Everywhere I turn on social media right now, I’m seeing gift guides! In today’s blog post, I’m doing my own spin on a gift guide. I’m stepping away from sleep for a minute to share about how we do Christmas presents and what we’re getting our girls this year! I have no experience with any of these gifts, and I don’t make any money if you click any of the links, so I’m purely sharing in case you’re weird like me and enjoy hearing about other people’s Christmas habits.
And of course, this isn’t something I’m getting myself, but if YOU want the gift of good sleep for Christmas, don’t forget to take advantage of my 20% off sale on Dream Keys, all December long!
How We Do Gifts
For the last several years, my husband and I have given gifts that fall into categories: Something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read. In addition to those gifts, Santa brings one gift (never the biggest gift — we want the credit, ha!) and fills the stockings.
This year, I heard how one of my favorite parenting Instagrammers, Ralphie of @simplyonpurpose, does Christmas, and decided to adopt it! Our new categories are: Something to play with, something to use, something to read, and something to do.
As far as gifts for each other, my husband and I don’t really do it. We’ve done it in the past, but neither of us really like it for various reasons, so in the last year or two we’ve started to use some of the Christmas budget to buy things we’ve been wanting or needing lately, for ourselves. Then we both get what we actually want and we don’t have to stress about finding the perfect gifts. This year, we decided to try each buying one book that we want both of us to read — like a little book club! Not sure how it will go since it’s a new thing, but I’m excited to try it out!
We’re still doing one gift from Santa, but with a new twist: I want our gifts from Santa to be gifts that draw at least two members of the family together. For now, our plan is still that each person (mom and dad included!) will receive a gift from Santa, but it will be a gift that part or all of the family will enjoy using together. Perhaps later on, Santa might bring one bigger gift for the whole family, but that’s not the plan this year!
How We Budget for Gifts
As far as budgeting goes, we have an overall Christmas budget that needs to fit presents, Christmas activities, and Christmas cards, etc., but we don’t have a specific budget per person. So this year, we’re spending a lot more on Ada than we are on Holly. Maybe as Holly gets older their gifts will be closer in cost, but not necessarily!
My favorite Christmas budgeting hack is to have a savings account specifically for Christmas, and to auto-transfer a specific amount into the account each month or each paycheck. So if you want $1200 by the time Christmas comes around, you’ll have to save $100 each month of the year. Saving $100 each month is a lot more doable than coming up with $1200 out of thin air come November/December! Of course you can adjust the amount according to what you want to have saved up for Christmas; that was just my easy-math example :)
So with all that backstory, let’s get to the actual presents!
The Gifts
Holly - 12 months
Something to play with: Megablocks
She’ll mostly just put them in her mouth or bang them together, but we have zero building toys, so I thought it would be a good thing to add. Ada will for sure enjoy them more than Holly, but Holly will eventually enjoy them, right? Haha.
Something to use: Convertible Car Seat (similar)
We planned to buy this with our Christmas budget, but then my parents gifted it to us early for Holly’s birthday. I thought about adding another gift in this category since technically the car seat is from the grandparents, but there was nothing that really NEEDED to be added, so I just decided not to! Leaves more room in the budget for some of the other things.
Something to read: Mommy & Me and Daddy & Me finger puppet books
With Ada, I tried real books way too early. With Holly, we’ve pretty much done only board books her whole first year, and I still feel like they’re the way to go! These are board books with the twist of having finger puppets! I think she’ll love them.
My friend Britney (@nexttonaturalplay) told me about a website called thriftbooks.com, so that’s where I got both girls’ books this year. Free shipping on orders over $10, so it’s a sweet option!
Something to do: nothing
What kind of experience gift do you give a one-year-old? All the websites I searched talked about memberships to zoos and children’s museums, but those aren’t in the budget this year, plus I didn’t really want to do that anyway. So, this year, we’re just not doing anything particular for Holly in this category. I don’t think she’ll notice ;)
Santa: Bath toys
I’ve known for years that the squishy bath toys just get filled with mold, but I’ve kept them anyway <insert eek emoji> But I thought it might be nice to get some toys that don’t get moldy inside! The gift is for Holly, but the girls are taking baths together more these days, so they’re sure to enjoy them together.
Stocking:
My only idea for Holly’s stocking is a toothbrush! Any other great ideas for a one-year-old?
Ada - 4 years
Something to play with: A new playroom!
