Since my blogging has been slow lately, and I really have not much to blog about, I thought I’d offer some suggestions for toy purchases for the younger set seein’ as there’s only four weeks till Christmas…

So, here are the best and worst toys I’ve purchased this year, as well as a short list of toys I am considering and those I’ve scratched off my list entirely.

The Best Toy Purchases I’ve Made This Year

A dollar store super-size Snakes & Ladders game. For a buck, this plastic sheet of a game board and super sized pieces has gotten TONS of use.

David’s Puppet theater (plus an assortment of puppets) has been used constantly since we got it. My only regret is that we didn’t buy one with a larger stage like this.

LEGO Mosaics — These are great fun. The patterns that come with the sets are neat, and you can get more online from the Lego site.

AquaPlay - We got a set before summer, and it was a constant outdoor amusement. Water, boats, waves, pumps… what’s not to love? It would be an even better buy if it weren’t too cold to play with water outside for six months of the year.

LeapFrog Leapster — While this isn’t a constant plaything, it always comes along for long car, train and plane rides, and always passes the time quickly. Well worth the investment.

Rush Hour — While the box said it was for ages 8 and up, David first played this at his uncle’s house, and was hooked on it instantly. He bought it with his own money a few days later, and hasn’t lost interest in it after several months.

ScienceWiz Balance Scale - This $10 item was an impulse purchase that’s had more use than I ever imagined. It’s been fun seeing David weigh various things, as well as figure out how to balance the weights themselves. It’s tiny, and not very robust, but we’ve been careful with it and it has weathered frequent use quite well.

The Worst Toy Purchases I’ve Made This Year

Mega Blocks Spiderman 3 building set — not only was this Spider-Man vehicle set too hard for David to figure out how to build on his own, it was too hard for me to help him with, and nearly stumped his dad. The Mega Blocks blocks don’t hold together nearly as well as Lego, and the thing fell apart soon after it was assembled, whereupon it got put in a box and hasn’t been looked at since.

Marble Run — This one amazes me. I thought this would be a hit, but it’s been out of the box maybe twice in half a year.

Toys I Might Buy

Crazy Forts Construction Set
If I can find this in stock somewhere before Christmas, I’m pretty sure it’ll find its way under the tree. “Simply connect the balls and sticks and cover the structure with bedsheets to create places where imaginations flourish. Durable, portable and best of all, there’s no batteries required! You can build your own creation, a playhouse for parties, tunnels or connect with friends for spectacular structures.”

Sno-Paint
There’s no shortage of snow this year (or any year) around here, so this might be a fun addition to fort and snowman building. It’s not expensive, and I’m absolutely certain David would have fun with it so long as the painting process isn’t too difficult to do with mittens on.

Eskimold
It seems expensive for what amounts to a plastic block with a little shovel, but if it truly does make it easy to build an igloo, it might be worth looking into. And as I mentioned, there’s no shortage of snow expected any time soon.

Toys I’ve Ruled Out

Eye Clops Bionic Eye
I admit I love the concept, but since it’s tied to a TV, its utterly useless for us. Maybe EyeClops version 2 will have a built in LCD and a card slot for storage, or a USB connection at the very least and we’ll invest. But what good is a bionic eye if you can’t take it on a hike, or save the images you see, or compare two things side by side?

Fisher Price Smart Cycle
David’s begging for this, but it’s just so wrong in so many ways. I simply told him that he’s got video games and he’s got a bike. There’s no need to mix the two.

Since we’ve gotten back from vacation, things have been very hectic. Just catching up on work has been a huge task, and the process of unpacking, and getting the house ready for winter are adding to the load.

So, David has been on his own for most of the last week. We’ve missed play dates, and I wasn’t even able to get him to his Beavers meeting yesterday.  He’s had no friends over for more than a week, and while he’s not complaining, I feel so guilty it’s driving me nuts.

I can’t figure out why a temporary glitch in the scheduling of our lives is giving me this much anxiety.

It’s always weird to come back to work after a vacation. Two weeks of doing nothing in particular but visiting with family and checking out neat places, and now I’m supposed to jump back into work and schooling.

Two days later and I’m still sleeping according to the wrong time zone.

David’s favorite memories were having chickadees eat out of his hands at Hawrelak Park, riding all the rides at Galaxyland, and going for a shopping spree at Toys R Us with Uncle Gerry.