Did Santa bring you what YOU wanted this year? I’m guessing that Santa brought not a few of you cheap bathrobes, whatever makeup kits the drugstore had by the till, and that old, dream-shattering standby, slipper socks. But I’m not bitter…

Meanwhile, the adorable sprogs have difficulty posing for pictures, obscured as they are behind the vast and varied mound of life-size, robotic Godzillas, body-function-focused dolls, GI Joe Dream Foxhole with sandbag accessories, and the very last four Bratz dolls in your part of the state, not that we’re counting but Sally got eight presents, seven of them from us.

Well, they say Christmas is for children, but they don’t say you can’t get a gift the whole family will enjoy. Unfortunately, they also don’t tell you where to get the $60,000 for this eye-popping extravaganza: a life-sized portrait of the happy family, in Lego from the Neiman Marcus Christmas Gift Book.

The item description includes the following caveat regarding your would-be blockheads: “Just make sure you have the rights to their likenesses; we’re not here to judge.” In addition to concerns about rights of publicity, the fine print notes, “LEGO and the brick configurations are trademarks of the LEGO Group. The Life-Size Replicas are not affiliated with or endorsed by the LEGO Group..” all you need now is USD $60,000 per sculpture plus shipping — and a full-time nanny to make sure that Junior doesn’t dismantle the artwork during playtime. On the other hand, the reconfigurable nature of the sculptures could come in handy in the case of a post-holiday breakup.

Oh, SNAP!

Tonight marks the first night of Hanukkah, may it be the beginning of a wonderful holiday!

We here at Teeny Manolo are thankful for our super fantastic readers, without whom we’d certainly be out of a job!

While you’re obliviously enjoying a long sleep-in on Sunday morning, this is what your children are watching…at least, if they’re anything like me. Only presumably your children don’t put Bailey’s in their morning coffee.

They take it black.

Remember this album cover? Well, Spencer Elden, the former baby who has kindly recreated the photo, is now seventeen!

Feeling a bit old, are we? I know that flannel shirts are trendy again, but please, let’s keep them where they belong, wadded up at the bottom of a closet along with our college sweatshirt.

To be honest, I never liked the grunge movement or Nirvana. Although I really dig the Foo Fighters, so go figure. But, this cover meant nothing to me as a result of my Nirvana dislike.

And a tidbit from EW says:

Elden’s babe-baiting repertoire is apparently fairly limited: He is quoted in the article as saying that he has to use “stupid pickup lines like, ‘You want to see my penis … again?”

Kurt would be proud.

To me, the best kind of toy is one that is both fun and functional. Can you learn something while having a blast? Even if it is something extremely simple about physics, or about colors, it certainly makes parents feel better. Children learn more through play than we think they do. From toddlers to teens, I’ve rounded up some of the best educational toys for gift-giving.

Doorway Puppet Theater Ideal for homes that don’t have the space for a full-sized theater. Well heck, I’m going to say that unless you have some sort of mansion, this is probably the way to go.

Deluxe Play Cube Absolutely ideal for toddlers. I was lucky enough to inherit one of these cubes, and they are fantastic. They are durable, last forever, and kids are endlessly fascinated with them.

Classic Acoustic Guitar Why spend twenty dollars on a guitar that is just going to break in a few months? Spend a few extra dollars for this award-winning guitar that features nylon strings, real turnable machine heads, and an accurate fingerboard. Also comes with a songbook and color-coded finger position markers for easy learning.

>Lockstitch Sewing Machine and Kit Indulge your future Project Runway contestant with adjustable stitch lengths, 2 speeds, easy drop-in bobbin, foot pedal, and dual power options. Features a case with thread, trim, ribbons, and a booklet for project ideas.

Giant 6-Foot Motion Tower I cannot wait for when my own son is big enough for this! Your budding engineer can build a tower up to six feet in height, complete with ball trampolines and baskets. Kit comes complete with tracks, funnel, motorized elevator, 6 balls, and instructional CD that teaches physics and engineering principles. Just like the ones in museums!

Super Art Table Their inner Van Gogh is channeled through this chalkboard tabletop surface featuring 3 recessed cup holes, 3 cups, printed canvas storage bag, paper roll, and a child-safe paper cutter. The paper roll holder feeds paper from under the table to the tabletop.

Smart Globe Deluxe Touch the wireless interactive pen any place on the SmartGlobe and learn thousands of amazing facts about the world. Compare populations, learn flying times between destinations, hear national anthems, understand currencies, and so much more. Includes USB connection for downloading up-to-date world news and new information.

Deluxe Circuit Kit Children learn the basics by building electronic experiments such as alarms, flashlights, doorbells, and more ~ even launch a propeller with the dual-speed fan. We have one of these, and we love it, especially the propeller!

Piano Wizard Award winning Piano Wizard’s four-step process to reading music makes learning to play the piano fun and easy. Includes 100 songs and lessons, and a 49-note digital keyboard that plugs right into your Mac or PC. Fun for the entire family.

Power House Energy Kit Kit The award-winning Power House helps early teens discover the ways energy can be created from sun, wind, plants, and electro-chemical reactions; Kit comes with an incredible 96-page full-color lab manual that introduces key concepts and describes dozens of experiments and scientific activities.

Never let it be said that TeenyManolo is not on top of the trends. Forget sub-prime mortgages; we’ve found you the very latest in surefire hawt investment vehicles!

A mere 48 hours after we brought you our groundbreaking Poohsticks Championship exposé, we can report that the value of Winnie the Pooh portraits and works from the school of Pooh have skyrocketed in price. This humble dinner party sketch, estimated to fetch a mere 20,000 pounds sterling, was in fact auctioned off for 31,200 pounds ($50,000).

And you can still get in on the Pooh-laden action!

From Reuters:

The sale in London on December 17, which also includes a selection of rare Milne books, is expected to fetch 650-930,000 pounds.

The illustrations, from the collections of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone, are among the most recognizable, including “He went on tracking, and Piglet … ran after him” depicting Pooh and Piglet turning to each other as they walk away.

It is expected to fetch 40-60,000 pounds.

Also on offer is “Bump, bump, bump – going up the stairs” featuring Christopher Robin dragging his bear by the leg up the stairs beside him. It is valued at 50-70,000 pounds.

If you listen closely, you can hear piggybanks all over the world being emptied. And the word on the street is that Eeyore will be ringing the opening bell for the NYSE any day now.

I want you to think back to the original animated Disney movie, Peter Pan.

Who doesn’t love them some Peter Pan? Er, in a purely platonic way, I mean. The characters of Peter, Wendy, Hook, Smee, Tinkerbell, and hell, even the crocodile are perfect and I wouldn’t change a single frame.

But today I got a letter from Disney stating that because the Disney Fairies have become a huge marketing juggernaut for them (uh, my words, not theirs) a movie is coming out in which Tinkerbell speaks.

Ack!

I don’t want Tinkerbell to speak! I want to stay cozily wrapped up in my dusty old cocoon of nostalgia of Tinkerbell communicating only with the sound of chiming, tinkling bells. There will be no beautiful butterfly! This caterpillar wants to stay a caterpillar, completely ignorant of what Tinkerbell’s voice sounds like.

There are just no mysteries left for kids anymore, are there?

Even worse? This is a straight-to-DVD release. Tinkerbell’s voice doesn’t even get its own movie premiere.

Somewhere, the Lost Boys are weeping.