If you don’t know what the Elf on the Shelf is, you’re missing out on one of the self-publishing miracles of the decade. At the request of CBC Radio, I weighed in on this toy. Not surprisingly, I situated myself in the Grinch-y corner. Here’s the link to my five-minute radio spot that I did […]
Toys
The Worst Toys of 2012: The What-Is-It Award
Welcome to the fourth installment in the series of the Worst Toys of 2012. If you missed the first three, check out the Laugh & Learn Apptivity Monkey, the Razor E100 Electric Scooter, and Ari Roma, the Novi Star prostitute doll. Today, I am giving out the What-Is-It Award. This honor goes to a toy that is […]
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a TV News Spot
Last Monday, I had the pleasure of being on The Calgary Eyeopener, a popular morning radio show in our city run by CBC (Canada’s version of NPR). I had been in touch with the producers regarding my post, “5 Best-Toys-of-2010 That Really Suck,” and they were interested in doing a seven minute segment live on […]
Tantrums and Knuckleheaded Parenting Ideas
I thought I was done with tantrums. I mean, my twins are nearly six, and we’ve had one year free of embarrass-mom-in-public moments. Most tantrums I barely remember, my body activating the Parenting-Amnesia reflex, the one that enables moms and dads to crawl out of bed the next morning at 5:45. There are some vague […]
Black Friday: Five "Best of 2009" Toys That Really Suck
It’s the end of Black Friday. From corporate America’s perspective, this means today was the biggest shopping day of the year, offering retailers a chance to jump from a deficit (red) to a profit (black). From a parent’s perspective, however, Black Friday means the opposite: bankrolling Santa’s shopping spree will send my VISA card into […]
Better Than Cheap Plastic Crap: 5 Toys from the 1970s I’m Nostalgic About
With increasing frequency, I find myself starting sentences with a phrase I thought I’d never say: “When I was your age…” Yup, nothing says you’re old like those words, which have been uttered by old people since the Industrial Revolution. Usually, “when I was your age” serves as a cop-out for my cheapness. I say […]