I’ve gotten a lot accomplished in terms of Christmas shopping and even Alyssa’s birthday (sidenote: I know what I’m getting my twelve year old brother for his birthday, I just don’t have the $ to get it yet), but unfortunately I haven’t gotten much for Ryan. I think I’ve picked out two items, total. Yeah, not good. But you know what? The kid is HARD to shop for. His tastes continually change, what he’s obsessed with one minute may be completely forgotten about the next. *sigh* And not only do I have to come up with shopping ideas for Dan and I, but also for my mother, for Jason, and for Dan’s family. That’s a lot of gifts to figure out for a kid who is generally hard to buy for (Alyssa, on the other hand, is ridiculously easy: Hello Kitty? Check. Glitter? Check. Girly? Check.)
What I usually wind up doing is first looking on toy websites and shopping guides for ideas. Getting a list of toys by age is pretty damn cool, IMHO, because it definitely narrows down the selection. Unfortunately, a lot of “younger”-oriented sites don’t have anything past toys for one year olds and toys for two year olds.
ebeanstalk.com, on the other hand, does. Besides baby toys, they have toys grouped by age all the way up to age 12! That’s awesome, since, you know, big kids like to play with toys too. The website is nicely organized, and I love how you can check out toys in age groups for the age group as a whole, for girls, boys, and even top sellers. You can also shop by toy category, and seek out expert advice. Finally, being able to get free shipping on orders over $65? Awesome. If you’ve ever purchased a few toys, then you know just how easy it is to rack up a $65+ purchase — free shipping definitely softens that blow!
