Greg Little
Kicks Editor
Dog and owner in similar clothes. Staffordshire terrier and human dressed in same t-shirts in studio background
Living
Holiday trends to watch: Adult Play-Doh; stores that ship
The pandemic is turning this into a holiday shopping season like no other.
Toy companies are targeting stuck-at-home grown-ups with latte-smelling Play-Doh and Legos that turn into Warhols. Those who added a puppy to their family during the pandemic will see tons of gift options for their new furry friend. And with more people shopping online, stores are doing double duty as shipping centers to try to get gifts to doorsteps as fast as possible. Here鈥檚 what to expect:
Toys for adults
Kids aren鈥檛 the only ones who need some fun. Toy companies are targeting bored adults stuck at home during the pandemic. Need something to fidget during your next Zoom meeting? Hasbro has new moldable Play-Doh varieties that smell like stuff grown-ups would recognize: lattes, fresh cut grass and smoked meats.
Lego, meanwhile, wants adults to put on their headphones and 鈥渇orget about the rest of the world鈥 while turning the plastic pieces in their new kits into hangable art, like Andy Warhol鈥檚 famous Marilyn Monroe portraits.
Marissa DiBartolo, editor in chief of toy review site The Toy Insider, says she鈥檚 seen more coloring books and challenging puzzles being designed with adults in mind.
From YouTube to the toy store
The canines on 鈥淧aw Patrol鈥 better watch their tails. YouTube stars with millions of viewers are heading to the toy aisle, a place where TV cartoon characters used to rule.
It鈥檚 all because kids are spending so much time watching YouTube instead of cable TV, says DiBartolo. That鈥檚 made stars of the video-streaming site just as recognizable as those on Nickelodeon.
Figurines of Blippi, a man who wears orange suspenders and hosts educational kid videos on YouTube, are being sold at Target and Amazon. At Walmart, toys featuring Ryan Kaji, a kid who reviews toys on his Ryan鈥檚 World YouTube channel, have been hot sellers. Toy company VTech is playing into the trend in another way, selling a KidiZoom Creator camera that comes with a green screen so kids can add special effects and pretend to be YouTube influencers themselves.
Stores as shipping hubs
Retailers including Walmart and Best Buy that were already using their locations as hubs to ship e-commerce orders are now coming up with new strategies to get even faster. The moves come as they face a holiday crunch expected to tax shipping networks and likely result in delivery delays.
Walmart has launched a special program for the holidays. It has some of its online orders being fulfilled directly from stores using delivery services such as Postmates and DoorDash instead of carriers like FedEx or UPS. The aim is to ensure customers will be able to get their orders quickly.
Meanwhile, Best Buy says 340 of its stores are being specially designated to handle a higher volume of online orders, though all its stores ship e-commerce packages. Its goal: to have the 340 stores ship more than 70% of its ship-from-store units during the holiday quarter.
Gifts for the pooch
More people adopted puppies and kittens during the pandemic, and stores are pouncing to cash in.
Petco is selling matching pajamas for dogs and their humans with snow flakes and Christmas trees. And Chewy, the online pet store, is getting more personal, inscribing pets names into bandanas, bowls or beds.
Consulting firm Deloitte expects half of shoppers to spend some of their money on pet treats and other supplies this holiday season.
Forget about impulse shopping
It鈥檚 not just frenzied crowds that will be absent this holiday season. So will impulse shopping鈥攖he practice of throwing in extra items such as toys or bath balms as shoppers go in and out of the aisles.
Typically, 25% of holiday shopping is based on impulse, according to Marshal Cohen, chief industry advisor at NPD Group, a market research firm. This year, Cohen said he expects that figure to drop to about 10% as shoppers dramatically shift their buying online to avoid physical stores. And when they do go to stores, customers will be buying with a purpose, picking up things they need as they try to minimize exposure to COVID-19
鈥淚mpulse shopping is the icing on the cake,鈥 Cohen said. 鈥淚t is the difference between a successful, profitable holiday and a ho-hum holiday.鈥
Living
Mom thinks daughter's plans for Christmas Day are selfish
Q: My husband and I have only one child, who just got married this year. We have always spent Christmas Eve together, just she and her now-husband, and Christmas Day with our extended family.
This year they want to still spend Christmas Eve with us but not Christmas Day. It’s not to be with his family, as I said we would host everyone from his small family, though not mine, as it is too large to host during a pandemic. They have decided they want to spend Christmas Day alone.
I have never been so hurt. My husband and I will be alone on Christmas Day. We told them let’s skip Christmas Eve and get together on Christmas Day, but they said no.
We would never leave them alone. I find this to be a very selfish act, as we are getting up in years. I feel Valentine’s Day is for couples, but Christmas is for families. I can’t begin to tell you how sad and hurt I am. Am I wrong?
—Heartbroken
A: You feel what you feel, and you value what you value, so it’s not “wrong” to feel sad. The Christmas tradition you love just got wiped out—this year, at least—by an unfortunate concurrence of a virus and the debut of your daughter’s new family unit. I am sorry you’re left with Plan B.
