I keep wanting to start a petition to abolish the goody bag at kids birthday parties. But then I think about about the zillion other causes that should probably take precedence like world hunger, human rights, animal rights. Oh you get the idea. Then there’s the fear that people will think I’m a total grinch. What really gets me about these party favors is that they are usually a bunch of junk bought for less than $5 and have about 10 minutes of glory before they get tossed in the trash. The sheer quantity of this plastic junk overwhelms me and ultimately makes me feel guilty about tossing it out. The kids aren’t really excited about the junk either, but they are so accustomed to getting a gift bag at the end of the party, that it’s hard to do without it.

So instead of abolishing the gift bag, we try and come up with inexpensive items that won’t get tossed out immediately.

Here are some ideas and please feel free to add your own.

• books. Lindsay is in the early reader phase, so you can buy a paperback book for $3-4.
• flashlight. We just had a pretend sleepover party, so the kids picked flashlights of different colors and used them in the fort we made. We were able to get a decent quality flashlight for about $4.
• homemade cookies. Cute shapes and colors make them even nicer.
• cookie cutter. This could tie in with a party theme.
• art supplies. Markers, crayons, glitter glue, stickers are all fun. You can buy Dover sticker books for about $1.50
• t-shirts. You can buy packs of undershirts and the kids can decorate them with fabric paint as part of the party activity.
• flower pot. The kids can paint the pots and you can either give them seeds, or they can plant their own plants as part of the activity.
• balls. Superballs or even a set of jacks if you can find one in the right price range.
• magnifying glass
• finger puppets
• magnets. Kids love to play with them.
• playdoh. You can get the small containers and give 2 colors.
• rubber stamps.
• yo-yo
• colored shoe laces.

I think some of the nicest ones tie in with the party. Make and take, so to speak. What the child makes becomes a lot more meaningful than a plastic smiley face ring. You get the idea.

When I went out to let the chickens out this  morning, even the worms felt that spring was in the air. In case you’ve never seen it, here is some worm lovin’. Don’t you just love their lack of commitment as they keep their heads (?) in their respective holes?

This is the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center as I saw it last week. It fits in oddly well into its New York City surroundings. Actually it reminds me of a Buddhist temple in a weird way.

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. We chose to stay in Brooklyn this year and celebrate with friends who invited us over. We didn’t have to get into a car because they live a few blocks away from us. On Saturday morning we were going for a walk and noticed how relaxed everyone on the street looked. And then it dawned on us that these were the folks who didn’t pack into their cars and drive a zillion hours to visit relatives. We had the relaxed glow all weekend as we ambled around our neighborhood going to the movies (Where the Wild Things Are) and the playground.

After we bought our movie tickets, we still had some time so we decided to go for a walk to a nearby toy store. We are in the midst of figuring out what to get Lindsay for Hanukkah, Christmas and her birthday. It’s a tough time of year that can easily turn into a feeding frenzy of gift giving and opening. We want the gifts to be meaningful and useful, instead of the kind that get 1 hour of play and then forgotten (and worse, thrown out). While we were looking around I noticed these stickers. No, they aren’t a joke! They are made by Dover, who usually publishes wonderful, and often educational, books and coloring books. I think I need to write them a letter. What are we teaching here?? And no, there aren’t overweight kid stickers included in the book.

We also watched the movie Food, Inc. over the weekend (actually the night before Thanksgiving!), but that will be another post.