This holiday season, these toys should NOT be for any tots.

25 Most Baffling Toys List (cracked.com)

Among my favorites are the strange hermaphroditic dolls from Russia and the plush poop toys from Japan. As you will notice on the list, the Japanese have an inordinate number of feces-related toys. What gives?

Although these toys are not manufactured by Mattel or Fisher-Price, I’m sure all these toys are coated with lead paint and other toxic substances guaranteed to inflict physical damage rivaling the psychological trauma.

Click here to enter http://www.cookiemag.com/go/smartcookie

Cookie magazine—Condé Nast’s lifestyle magazine for moms—created the Smart Cookie Awards in 2006 to recognize, celebrate, and support mothers who are making a big difference for women and children in the world. In addition to high-profile honorees from the fields of health, politics, science, and social work, the award recognizes one everyday extraordinary mom, who is elected by the visitors of Cookiemag.com, as a people’s choice.

Starting on November 13 and ending on December 13, Cookie will accept nominations for the contest on its website, cookiemag.com. A panel of the magazine’s editors will choose five finalists, one of whom will be elected as the Everyday Mom by visitors to the site.

This Everyday Mom is someone who is making outstanding contributions to women and children while balancing the everyday demands of modern motherhood. She will receive $35,000 from Citi for a charity of her choice, attend a gala celebration in New York City hosted by 20/20 Correspondent Deborah Roberts, and be featured in a portfolio in the May issue of Cookie.

Last year’s winner, Heidi Breeze-Harris, co-founded One By One, a nonprofit organization committed to ending obstetric fistula worldwide. Obstetric fistula, a devastating childbirth injury caused by unrelieved obstructed labor, affects women and girls living in poverty in the developing world. She was featured in the May 2007 issue along with other high-profile winners, including Sharon Stone, Mariska Hargitay, and Cynthia Nixon

I have quite a few secret shames, but the one I’m most ashamed of is my inexplicable love for Lolcats . If you haven’t yet discovered this kitschy kitty craze that’s sweeping the internet, lolcats are pics of cats (or any other cute, furry animal) with a caption written in “kitty pidgin”. Here’s a wikipedia link and some examples:

Even though my husband sighs heavily and looks at me pityingly whenever he sees me cracking up at the newest lolcat photo, I can’t seem to stop myself. Maybe it’s a glitch in my personal programming, but bizarre animal pic + illiterate captions = hilarity. And clearly, I’m not alone in this feline fetish. Time magazine and The Wall Street Journal have written articles about the lolcat phenomenon and there’s even a project underway to translate the Bible into Lolcat (the infantile, grammar-poor patois in the captions).

Here’s a sample of Genesis from lolcatbible.com :

Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem.2 Da Urfs no had shapez An haded dark face, An Ceiling Cat rode invisible bike over teh waterz.

3 At start, no has lyte. An Ceiling Cat sayz, i can haz lite? An lite wuz.4 An Ceiling Cat sawed teh lite, to seez stuffs, An splitted teh lite from dark but taht wuz ok cuz kittehs can see in teh dark An not tripz over nethin.5 An Ceiling Cat sayed light Day An dark no Day. It were FURST!!!1

Here are some more locat links, in case you’re interested .

www.lolcats.com

www.icanhascheezburger.com

Happy Caturday everyone!