Get thee to Toys R Us

The lack of photos is a trial and dedicated blog fans will just have to listen to my ramblings a little longer, without the hope of pictorial relief. Having retreated to the sofa in a curious state of Victorian ennui (curtains closed, fan buzzing and mopping my fevered brow) to recover from the exertion of buying, wrapping and posting all the Christmas presents for the UK contingent, I sought to gather some strength to shop for Stu and Alice and other Australians, this week. As previously noted, I have been laid low with a head cold and so I wasn't getting very far with it all. My love of online shopping had been curtailed with no fewer than three retailers losing parcels or promising gleefully that they would deliver goods in January and a feeling of bah-humbug permeated the air.

With the school holidays and the end of parking spaces at retail malls looming, I had to pull myself together and get to Toys R Us yesterday to see the latest Mothers Group cult toy, the Bruin Musical Activity Table, which was allegedly on special. I stopped at Finks, the most expensive cafe in the East, for caffeine and then we were away.

There's something of a novelty in being able to take the recipient of the Christmas gifts with you, see if they like something and know that they won't remember anything of the expedition nor nag you to buy things that they have particularly enjoyed. Alice and I spent a merry hour looking at lots of brightly coloured plastic and listening to Essex Dad in the next aisle, "Yeah, it's pretty n everyfink but what abaaat vair development like?". I hate to be coarse, but to name numbers, I spent $100 and bought Alice such a huge pile of toys that I will have to save some for her birthday. It's a crazy bargain place, even more so than all the other shops in Sydney at the moment. I'm not paying full price for anything ever again.