5 Things NOT to Get for Christmas

Piggybacking on my previous post about coffee cups and hats, I would like to highlight a few gift ideas I have stumbled across that I can’t imagine really anyone would ever need.  Forgive me for reiterating my dilemma with the cups and caps, but I like to make a point.  So, here they are, 5 things I think you should not buy someone for Christmas:  

1. More coffee cups.  Please don’t buy anyone another coffee cup regardless of how funny it may be.  Coffee cups in particular seem like coat hangers in the way they mysteriously multiply unnoticed until one day you open the cupboard to get a plate and suddenly realize the whole thing is nothing but coffee cups.  This year just buy the coffee, tea, or hot chocolate and skip the mug.  The exception here is travel mugs which we seem to lose all the time.
   
2. Baseball hats seem to multiply the way the cups do.  They accumulate from sports teams and souvenirs.  It seems like I often have a bag of them in the basement waiting to be donated.  
   
3. Almost anything at Bed Bath & Beyond like a $100 towel warmer or a popcorn machine shaped like the Stanley Cup.  And even the biggest hockey fan doesn’t really need a $50 NHL Goal Light and Authentic Horn to celebrate every goal their favorite team scores.  I have to admit though that I’m on the fence about the $50 Darth Vader Toaster.  Tis’ the Star Wars season this year.
   
4. The Useless Box Kit which is kind of cool in that you have to put some soldering skills to work in order to assemble the 50 piece kit.  However, once you’ve completed it and installed the required 2 AA batteries, it just sits on your desk waiting for someone to come along and touch the “on” switch.  At that point, a small finger pops out of the top and turns the switch off.  That’s it.  I’m sure it’s hilarious for a few minutes and then quickly becomes a dust collector that you have to feed batteries.
   
5. Clear Legos.  I can’t think of a better way to injure your feet than giving your kids some essentially invisible pieces of plastic with sharp edges to scatter around the house.  I have enough trouble avoiding the ones you can actually see.  Truly the gift that keeps on giving.
   

I’m keeping this one short and likely won’t get anything else written before Christmas, so if anyone actually reads this, I hope you have a Merry Christmas.  Watch for links to my videos of our lights display and don't be shy about subscribing to my newsletter below.