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The question is: are toys really the right kids Christmas presents? The simple answer is a resounding yes.

Welcome to the age whereby your kid’s eyes are a little more inquisitive and they are, in general, far more savvy of the world around them than we ever were as kids. Their minds are being shaped by everything around them at an alarmingly fast rate, and it’s important to make sure that those surroundings enhance and promote good character traits.

Creative Development

Since the beginning of time, children have loved toys, and of course in more recent times, they love to play video games. Whether you are talking about childhood in your grandparent’s time, your time, or today, imagination is still the greatest gift that we can give our children, and toys are of great assistance to the creative development of any child.

With such an abundance of toys on the market, it gets harder each year to choose which are the best toys for our little ones. The first place to start would be to ask your child to write a Christmas list. Go over the list and fine tune it to ensure that as well as having entertainment value, “want” value and that it will make your child extol your praises to all their friends, that everything has a positive learning, or playful, experience. Avoid buying anything with an implication of violence or negative influences – traits which have unfortunately made their way into some of our children’s toys.

Promote Healthy Competition and Creativity

Contrary to popular belief, video games do have the capacity to offer a very positive learning experience if they are chosen wisely. They have the ability to promote healthy competition and creativity, and some online games offer your child the ability to make friends with other players around the world.

While there are those that frown on kids video games, remember that the skills gained by the player are transferable into everyday life. Competition, creativity, persistence, social skills, determination, turn taking and patience are all skills we want our children to learn, and why not kill two birds with one stone and teach these skills via a medium your child is keenly interested in? After all, isn’t the first vehicle of learning for a child through play? I guess video games present the same vehicle, albeit for today’s child.

Toys and games are terrific kids Christmas presents because they also promote sharing whilst attaining personal enjoyment. Some toys, like educational toys, are primarily offered to promote learning, while others promote creativity and problem solving. It’s really quite amazing how we can align many toys to the building blocks of life with a little imagination. A karaoke unit, for example, may be instrumental in helping a child to overcome shyness, while a Barbie doll will allow a child to venture into the depths of their own imagination.

It is essential that you follow any age recommendations given by the manufacturer, as these are included for the safety of your child.

Never forget that one of the best presents you could ever give your kids comes in the form of unconditional love. While it’s not something we can wrap up in pretty paper, and it can’t be tangibly seen, it’s one of the most powerful kids Christmas presents that can be felt.

Hey… don’t forget the batteries!

As you go about your workday, do you take time to negotiate the obstacles you regularly face or do you just walk away in disgust?

Please don’t walk away – come back and negotiate. Almost everything, in every aspect of your life, is negotiable. Having effective negotiation skills is the key. Especially in these difficult economic times, your ability to negotiate may mean the difference between success or ruin.

We negotiate transactions and conflicts – everything from which restaurant we choose for lunch to how to structure our businesses and our lives. These are the nine things you need to know before you sit down for your next negotiation.

1. Every negotiation brings an opportunity for meaningful and positive interaction. So, instead of seeing your negotiations as stressful hurdles, view them as possibility seeking endeavors.

2. Negotiation is a process, not an event. A diagram of what a negotiation should look like includes four fluid phases. The first phase is individual planning, preparation, and analysis. This is followed by relationship building; then an information exchange that includes a first offer, persuasion, concessions and compromise; and finally, agreement.

3. Before you ever meet the person on the other side, prepare. Do your homework. Find out as much as you can about your fellow negotiator and what his interests might be. Learn the facts and know your alternatives.

4. Be ready to deal with conflict by knowing yourself and your natural responses to conflict. If you are afraid of conflict you may not be able to move through a difficult, but necessary, discussion. Often it is best to respond without reacting. And while that may not be easy when you are emotionally triggered, it can bring you significant benefits.

5. Work with the person on the other side, not against them. Use your best communication skills, be clear and concise. Ask open-ended questions, then be quiet and listen. Be flexible and open to unseen possibilities.

6. Seek to understand the cultural and personality factors that may impact the process – but don’t stereotype or pigeonhole.

7. Be prepared for dirty negotiation tactics. Dirty tactics fall into three categories deliberate deception, psychological manipulation, and positional pressure maneuvers. When faced with a dirty negotiator (for instance the car salesman who leaves you sitting in a room for long periods of time) you have three options. You can identify and confront the dirty tactic, you can fall prey to it, or you can walk away. Make your decision based on the circumstances and your motivation. Remember, you choose your response.

8. Power balancing is a critical component of all negotiations. When negotiating always consider possible power imbalances and the differences between having ‘power-over’ (coercion, control, and dominance) and having the ‘power-to’ (the ability to act, to influence, to say no). Additionally, take into account the power source, which might be money, position, rank, or the personal power that emanates from a person’s individual characteristics. Finally, keep in mind that often a more motivated negotiator can overcome a lack of power.

9. There are five basic negotiation styles: competing, avoiding, accommodating, compromising, and collaborating. Each style has strengths and weaknesses and can be effective at certain times, in certain situations, and with certain individuals. While we may each have a preferred style knowing when and how to use each style appropriately can produce the most successful results.

a) Competing works when winning is the goal and winning is more important then the relationship with the person on the other side.

b) Avoiding is effective when neither the goal nor the relationship with the person on the other side is important. When it’s misused important goals are put at risk and the chance to improve the connection with the person on the other side is missed. So use this strategy with care.

c) Accommodating works best when the goal is to maintain relationships and please the other side.

d) Compromising is effective when you want to find a quick balance between meeting goals and building or maintaining a relationship.

e) Collaborating is effective when it is critical to both meet one’s own goals and to improve a relationship. While this may sound like the ideal strategy it is not appropriate for every situation; collaboration can be time consuming and often requires a commitment to the process that is not realistic unless a serious level of connection exists between the parties.

Finally, here is your homework: keep learning about negotiation and yourself as a negotiator. And, then, please, write to me and let me know your findings.