• Magazines: Guys like magazines.  Personally, I have active subscriptions to over 10 magazines ranging from American Photo to Automobile. Pick something the guy in your life likes and get his something to read about it…you know during those 10-30minute daily reading sessions that he enjoys so much.
• Tools: Guys love the big expensive pneumatic powered ratcheting torque wrenching impact gunning over the top tools that we’ll find one use for and then ditch somewhere in a remote corner of the garage for a few years.  It’s in our DNA to overpay for a weapon that is too much tool for the job.  Help us out and get us something small, useful and practical.  Personally, I’d suggest a good multi-tool like the Leatherman Freestyle CX or any other Leatherman branded multi-tool. Under $100, even under $50 for the smaller ones and incredibly useful.
• Music: Is your man obsessed with 90s rock legends like Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Nelson?  Save yourself the embarrassment asking for the new Gravity Kills album at Best Buy and grab him an Amazon MP3 Gift Card (he can also use it for other merchandise).
• DVDs: Men are busy creatures.  It’s tough to schedule quality TV time when we’re already booked with happy hours, football and garage antics.  TV on DVD is quite possibly one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century.  Two of my favorites right now are Dexter and Planet Earth: The Complete BBC Series [Blu-ray]

Not a fan of reading? Here are our budget gift suggestions:

I wanted to pass on a quick savings tip before dropping the first annual PoppaBlog.com Holiday Gift Guide for Dads and Kids on you.

I recently saved 15% on a purchase just by using Bing.com’s cashback feature. Check it out here. Just search for the retailer or product that you’re interested in and save some loot. It takes about 60 days to get the money back, but come February, it’ll be nice to have some extra cash for Valentine’s Day.

The notion of directing users to a particular site for a percentage off isn’t new, another pioneer in the area is FatWallet.

Another great place to look is the same place that takes money from you every month, your credit cards. Discover offers their Shop Discover and American Express has shopAmex (which will actually let you use your points for merchandise).

Bank of America has announced Add It Up which offers percentage discounts as well, and works with their credit and debit cards.

Some workplaces offer additional benefits in the form of employee discounts. For example, I recently purchased a Sears gift card for my father and received a 15% discount, just for being an employee of my company! Check with your HR people to see if you have anything similar.

I’m sure there are a pile of cash back and rewards programs out there worth mentioning. If you know of any, please comment and share with the readers.

Have a hipster friend with kids?  Are you a hipster who not only has a kid, but still plays with toys?  Lubies, from Rocket USA are right up your alley.  Get something you can’t find at Toys R Us or Target for your animal loving kid or stuffed toy collector.

From Plastic and Plush

The second half of Lubies Series 2 is made up of animals that you’d probably see at a nearby zoo or an African Safari. Monkeys, lions, giraffes, and hippos are all recognizable animals, so little kids will know what they are. And as with all of the Lubies plushies, these are super soft and made of various fabrics.

The Monkey will probably be the most popular Lubies Series 2 plush with youngsters. It has a cute little nose and tiny little tail.

Buy them here:

Lubies by Rocket USA – Monkey

Stay tuned, we’re ramping up for a holiday gift guide here at PoppaBlog.com.  We’ll try to focus on gifts for your kids and for dads, from teh obscure and unique to perfect gifts for anyone.

She is the queen of jeans…and online shopping. This is right up her alley, and I’m assuming your wives will love it too.

Amazon is carrying nice jeans (Rock & Republic, Joes, Lucky, 7 for All Mankind)…with free shipping and returns.

Originally seen on NOTCOT

Not only are they stylish, but they’re a great alternative to the pedestrian Fisher-Price toys that the boring daycare masses are playing with…how else is your kid going to grow up to be a fixed gear bike riding hipster if you don’t start them early?

Also, as seen on NOTCOT, the BRIO network for the older kids with BRIO train sets:

BRIO Network is not your classic toy train set. It’s an original world of Rail Play featuring the imaginary creatures who live inside your computer. They drive super-cool vehicles around wooden train tracks. They can listen to their messages and interact in fun, new ways. Though the networkers are inspired by the computer world, you do not need a computer to play with them.

The BRIO Network

Too bad. I mean, I would, but it’s just not worth it.

