It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…Everywhere you go…
Our Christmas tree at home is up with Silver baubles, Silver hearts, Silver raindrops, Silver stars… we have them frosted, matt, and shiny. It looks beautiful, really.
Take a look in the five-and-ten…glistening once again…
So begins our Christmas shopping. I started this list, that seems to be growing. It was time to ask innocent questions like, “What’s Tom’s daughter’s name?” or “Is Grace’s kid a boy or a girl?” and “how old is Jack’s son now?” Well, I’m on track in my shopping! Woohoo!
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow…
Then of course there’s my three kids to think about. In the past, we brought them to Toys”R”Us and they could choose anything they wanted for Christmas. This year, yours truly came up with what I think is a B.R.I.L.L.I.A.N.T. idea for the kids!
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…
We will go to the shops, but instead of choosing a gift for themselves, they will choose a gift for their siblings! And of course, we would be around to moderate! Ain’t that a great plan? They get to think about each other, we get to teach them about giving, and we can say NO without hurting their feelings! muahahahahaah!
Toys in every store…
We did just that last week. Marched to the shops, while one child was away busy with either classes or play date, the remaining two kids will pick a gift. We’ll pay and get it wrapped, so it remains a SECRET.
It was a huge challenge.
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No one wanted to put much thought into the gift. In fact, Nicole wanted to get Nathan a stationery set! She insisted he likes that (cos she loves it!).
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I forgot that getting a boy to think of a girl gift with my friends was so difficult, let alone for a 6 yr old! Nathan was absolutely not interested to look at ANYTHING in the girls’ department. Nicole told him she wanted anything stationery. He went to Smiggles, saw the numerous shelves of pink and purple papers, notebooks, diaries etc. He looked frustrated when he exclaimed, “I don’t know!”
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As for a gift for Nadine, no one wanted to look into that. And she was agreeable to buy anything for them!
After much marketing and persuading, they bought their gifts! It was exciting in the car when they saw the three large boxes. Then it started, “I want to open it now”, “What’s inside”, “What did you buy for me?”… if you know kids, secrets do not really exist. They gave clues (rather obvious ones too!!) sigh…
But we’ll do it again next year. There’s much love at Christmas when we do this!
But the prettiest sight to see…is the holly that you see…on your own front door
It’s really beginning to look a lot like Christmas! How does your family prepare the Christmas gifts? Do share!
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored conversation between Lifebuoy Singapore and Mum’s the Word. All opinions are entirely my own.
My kiddos are a little too young to pick anything out for each other, but I love having both of them wrap presents with me!
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So pretty! I love letting the kids wrap but I've found that I have to leave the room sometimes. They use so much tape and tears rips and cuts in the paper. Drives me crazy. lol
I love that idea. It really is a way to teach the kids about giving AND encourage them to think about what their siblings like (even if it isn't easy). I think we will steal this idea for Hanukkah next year! 🙂
Love your tree, and that you take a picture with all of the presents each year.
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I had a full speadsheet with all our gifts listed. I color coded for what was stocking stuffers and since my parents are older and I tend to purchase their gifts to my children I even color coded it to reflect what came from them. I then changed the color as I wrapped them to make sure they were all wrapped and I didnt forget something. Each child had their own wrapping paper so we knew what went to whom and Grandma and Grandpa's presents to the kids were wrapped in another color altogether so we knew they didn't come from Santa.
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We let them pick out gifts to each other and we also nudge them in a general direction of what mommy and daddy would like. Our 7 year old loves picking out gifts for others.