holiday shopping

I can't believe it, but the stores have already started putting out their Christmas stuff. I just received my latest "Today's Parent" magazine and it is the November issue including their top toy list as well as a Mattel insert for helping a child make their letter to Santa. The worst part of it all is that I have been sucked in by it. I have already started my Christmas shopping.

I have E mostly done and now I am starting on the rest of the family. E is going to get the new tag reader from me as well as a couple of the books that go with it that I ordered online so that I could get them in Spanish. Luckily LeapFrog started discounting their books as they were very pricey. The store across from my work had these beautiful eco-friendly canvas bags for kids that they were selling for over $20 a month ago, but as of yesterday, I picked up a cute pink one for E that was $4. It is the perfect size for her new books and has a little pocket on the inside to hold her tag reader. I love it a whole lot more than the hard plastic case being marketed by LeapFrog.

I am not really a fan of the electronic toys, but this one is different in that I am hoping it will help E learn how to read in Spanish. I do not always pronounce the words correctly when we read Spanish books together and her Spanish teachers are having to re-teach E the correct way to say a word that I gave to her incorrectly. It makes me feel such guilt and it is a huge disservice to a child already reading and who should be able to do so in her mother tongue. This way, reading for her, in Spanish, will be extra fun as the tag not only reads the book but has games that go with each book. I am a little excited to use this toy myself.