With four young children, a couple of working parents, two dogs, a guinea pig, a fish named John, and a hamster who’s been MIA for about a month, my life sometimes spirals out of control. Breakfast dishes are left on the counter for more than twelve hours, dirty socks are rescued and reused from the depths of the laundry abyss, and small pets sometimes go unfed (but only occasionally—usually the kids alert me when they find Bob, the guinea pig, crawling listlessly toward a water mirage in his basement cage).
The most recent faux pas, however, involved my soon-to-be 9-year-old son and his upcoming birthday. The problem? I forgot his birthday was upcoming. Let’s just say that was definitely not my proudest parenting moment.
Rewind to approximately three years ago when I first discovered the joys of online shopping. With an eight, six, four, and two-year-old in my house, eToys quickly rose to the top of my Favorite Sites list. At some point during one of my shopping experiences, I completed an online questionnaire about my kids’ birthdates, genders, and general interests to help guide and narrow my toy purchases.
Who knew I could be so proactive?
Fast-forward back to 2008. While cleaning out my daily email this week, I noticed a message in my inbox that read, “Son #2 (they actually used his real name) is about to turn 9!” With a sharp intake of breath, I checked my online calendar to make sure I still had time to redeem myself--or better yet, pretend I’d been on top of the birthday thing all along. One week to go. Whew!
So, I clicked on the recommended toys for boys ages 9-12, was directed to the eToys website, and thus met with over 300 items any young boy would be thrilled to own. With a remote control dragonfly, a distance-measuring football, several books about komodo dragons, and a Nintendo DS game on the way, I sat back and breathed a sigh of relief.
Occasionally, we all need a little nudge to stay on track. I'll be forever loyal to eToys for taking the information I gave them three years ago and feeding it back to me at a time when I was very desperate and very likely to make a purchase. It was a win-win for eToys and for the Willis family.
Thanks for having my back, eToys.
Happy Birthday, Son #2!
Warmest Regards,
Katrina Willis
Copywriter
