Christmas 2015 #3

I am a woman of many varied talents as I'm sure most moms are. We can multitask in our sleep. One of my skills is taking something that my daughter needs and turning into something she wants. My mom always said Christmas is both a holiday of fun and necessity. Here's how I take those two seemingly opposite things, fun and necessity, and make them the same.

1.) Stocking stuffers: You can use the stocking for an opportunity to stock up on some of the little things your little one will need or use over the next year. For example:

-band aids with a favorite character
-toothbrushes with a favorite character
-crayons (we go through a lot!)
-personalized utensils (there must be a lost fork vortex in our kitchen)
-funky socks/underware
-hair bows/ hairbands/ headbands
-character cups or personalized cups (one of those things that also gets left/lost everywhere we go)

2.) Clothing: Unless you have a lot of second hand clothing from an older sibling or family friend (lucky you!!) chances are that you are shelling out a fair amount of money each season for your growing kiddo. Christmas is a time that offers great deals (although if you can wait for any reason until after Christmas you'll find even more discounts). I don't know about you, but when I was little I remember taking my first look at the tree after Santa had come and I could instantly recognize the pile of boxes that contained clothes. They were the least fun presents to open for a few years there. I'm sure there will come a time that no matter what I do my daughter will want to open the boxes shaped like Barbie's first- but to hold that off as long as I can- here is what I do to make clothing exciting.

-Licensed characters are your friend. If your child doesn't have a character that they enjoy, or if you don't expose them to any (no judgements either way!) then maybe a favorite color!
-Favorite activities. If your kid loves ballet class there are shirts with ballerinas, if your little one is in soccer... you get the idea. Make it fun!
-slippers
-Animals (got a dog lover on your hands? panda? There's a top for that)

3.) Milestone development items

If you have a one year old or maybe a two year old who isn't in a bed yet, Christmas might be a great time to get them excited about it by picking up a comforter set. Or if potty training is around the corner for you, maybe Santa could bring a big kid potty and books to match! Maybe Mom and Dad had the same idea as Santa and they bought big boy/girl underwear! In our house we are on the verge of adding a new baby to the mix. So the phrase of the moment is "Big Sister". Many of my daughters presents will revolve around that concept. She's either getting things that encourage her excitement over no longer being a baby, like a purse and flavored chapstick which she refers to as lipgloss, or things for her own baby doll so she can be like Mommy. Some of it is subtle and some is not, but the message this Christmas will be, regression is not fun: being a big girl is way better than being a baby. I'll let you know in a couple of months if it helped to stem the tide.