In This Economy?

Merry Holidays, everyone!

It’s that time again. Time for all of us to go out there and spend our hard-earned money on unnecessary material goods for our friends and family. The holidays are here! Yes!

But, because 2009 has been extremely hard on the wallet, you can’t just throw your money around on a whim. You need to be sure that you’re getting a great gift, and this is where ITE comes in.

Each day, until Christmas day, we will be giving you guys some gift-giving advice. We’re going to break every day into three categories: The Good, The Bad and The Completely Bizarre. I think it’s pretty self-explanatory from there.

Today is devoted to toys for babies. Yep.

DAY 14 — Baby Toys

The Good

The Magic Blocks Farm

The plight of the American farmer has been well documented. In our current climate of sexy technology and “gimme gimme” attitudes, fewer and fewer American children aspire to be farmers when they grow up.

Now, thanks to Magic Blocks Farm, that’s all about to change.

Starting at age one, this toy helps plant the farming seed (see what I did there?) in the brains of children. Fast forward twenty years and we’ll have a new crop (YES!) of farmers that will fully replenish our country’s food supplies in no time. All thanks to Magic Blocks.

I’m not sure where ethanol fits in… but I’m sure it’s represented somehow.

GO FARMERS!

Available at chiccousa.com for $39.99.

The Bad

Earth-Friendly Stacker

This thing looks like a stack of used orthopedic devices from the local hospital. It looks like someone raided a medical supply closet, pilfered the first five neck and back braces they found, piled them on top of each other and sold them off as a sleek baby toy.

That bottom thing could also be a dog bed.

I’m sure it’s a lot of fun. And I’m sure it’s really soft. And I’m sure it’s Earth friendly (that name wouldn’t lie).

But it’s also ugly. And I’m sure of that.

The Completely Bizarre

Squeak & Peek Photo Book

Baby’s first wallet! Yeah!

Maybe it’s just me but I think it’s weird for a baby to carry around a squeaky photo book full of pictures of him or herself. Get over yourself, baby! You look weird! You’re all squishy and bald and toothless! Get a job! Yeah!

But, on the plus side, it does squeak. So it’s not all bad.

Available at infantino.com for $8.99.

–

In the interest of full disclosure I should note that all three of these gifts were taken off of parents.com’s list of the best baby toys of 2009… so really even my bad gift listed above is still fairly badass. However, even if it’s badass, it still looks like a bunch of stacked up neck braces… so yeah.

Check back tomorrow for some more gift advice. Or don’t. It’s really up to you.

Oh, and here’s the rest of the guide:

• Day 13 — Etsy Gifts
• Day 12 — Snuggie & Snuggie-related Items
• Day 11 — Billy Mays Gifts
• Day 10 — TV Shows on DVD
• Day 9 — Ed Hardy Gifts
• Day 8 — Gift Cards
• Day 7 — Video Games
• Day 6 — Cars
• Day 5 — Mustache Gifts
• Day 4 — Sarah Palin Gifts
• Day 3 — Movies on DVD
• Day 2 — Hats
• Day 1 — Music

Tags: babies, gift, gift guide, Holiday Gift Gude, holidays, toys

This entry was posted on Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 11:08 PM and is filed under Good News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.