Tonka trucks!

The best gift you can give your brothers is time spent with them. So get toys you like and have fun playing with the kids.

[interface2x]

If it makes you feel better, I have the same problem when shopping for my one year old nieces … either everything is too “old” for them or it makes the most excruciatingly annoying noises that I can’t in good conscious subject my brothers to.

[Incubus]

I wound up getting one of my brothers an Air Hogs airplane. My dad has a six-acre plot around his house, so there is plenty of open space for him to test the range of that toy (plus they are wicked cool toys). Its something he can play with outside, its not particularly noisy or in multiple pieces, it doesn’t offer up some controversial message/imagery that my dad would grimace at, etc. So it was the perfect gift!