Where you go awry is in blaming your daughter for those feelings, tarring her emotional launch as a “very selfish act.”
For one thing, she is a newlywed. Have mercy.
For another, you are both free-standing, emotionally continent adults. She’s doing this for herself, not to you. Adopt this as a mantra, if needed, because “You’re selfish for not giving me what I want!” is a stance you’ll likely regret. You’ve voiced your objections, so please now manage your disappointment—again, your absolutely understandable disappointment—“in house” from now on.
For another thing, you have Christmas Eve. And even if you didn’t, I’d be reminding you how lucky you’ve been to enjoy her company previously. (Her husband’s family? No such recent luck.) That’s because, once you’ve looked your sadness in the eye, felt it, accepted it—the next step is to put it in perspective. The secret to goodwill and good moods under changing conditions is to gather up whatever blessings remain, and get creative with them. You have time.
For another thing, your daughter is part of a continuum—the benefits of which you have clearly long enjoyed, once you and husband and child became your own primary family unit apart from his and your parents’, the center of your own holidays. Your daughter is now planting herself on this timeline. Maybe her timing isn’t ideal, but, she’s paid a heavy price already in 2020 currency, hasn’t she? Starting her marriage amid disaster? She’s entitled to this emotional milestone. Please do not dent her joy just because it’s tougher for you.
If needed, imagine your parents had tried to tell your newlywed self how to live. Presumably you’d have resented that.
Or maybe you needn’t imagine. If they actually did interfere, then let that memory talk you out of doing the same to your daughter. And if you came to be grateful for their meddling (all variables get a hearing today!), then grant your daughter the same opportunity to grow into her beliefs on her schedule.
For another thing: Do you realize you’re upset about having to accept the exact experience they’re choosing? Proof there’s no punishable-by-outrage, uniform code of holiday conduct. Or much else.
For another, then I’ll stop, promise: Christmas is one day, but your emotional tie to your daughter is 365 and eternal, so I urge you not to strain the latter in shortsighted thrall of the former.
Though, if I can think of another good reason to resist intergenerational bomb-throwing over a relatively minor slight at a time when we really, really need to keep our connections to each other warm and intact, then I will add that, too.
I don’t intend this as a piling-on of every reason you’re wrong wrong wronnnnnnnng. I spelled it all out because, again, we need each other right now and need to keep our heads; because we’re collectively kind of losing them, because holiday hard feelings are a preventable perennial, and because strong emotions tend to block new thinking. I’m hoping it helps, as you plan your next move, to send the heavy plow of logic through first.
Logic, and time. I witnessed my own parents wind up similarly and unexpectedly alone for a major holiday, despite four adult kids within driving range. Long story. My typically easygoing mom was bereft. And then I watched years of future life and past goodwill outnumber, overtake, swallow up and all but erase that day.
So un-guilt your daughter—a true Christmas gift—then start planning Plan B. Charity, music, pie? The season stands ready with its countless other gifts.
Email Carolyn at tellme@washpost.com, follow her on Facebook at carolyn.hax or chat with her online at 11 a.m. each Friday at .
Living
You should probably replace some of your fabric face masks
If your masks are beginning to feel as old as this pandemic, it鈥檚 probably time to get yourself some new ones.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises using masks that have at least two layers of tightly woven, washable, breathable fabric, such as cotton. When you wash your masks regularly, which you鈥檙e supposed to do, the fabric, as well as the fit, can begin to deteriorate. As this happens, your masks become less effective.
鈥淎 newer, fresher mask is likely to have tighter fibers, and so it鈥檚 likely better at keeping out other particles and keeping your particles in,鈥 says Krys Johnson, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at Temple University.
The exact timeline of when you need to replace a mask depends on the makeup of the mask, along with other factors like how much you鈥檙e washing it, and how often you鈥檙e taking it on and off.
But as a general rule of thumb: 鈥淭hink about masks like seasonal attire. Update every season,鈥 says Johnson.
Here鈥檚 how else to know if you should replace a mask.
A snug fit is key. If the elastic of your ear loops starts to loosen, it鈥檚 time to reach for something tighter.
That鈥檚 a bad sign, says Johnson, and may indicate that the fabric is deteriorating, or was too thin from the start.
A mask needs to cover your nose and mouth in order to work. If one of the straps falls off and you have to keep touching your mask to keep it in place, this defeats its purpose.
This is perhaps the most obvious sign of all. If your mask is ripped, it needs to go. It doesn鈥檛 matter how small or large the hole is.
Experts strongly recommend owning more than one mask. And in the winter, you鈥檒l want to carry a backup. Moving from chilly outdoor environments into cozy indoor settings makes it easy to sweat through your mask, as does wearing multiple layers. You鈥檙e advised to always swap a wet mask for a dry one. A wet mask can make it harder to breathe. And of course it鈥檚 uncomfortable, especially if you鈥檙e walking back outside into cold temps.
When in doubt, replace it, says Johnson. We want to eliminate risk as much as possible right now, and proper mask wearing is part of that.
If you have a disposable face mask, the CDC advises throwing it away after you鈥檝e worn it once.
Back
