One hot July day, my then four-and-a-half-year-old son and I went to a neighborhood yard sale, where he found the new love of his life-a scraggly-looking, brown monkey with stretchy, rubbery arms. But there was something in monkey’s sweet, wise face that struck a cord with my son and a new friendship was born. With a soft, cuddly body and stretchy arms that could be pulled back and then let go for a sling shot effect, what’s not to love? “Stretch-o,” as he would come to be named, accompanied my son everywhere. To preschool, on car rides, to the store, and of course, to bed with him every night. You know where I’m going with this, right? You guessed it. One night at bedtime, my son asked, “Where’s Stretch-o?” Stretch-o was nowhere to be found. Darn it. After a perfunctory search of the house-still nothing. “He must be at school,” I told him.
Stretch-o Lost & Found
After a few days, it became clear that we were not going to find him. My son cried every time he thought about it, telling me many times during the day, “I still feel sad about Stretch-o.” I thought my heart might break. After we realized that Stretch-o may be lost good this time, the search began for his replacement. Before the invention of the Internet, if a child lost a beloved toy, parents would have to call or visit multiple stores, hoping to find an exact replica, sometimes coming back empty-handed. I have a friend whom, before the Internet was what it is today, called every Hallmark store on the East Coast to find a particular stuffed dinosaur for her son, finally locating one in Florida. But in my case, I googled “stretchy monkey arms” and was immediately rewarded with search results showing a number of online stores with Stretch Zoo Monkeys. Hooray for Amazon.com. Gotta love them. So with Stretch-o #2 on his way, things were definitely looking up.
Fast forward a couple of days when my neighbor’s son was over playing video games with my son in the basement. “We found Stretch-o!” My neighbor’s son yelled from downstairs. My son then came running up the stairs with his monkey in his arms. Stretch-o had been hiding between the television and the video game console, visible only from certain angles. “I’m so happy for you,” I said. “Now you’ll have two!” In two more days, Stretch-o #2 arrived, who was later named “Elastic.” Well, Elastic and Stretch-o made a good pair for about a week before Elastic also went missing. “I don’t care,” my son said. “I still have Stretch-o.”
Elastic gets replaced
That was about one year ago. Elastic never turned up, but Stretch-o is still with us, although he is a little worse for the wear after multiple surgeries with needle and thread. With his birthday approaching, my son has asked for a “brother” for Stretch-o. No longer available on Amazon, my heart skipped a beat. But thanks to the wonders of the Internet, another was found and is on its way. What did we do before we had this instant gratification known as the World Wide Web? What did our kids do? I am sure we made it through somehow, although it is hard to remember a time when we had to do research the old fashioned way and we had to deal with disappointment when we simply could not replace something valuable and rare. I am sure there is a lesson to be learned here, including that kids have to learn the value of money and possessions and to not take things for granted and yada, yada, yada. That being said… in the astute words of the credit card commercial….Stretchy Monkey from the online toy store…ten dollars, including shipping… a birthday wish coming true for my little boy….priceless.
Has your child ever lost a favorite toy? What did you do?
This version of the Christmas Carol story is by no means the most popular. Most people I know have never seen it and it was not a favorite of the critics but what do they know. This version happens to be my favorite and is also my top pick for our Christmas movie list. It stars Albert Finney as both young and old Scrooge and he does a phenomenal job. It was made in 1970 and what sets it apart from the rest is the music. That’s right, it’s a good old-fashioned musical and it’s one of the things I love about it. I grew up watching this movie. Every year for as long as I can remember, I have watched this movie with my family; first with my parents and sister and now with my wife and boys. I still look forward to it every year. If you don’t own it, it’s a good one to grab and is available from Amazon at 
Another Christmas classic! There have been a few versions of this movie over the years but none of the remakes can hold a candle to the original. Miracle on 34th Street came out in 1947 and stars Edmund Gwenn as Santa Clause, John Payne as Fred Gailey, the beautiful Maureen O’Hara as Doris Walker and a young Natalie Wood as her daughter, Susan Walker. It’s about a sweet and kind old man who believes he is Santa Claus. He is surrounded by skeptics but in the end, everyone comes to believe and understand that some things are always worth believing in, even after you become an adult and think you know better. It is available from Amazon at 
That’s Right! Before you start complaining, Die Hard is definitely a Christmas movie and there is nothing I want to see more after being dragged out into the cold to go Christmas shopping with my wife. There are actually a few great action movies that we love to watch at Christmas time, the first Die Hard is my favorite but Lethal Weapon and LA Confidential aren’t far behind! What makes it a Christmas movie? The whole thing takes place at a Christmas party and if that’s not enough, he beats the bad guy by hiding his gun with Christmas Ho Ho Ho tape! C’mon, it’s jolly and awesome all at the same time! It is available from Amazon at 
I hesitated to put this movie on this list because after all, this is a chick flick and I am sure my wife is going to read this. I try not to admit when I like these kinds of movies, otherwise, I will be flooded with them. But I would be remiss if I left this movie off the list because I really enjoy it. Few things express the spirit of Christmas more then Love and that is what this movie is all about. It came out in 2003 and has a lot of stars. It’s a movie about a different couples and how their love lives interact during the Christmas season. It’s heartwarming and full of the Christmas spirit. It is available from Amazon at 
If I had watched this movie alone, I am not sure it would have made it into my top 10. It’s a great movie, don’t get me wrong, but I on it’s own, it’s not a top 10 for me. The tipping point was watching it with my oldest boy last year. He was 3 at the time and was obsessed with trains. When we showed him this movie at Christmas time it was such a special and memorable experience that I couldn’t wait to show it to him again. He was at the edge of his seat with unbridled joy and excitement last year. It was all the things that mattered to him at that moment, Trains and Santa Claus. It is available from Amazon at 
The other day we received a 16pc large red building block set, in the mail for a product review. These are by Smart Monkey Toys and I have got to tell you; even before I started assembling the blocks, I could tell they were going to be a hit with my boys.
The other day I was on Facebook – which truth be told – is a common occurrence for me. While there, I was reading through all of the things my friends and family — felt compelled to share with their friends and family on that particular day. Suddenly, I stumbled upon a link to an article that my super cool cousin posted. The first thing I noticed, was a picture of a beautiful Disney princess smiling at me; I immediately recognized that it was Cinderella. The title of the article was “
Here are a few strategies for watching movies more cheaply at home. Since I have two children, I have developed these strategies out of necessity rather than choice, including one called “how to avoid late fees.” This one hatched out of an incident when my then three-year-old daughter cried hysterically every time I tried to return Dora’s Halloween, resulting in $21.00 in fees. And it wasn’t even Halloween! Goodbye local movie store…hello Netflix!