Holiday Gift Tips from a Mom of Three

I’ve always been a huge fan of Christmas and the holiday season. But, I never realized just how magical this time of year is until I became a mom. While being a kid at Christmastime is pretty exciting; in my opinion, the holidays are even better as a parent! To see the true joy of Christmas come alive in our kids is something truly indescribable. It’s the best combo of feeling like a kid, but being able to take it all in and cherish it as an adult.

On the flip side, Christmastime is usually a season of chaos that puts our normal mom-life activities to shame. There is always something to do or someone to see, that it’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday grind.

One of the things that becomes overwhelming in our house is gifts! With three little boys in our home, the amount of gifts that pile up around the holidays and on Christmas day is seriously mind-boggling. While we’re so grateful for our generous friends and family, it can definitely add up to a lot this time of year. Now that I’m heading into my fifth Christmas as a mom, I’ve learned a few tips along the way that has helped to keep the holiday gift craze at bay.

Here are my holiday gift tips from a mom of three:

Gifts from Siblings

For parents of more than one child, I highly recommend having older siblings pick out a gift for one another and for the baby. I’m speaking from experience when I say that the excitement of gifting one another is so great for our boys. It also helps keep them busy to not pay attention to things like how many gifts that the baby gets (or doesn’t get in our home!) from Santa or us.

They’re usually so excited about the gifts that they’ve picked for each other, that it limits the time spent fighting over toys, too! HUGE mom win.

Stock Up on Batteries

From baby gear to toys and books, batteries are a must have in our home. Nothing is worse than having the boys open a gift and not being able to try it out because we’re out of batteries. (Not that that’s ever happened before, LOL.) I’ve learned the hard way to have our stock pile of Energizer® Ultimate Lithium™ batteries ready to go during the holidays. My husband (who is usually the battery changer) loves that Energizer® Ultimate Lithium™ batteries are the #1 longest-lasting AA batteries. It definitely helps lessen the time he spends on opening and closing the tedious little battery compartments of our plethora of battery-powered books and toys.

Need, Read, Want, Wear

We live near both sets of grandparents and some extended family. It goes without saying that our kids do not go without much this time of year. But, we also enjoy gifting our kids at Christmas, too. We find balance in sticking to the “need, read, want, wear” list for each of the boys.

NEED: I kid you not the need list is always full. Right now, the boys need new tooth brushes and tooth paste. So I’m holding out hope that our current supply lasts until Christmas.
READ: I ordered a stash of books from my best friend’s Usborne party last month and have it hidden away.
WANT: We haven’t bought a toy off of their wish list to Santa, but that won’t be a hard one to fulfill. It most likely be our next Energizer® battery powered purchase for each of the boys.
WEAR: I am all about the matching jammies year round, but especially during the holiday season, so this is an easy gift.

Save the Toys

Our oldest is a November baby. Two months full of parties and gifts are a lot for a kid. While he is now five and we can’t pull this off as easily as when he was a baby. We still make sure to put away some gifts. We save new toys for rainy (or snowy) days and other special occasions throughout the year. It helps to keep our kid clutter at bay and also alleviates any need to buy more throughout the year. With each of the boys’ birthdays (and other special holidays), I also make sure to put a stock of Energizer® batteries in our saved toys box, so that we’re ready to go with a new toy if any emergency “bored out of our minds” situation arises in our home. Between three boys, we’re well stocked in books and toys (and batteries!) from generous family and friends.