Want Not

Thinking about back-to-school shopping yet? (Of course you are.) Check this out—Amazon has a 6-pack of Elmer’s glue sticks (and you know you have to buy Elmer’s; the other stuff just doesn’t work as well) for just $1. Look in the “More Buying Choices” column on the right to get ‘em directly from Amazon for a buck. If you have Prime, awesome! Just pick up some glue and be on your way. If you don’t have Prime, well, these are good to keep in mind as a filler item when you’re getting your order up to $25 for free shipping.

Say whatever you like, but to me it’s not really back-to-school until we buy the glue sticks.

Remember the recent diaper deals at Amazon? Weren’t those kind of awesome?

Here’s another one, to leverage the savings before they’re gone.

Right now there’s an available $2 off Pampers coupon available through the end of July, which stacks on top of the limited-time Subscribe & Save bonus offer. Normally, S&S gives you free shipping and takes 15% off, but right now, it gives you free shipping and takes 30% off.

In summary: Discounted prices, 30% off and free shipping on top of that, and another $2 off for good measure. That’s one cheap case of diapers, is all I’m sayin’.

I think all parents know that traveling with kids is really like hitting the road with wild animals in tow. (I should know. We are on our way back from camping right now and I really thought the kids were going to come to blows in the backseat over the bag of baby carrots. Truly, we had a great time, but I am ready for a little less family togetherness.)

Anyway, as long as traveling with kids is like having animals along, why not have some animals to pack their stuff in? The last time these animal suitcase pairs were on special at Buy.com, they were very popular, and why not? Choose from penguin or tiger, both around $30 shipped, and get a rolling suitcase and a coordinating backpack suitable for all of your little animal’s traveling needs.

They’re probably not big enough to put your kids inside, but that’s probably not a good idea, anyway.

I feel the need to start this out by noting that I personally find the entire Elf on the Shelf phenomenon a little disturbing. “Hey, kids! It’s not bad enough that there’s a fat guy at the North Pole who knows if you’ve been bad or good, but there’s also a little ceramic elf who comes alive every night and spies on you for him!” It’s just… not my thing. That said, I know plenty of families who treasure the tradition of reading the book and moving the elf around and generally sending their children into therapy.

If you want to give the gift of paranoia this special Christmas tradition, you may be interested to know that The Elf on the Shelf is currently just $17.51 at Barnes & Noble, and eligible for free shipping on $25. (For comparison: It’s currently $30 at Amazon.)

Coupon code A8U8C4R should take 15% off the highest-priced item in your cart, too, in case you want to save a little more. And whether or not we agree that the elf is creepy, I think we can all agree on saving a little more.

Here’s another great one for the little kids; this would make a perfect first birthday gift (or even a shower gift if you want to look like a forward-thinking big spender).

The Playskool Step Start Walk ‘n Ride is currently available at Amazon for $13.54 (free Prime shipping or Super Saver Shipping eligible), which is about half what it usually goes for. It works as both a little ride-on and as a push-toy, and is virtually guaranteed to keep your toddler busy for at least five minutes.

Playskool should totally hire me to do their marketing. I’m a natural.

When my firstborn came along, we bought a “travel system” that was composed of a perfectly serviceable baby “bucket” carseat and a stroller that weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty pounds. I could barely wrestle that beast out of the back of the car, but at least it was really hard to push around, too. (Do I sound bitter? I may be a little bitter. This was a dozen years ago, so maybe I should let it go.)

Anyway, today’s travel systems are a heck of a lot more user- and back-friendly, not to mention just plain cheaper. Take this Graco MetroLite Travel System in Regal at Toys ‘R’ Us. Not only is it currently on sale for $140, but the price drops to $126 when you add it to your cart, and coupon code 938542 drops the price down to $120. (It ships for free, too.) Best of all, the stroller is under $20 pounds, has a 5-point harness, and gets much better ratings than the dinosaur I lugged around back in the day.

But hey, if you want a stroller that’ll give you a really good workout, this probably isn’t the deal for you.

Have you seen Toy Story 3 yet? My kids kept asking me why I was crying. (I told them to hush up and stop growing. They were very confused.) I admit it: I’m an unabashed fan of the whole trio of Toy Story movies. Even though my kids are well beyond wanting the movie-themed toys.

If you still have little ones, though, first go hug them and put some bricks on their heads so they can’t grow, then go check out today’s Target Daily Deals, all of which are Toy Story themed. Code TOEY738U should still be working for 10% off, and as always, Deals of the Day ship for free.

I’m just kidding about the bricks. They don’t work at all.