Thrashing around for birthday present ideas...

[bjarvis]

My nephew, Daniel, will be turning 4 on Sept. 20 so I have to order something very soon, but I'm still stumbling around to think of what.

There are some basic criteria:
1. cost less than $50 CDN;
2. ideally, be somewhat educational/constructive;
3. they live in a city without vast yard space so it can't be destructive to the neighbours' property or require open space;
4. Daniel's younger sister isn't a year old yet so it should be something he can use/play with by himself; and,
5. best of all, drive his parents insane with either noise messes or other general annoyances.

(5) is pretty important personally. I diapered, bathed & bottle-fed Daniel's mother so I figure I'm owed some sibling revenge via her kids. What are kindly childless gay uncles for if not to spoil the nieces & nephews rotten, then return to them to their parents to wreak havoc?

Suggestions are more than welcome. Note that I'm saving the bagpipes, accordion and drum set for xmas and/or future birthdays.

Comments

[discord35.livejournal.com]

Hm. Perhaps some of those lego blocks for smaller children? The larger ones?

If my mom is any example, the best way to annoy a mom is to provide a toy with lots of pieces that can be strewn about the house, getting underfoot. ;-)

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a plan! Finding them online is taking more effort than I suspected, but I have a few conference calls at work today which will be boring beyond belief...

[excessor.livejournal.com]

Kazoos are one of my favorites. You can never have enough kazoos. And they're so pretty to listen to!

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

Got him one for xmas last year, along with a harmonica. Irene is still seething about that, so it was definitely successful. :-)

[allanh.livejournal.com]

- The biggest Lego or Duplo set that $50 CDN can buy. Very messy.

- A "Tunerville Choo-Choo", or any kind of battery operated or wind-up moving toy that plays annoying children's tunes.

- Any "Barney" video ... but that's pretty evil.

- A drum set.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

I was shocked how expensive lego sets are these days. I'm checking into Duplo sets though. I like the moving toy idea... I was thinking about a radio-controlled car but he might be a little small for that, so perhaps the battery operated or wind-up variety would be more suitable.

Barney... *shudder*

[allanh.livejournal.com]

Actually ... Disney just released the 30th Anniversary Edition of "Schoolhouse Rock: The Complete Videos" on DVD. He's just about the right age to start watching those. And they're wholesome and educational.

$25 at Costco ... well under your CDN$50 limit.

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

My understanding is that spongebob squarepants DVDs are evil incarnate. We've also been gifted with a couple muppet sing-along videos which are uber-annoying.

And if you buy anything related to Barney for my daughter/your niece on Kent's side, I will personally throttle you.

Now, about Keely's first birthday present...

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

She's a bit young for bagpipes yet... :-)

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

but not too young for her very own mp3 player (grin)

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

My Play-Doh obession also used to drive my mother quite nuts. That stuff goes *everywhere*

Again, don't buy any for my daughter >:(

[rsc.livejournal.com]

3. they live in a city without vast yard space so it can't be destructive to the neighbours' property

and

drive his parents insane with either noise messes or other general annoyances.

...combined, compel me to point out that excessive noise may also annoy those presumably innocent neighbors.

I've lived next door to children who have been given obviously inappropriate gifts. I don't recommend it.

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

It shouldn't be too bad... the neighbourhood is composed of fully-detached single-family homes so there's no shared walls to conduct sound. As well, winter is coming on: the kiddies will be spending more time indoors.

Last year's plastic bowling ball set was a big hit. The ball & pins made a delightful sound on their hardwood floors, not to mention rolling down the stairs. The cats were even less pleased than my sister & her husband.

Well, if not noisy, then we can still go for messy. :-)

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

can't get much messier than play-doh, at least I couldn't.

And they have all those lovely molds and accessories for mum and dad to step on...

[excessor.livejournal.com]

I do this same kind of gift buying. Balsa wood airplanes are pretty good, too. It seems like a nice gift but after the fiftieth wall crash, everyone gets annoyed.