Honestly, it’s never too early to shop for Christmas.  If you want to score some of the hottest toys, you’ve got to be on top of your game.  And I’m here to help.  I’ve got a list of some of the most-wanted toys for Christmas 2009, just for you!

Zhu Zhu Pets.  These are simply flying off the shelves.  They have their own personalities, can purr, and can scoot around the floor on their own.  But the beauty is, there’s no mess to clean up!

Wild Planet Crayon Town  This play set comes in many forms, from a zoo to a horse ranch. It combines the art with construction and imaginary play.  Kids can even use old and broken crayons to make more scenery.  This toy is getting fantastic reviews!

Tamagotchi Music Star. There are lots of different “skins” and colors to choose from on this popular, tiny electronic toy.  Children raise their tamagotchi to be music stars, where they can then be in their own band and play their own music!

PixOs Ultimate 3D Design Station  Kids are able to make 2D and 3D designs with movable parts and hinges, all with no ink and zero mess.  If you haven’t yet gotten in on the PixOs bandwagon, this might be the time.  Super fun!

Printies Design Studio Lots of different sets, from Ocean to Pets, allow your kids to design and stuff their own animals.  Sort of like Build-a-Bear, but without all the extra cost! Just print out the design on an inkjet printer, and up to six pets can be made with no sewing and no glue!

Lego 2009 Advent Calendar This one you have to get before Christmas! The Lego enthusiast in your life will love building a new piece of the set every day during Advent.

Bop ItA new game for the whole family.  It’s most comparable to “Simon Says” but in the most high-tech way possible!

VTech Bugsby Reading System & Pen Bundle
  The newest reading system from VTech helps to build reading skills through comprehension, phonics, word recognition, and more!  You can begin with the starter kit, and then add more popular character titles, from Dora to Max and Ruby.

Mindflex A new, fairly amazing game that actually reads your brain waves to levitate foam balls and sends them on different obstacle courses that progress in difficulty as you master the game.  Don’t believe it?  It does actually work!

Mickey’s Magic Choo-Choo Train  Just like on the show, this train lays its own tracks!  Music and different modes make for plenty of toddler fun!

The awesome Liz managed to guess correctly from last week’s game!  The adorable tot with the big brown eyes is indeed none other than Ricky Martin.   See, I knew you would know who he was!  Liz, your prize is a pair of maracas, the better to “she-bang” with.  Er, that sounded dirtier than I meant it to be.

I want to say that today’s young gal is virtually unrecognizable, but I can see glimmers of her glam self underneath those glasses.

Wow, Michael Hutchence is simply unstoppable!  Alec Baldwin tried valiantly to give him a run for his money, and almost succeeded in winning.  But, the operative word is almost, and almost doesn’t cut it here at Teeny Manolo.

So, on to another bad boy of the 80’s.  This actor was in a show that I loved in high school, and I would watch it religiously.  Ahhh, Moonlighting, you were such a good show…

VERSUS

A study has found that children who use a pacifier for a long period of time, suck their thumbs, or are bottle-fed babies have an increased risk of speech disorders.

Ugh.

Now mind you, this is just one study, and it was published in a medical journal I’ve never heard of.

The only thing that apparently does not put your child  at risk is breastfeeding. 

Am I the only one who has had it up to here with all of these crazy studies, all of them showing different horrible things that can happen to your child because you, the parent, allowed it to happen?  That because of the wrong choices you made, your child will suffer later on down the line?  Even though you were just trying to do the best you could at the time.

Cut us some slack, will ya?

Take the thumb-sucking.  Children have been thumb-sucking for what is most likely millennia, but all of a sudden there is a huge problem with it.

The Munchkin hated pacifiers, he would spit them out whenever I tried to give one to him, and I eventually gave up.  He never sucked his thumb, but man, did he love that bottle.  I allowed him to use it to fall asleep (filled with water, of course) for probably much longer than I should have, past the age of two for sure.  It was honestly the only way he was able to fall asleep for a very long time.  But his speech is perfect. 

I only know one child who has a speech impediment, one that has required a speech therapist.  And guess what?  He was exclusively breastfed for over a year.  No pacifiers, either.

I am aware that my examples are only anecdotal evidence, but you know what, I”m cranky today.

So really, want to join me in telling these researchers to take their data and shove it?  Come on, you know you want to be crabby with me!

Tell me he doesn’t look like Dad in this photo!

Today is picture day for the Munchkin.

And although I have been told by many an unbiased person that he is a handsome young lad, I’m afraid his 1st grade school picture is destined to look like this:

You see, his two front teeth are extremely loose, and one of them might even have come out yesterday if I had allowed him to wiggle it as much as he wanted.  Because they are so loose, there are big gaps in between all of his front teeth, and the loosest one is actually sticking out at an angle.

OK, so maybe he won’t have the horrible haircut and ‘stache, but I have a feeling it’s going to be pretty close.

Yes, the title is a question because I don’t know what constitutes a true gentleman any more.

You see, I have explained and discussed the differences between girls and boys with the Munchkin, but never in a “girls are delicate flowers” type of way.  He obviously knows that there are physical differences and sometimes preferences toward dolls and such, but that’s where it pretty much ends. I’ve never told him to give girls any type of special treatment just because they are girls.  I’m a feminist like that.

So this past weekend at a family gathering, I heard my father say to my son, “You need to let Jenna pick which seat she wants to sit on, because, you know, she’s a girl.”

And my father meant that in the most gallant way possible, that old-school thought process that opens doors for ladies, pushes in their chairs, and things of that nature.

Well, I have to say my son resisted the notion that Jenna should get to pick something over him just because she is a girl, and I have to say that I sort of agree with him.

Now, if my father had simply said, “Jenna gets to pick first because she is your guest” which she was, that is an entirely different story.   But he didn’t, and the whole situation got me to thinking about how to deal with the whole chivalry thing.

So now I am torn. 

I really do want my son to be the kind of person that opens doors for ladies and pushes in his girlfriend’s chair when they go to a nice restaurant.

But how to do that without sending the message that girls are deserving of special treatment, which many feminists say ain’t so?

Talk about mixed messages.

Any thoughts?

Or am I just overthinking this whole thing?