Ada’s toys have always been in the main living room of the house because we had no room for a playroom. Despite having relatively few toys, this minimalist mama was going crazy having toys out (even when “put away”) all the time, so my brilliant husband came up with the idea of turning our under-the-stairs storage into a playroom! I didn’t think it would be possible because we’ve been using that space for years to store our games, DVDs, and oddly-shaped holiday decor, but with a little thought and effort, we relocated all those items to different places. I love using space more effectively!
We’ve painted it pink and added an overhead shelf for messy toy storage (art, play dough, sensory), and we still need to install a picture wire for Ada’s artwork (and so mama can institute the rule that we only keep as much art as the wire will hold!) and add front-facing book shelves. (We’ve got a lot of work to do in the next week!).
While she’ll still be able to pull things out of the playroom to play with in the wide open space if she wants, we’ll be able to put everything away completely out of my sight, and I’M SO EXCITED!
Something to use: Sensory table and supplies
I’m stepping a little bit out of my comfort zone with this one and just crossing my fingers for minimal messes (hahaha), but my friend Britney (again, of @nexttonaturalplay) made me do it with all of her cute playroom themes and sensory ideas! We’ll get the Flisat table from IKEA, along with dry beans, popcorn kernels, rice, and kinetic sand.
The table will also double as an art table for Ada! Lately she has been loving coloring, but with no table, she usually ends up at the TV console to color. Since the Flisat table comes with covers, she’ll be able to color on top of those!
Unfortunately, IKEA has been sold out of this table for at least a few weeks, so it probably won’t be here on Christmas morning . . . Darn it!
Something to read: You are Special, by Max Lucado
I think the first time I was exposed to this book was in COLLEGE. But it’s so lovely, so I’m excited to share it with Ada at a much younger age. If you’re not familiar with the story, it’s all about knowing who you are, and not needing validation from outside sources — we can know we’re special simply because we have a Creator who made us and loves us.
Something to do: kind of . . . nothing
Between the sensory table and the playroom, we’re definitely spending the bulk of our Christmas budget on Ada. As such, we decided to omit this gift for Ada as well. We’re just planning to spend some time with Ada with her new sensory supplies.
Santa: Card games
We’ve never really played games with Ada, and I think she’s definitely old enough to start. Hopefully having new card games will bring the whole family together and give us some other options for spending time together.
Stocking:
Bubble bath, bandaids, toothbrush/paste, socks, undies, wand, treats, and fun Santa glasses we got her last year at Christmas — I put them away with the Christmas stuff and was so happy to hear her say the other day, “Maybe Santa will bring me Santa glasses again!”
Some other things we’re considering but not for sure doing are blue light glasses (because we typically watch a show right before bed, which is generally not recommended haha), stick-on earrings, hair ties, temporary tattoos, and fun chapsticks.
Me
For Russ and I, we’re not really doing the categories. The main gifts I’m getting myself are a natural skincare system (I’m getting close to 30. Maybe it’s time?) and a colorful piece of artwork for the living room (I decorate with so many neutrals, but I want more low-commitment color).
Santa: New sheets
We’ve been married 8.5 years and had the same set of sheets the whole time. The elastic around the fitted sheet is so loose that I actually think it came that way, but Russ assures me it used to fit tightly. We’re finally getting new sheets, and they’ll bring me and Russ together! ;) haha!
Stocking:
The things I’ve been thinking about adding are natural deodorant, lip exfoliators (influenced! ha), a microderm tool, a cute Covid mask since I’ve been using an ugly one Russ got from work this whole dang time, fun earrings, eyeshadow, and lipstick (maybe…maybe not since I wear masks anytime I go out now). Guess it’s crunch time to make final decisions!
Russ
The only thing Russ has said he wants is some winter running clothes, so I guess that’s what he’s getting!
Oh, and the book I chose to get him/us is The Self-Driven Child, by William Stixrud and Ned Johnson. I’ve heard good things about it and we can always use more help with our parenting!
Santa: Friends DVDs
Before we got married, I had never seen Friends, but since then we’ve watched the whole series together three times. It’s no longer on Netflix, and I can’t buy all the freaking tv subscriptions out there just to keep up with my favorite shows. When Friends suddenly dropped to $47 (was like $63 before that…it’s been in our Amazon “saved for later” for ages), I told Russ that Santa was getting it for us for Christmas. It will bring us together to watch a show we like :)
Stocking:
Every time I bring Christmas up, Russ doesn’t really have anything he wants, which is why his lists are so short here. Guess he’ll have to figure out soon if there’s anything he wants for Christmas! :)
So there you have it! Tell me below — how do you do Christmas gifts in your house? Any last-minute ideas for me in the categories that need some supplementation? :D