Blocked by coordination concerns

I fully intended to take advantage of the lift on the state sales tax over the weekend, but I had the unfamiliar problem of not being able to think of any items I wanted to buy.

Sunday afternoon I found myself in the toy section at Target, trying to find a gift for a friend's one-year-old daughter that I would expect her to enjoy, and wouldn't mind being associated with by the other adults.

A further restriction is the child's mother cares a lot about what materials the toys are made of, so most stuffed animals were out. While I do not share this view, a gift to a young child is really a gift to the parents, money being fungible and all, and I believe when you try to help someone, you should do so on their terms.

I ended up putting the purchase on hold because I could not decide between several Lego-style knockoff plastic blocks. The actual Lego Duplo blocks are labeled for 18 months and up, and her first birthday isn't for a month, so that's no good. On the same shelf for 12 months and up were Fisher-Price Trio Junior blocks and Mega Bloks, and I didn't see any obvious difference in quality or price.

My concern was that someone else may give her a different brand of blocks, such as the three above or a dark horse candidate like Best-Lock blocks. It would be rather inconvenient for the birthday girl to have two incompatible block "scales" in her playpen, and the two would be mixed together and cause a real headache. I needed plastic block coordination before I felt comfortable making a purchase.

What's more, with the irrational power of sunk costs, that mere $20 purchase could inspire her parents to buy more blocks of the same brand and build up a single-brand block collection. However, none of those blocks looked as sturdy and uniform as the Lego blocks I grew up with. I could be hamstringing this girl's chance for a real Lego childhood. Can that all be avoiding by waiting an extra six months to go with Lego Duplo? I'm not sure.

I thought about making the purchase anyway, but I decided to put it on hold until I could coordinate things with the parents. I had to remind myself that the gift doesn't have to be a surprise to them.

After this overly-introspective attempt buying a gift, I think I can finally relate to Dr. Manhattan. Knowing too much really can paralysis your ability to function socially.