The Graco Compact Infant Swing just isn’t that great. It does what it is supposed to do. You put your kid in it, turn it on and it rocks them. My wife and I were looking for a secondary swing for our room or the study that we could use to plop the little princess in while we try to get some work done. We already had the mac daddy Fisher-Price Papasan Cradle Swing but instead of spending the $120 on the one that we knew would be great, we went for the $70 model to save a few bucks.

At first glance, the swing seems OK, it’s small, compact and with nothing hanging over top of the baby.  Easy in and easy out operation for sure.  If your kid is a runt.  My daughter is a big girl…not some 30 pound fatty, but close to 20lbs at 5 months (97th percentile)…and at 4 months she essentially outgrew the swing.  Yes, she still fit, but she just wasn’t comfortable in it.  Which meant about 5 minutes of amusement followed by a few minutes of uncomfortable squirming which was then finished off with some crying.  To top off the overall small size of the swing, the leg straps are almost impossible to use past 10-12lbs, so once the kid gets big, the swing becomes useless.  It’s not the most stable thing either.  I mean, I never felt like my baby was going to fall out of it, or that it would collapse, but it just wasn’t sturdy.  not quite flimsy, but definitely not solid.

It does have some perks.  It’s small and light, which is nice since we bought it to take from room to room.  I’m really trying to think of something else here…

I think that if it was under $40, I wouldn’t be so up in arms about it’s size and quality.  At $70 it’s just too much for a mediocre swing.

It does get pretty good reviews on Amazon (I’m guessing by people with normal sized babies) so it may be worth checking out. I’d suggest avoiding it all together though and just go for the Fisher Price model.

But wait there’s more…PoppaBlog is blazing straight into 2003 and bringing you embedded video. YES, video on a website.  We’re all about pushing the envelope.  Without further adieu, my awesome kid, in her awesome ExerSaucer making the neighbor kids just give up out of sheer jealousy.

What are you waiting for? Buy it! Be a good dad…It has a koala, a singing lizard and MONKEYS! Click below now if you love your kids!

Evenflo ExerSaucer Triple Fun – Jungle

The new Learn to Read Pre-K Level 1 is being offered for an introductory price of $14.98. Use coupon code PRE50.
Click here

There is also a Hooked on Phonics banner advertisement if you look to the right.

My greatest fear has been realized…will we end up in a minivan? Oh dear god, I’m going to be that suburban dad, carting around my kid and 6 of her friends in our minivan. OK we only have one kid, I’m being dramatic, but we do need a new vehicle that is small wife (5 feet and some change) and HUGE baby (13+lbs/25 inches at 9 weeks) friendly. I think we’re part of the crossover target demographic. A vehicle that in the past I viewed as useless…dismissing it for people with too much crap to buy a car or not a big enough ego to get a gas swilling SUV…but here I am, on the verge of “needing” a small SUV/crossover (or maybe a big sedan).

So where do we start? I guess a budget would be a good place, but with some manufacturers throwing $40k cars at you with 0% financing, or willing to lease you something that normally would be a $600+/mo car payment for $350/month, I have to say, we’re open. Anything will be considered. I found myself looking at the Audi Q5, Mercedes ML (Diesel) all the way to the Honda Element and Toyota Highlander. Unlike myself, my wife prefers function over form, as long as it’s a little bit unique and/or has funky styling. Also, new or used (with remaining warranty/CPO) doesn’t matter. Decent gas mileage is a plus. Also, power liftgate is a borderline requirement (if it’s an SUV/crossover).

Hopefully, I can get Mrs. New Mom to chime in here, but a few of the vehicles that we’re going to strongly consider are the following:

• Audi Q5
• Audi Q7 (Used 6 cylinder model)
• BMW 3-Series Wagon
• Lexus RX
• Toyota Highlander
• Audi A6
• Honda Element (you laugh, but it’s getting a test drive)
• Mercedes GLK Series (I’ve pretty much ruled this one out as it gets VERY expensive once you add a few options)
• your suggestions…

So please, if you have some suggestions, or know of anything that we might want to consider, please let us know. Also, I’m a sucker for a great deal (which is how I ended up with a Jeep at 0% financing and 6 months w/o a payment) so any deals you might know of, let me know in the comments. Expect to have some reviews posted here in the near future…even though we’re probably a couple of months off from making the purchase, we’re going to start auditioning a few vehicles to nail down the size and shape we’re looking for.