7 Christmas Morning Items You Need

Today, I’m sharing parenting tips on preparing for Christmas Morning Items You Need.  The only time I remember my daughter or grandchildren getting up at 6:00 am willingly is on Christmas morning. When the light penetrates the windows, it’s time to get up.  Knowing that Santa has left gifts under the tree is too exciting to stay in bed.  No matter how late you were up putting gifts together or wrapping presents,  you head downstairs to see the excitement on their darling little faces.

 

 

Christmas Morning Items

 

 

Christmas Morning Items You Need:

 

Once the gifts are under the tree, we head off to bed for that much needed hour or two of sleep.  Other things are needed besides gifts on Christmas morning.  So, we have prepared a list of Christmas morning items for you.  Be sure to check it twice before you head to bed:

Batteries – Check the size of the batteries needed for any toys or other items before you wrap them and make a list.  There’s nothing more frustrating to a child than not being able to play with a toy on Christmas morning because there’s no batteries.

Scissors – Put your scissors in a place where you can find them.  Mine disappear like socks in the dryer.  You may need them to get toys or other gifts out the box.

Trash Bags –  I always have large trash bags on hand for wrapping paper or pieces of boxes ripped apart on Christmas morning.  Kitchen trash bags are too small for the mounts of wrapping paper and boxes that we leave behind.

Notebook or Paper and Pencil – Use these to keep track of who gave the kids and you gifts and what you received so you can write a thank you note.  Thank you isn’t a thing of the past in my home.

Tools – Make sure you can find your Philips and Flathead screwdrivers to remove covers from toys if needed.  You may also need a wrench or pliers. Kids have little patience on Christmas morning.  Everything is fair game, and they want immediate access.

Camera and Batteries – Make sure you have your camera battery charged.  If you’re not using a DSLR, make sure you have camera batteries on hand.  You don’t want to miss a precious memory because the batteries are exhausted or you forgot to charge the camera battery.

Phone Charged  –  My phone starts ringing early Christmas morning.  Between texts, calls and posting on social media, I need my phone to fully charged.  I also have a land line, so that phone needs to charged as well. 

Be sure to check the my list twice.  The most wonder time of the year requires organization.  Capturing memories is just as important as showing love and appreciation during the holiday season.  Besides, changing out of nice warm pajamas to search for a 7-Eleven on Christmas morning is depressing.

You may also like Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Toddler Girls or Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Toddler Boys.

15 Budget Toddler Girls Stocking Stuffers

Today, I’m sharing parenting tips on toddler girls stocking stuffers.  I like stocking stuffer items for my granddaughter that are fun and safe. I had a blast searching for items, and I thought I would share my stocking stuffer ideas with you.  As you know I’m a bargain shopper and a big fan of the Dollar Stores. With the money that’s spent on other items, I don’t want to spend a fortune on stocking stuffers. I will say finding items for little girls is so much easy than boys it seems.

 

 

stocking stuffers for toddler girls

 

 

Toddler girls stocking stuffers:

 

  1. Little Golden Books
  2. Character drinking cups
  3. Flavored lip balm
  4. Disney movies
  5. Fluffy socks (for those barefoot days at home)
  6. Hair accessories or hat and gloves
  7. Coloring books and crayons  – Doc McStuffin, Minnie Mouse, Disney Princesses etc.
  8. My Pretty Pony
  9. Blanket for week-end naps
  10. Stickers
  11. Monster High Dolls
  12. Nail polish (for those mommy and me days)
  13. Shopkins
  14. Disney Princesses
  15. Character eating utensils
Head out to your favorite Dollar Store and get to work on your list.  I stuffed my granddaughter’s stocking with quite a few of these items and stayed within my budget.  I found a great selection of Shopkins options at Five and Below.  My granddaughter loves anything Shopkins.  They have lip balm, nail polish, bubble bath, doll accessories and more.  Additionally, you can find items for the Finding Dory fans.
The Dollar Tree has a great selection of Disney and Sesame Street coloring books, crayons and board books.  You can also find the fluffy, warm socks there too.  My granddaughter hates socks, but on those cold, winter days we insist that she have something on her feet.  I love the warm fluffy socks too.  Because I have hardwood floors, I purchase a few pairs for myself.  I put a pair on when I ask her to wear them when she’s visiting.
My granddaughter loves headbands and flowers for her hair.  I can always find a bargain at Dollar General or Family Dollar.
Don’t forget Target’s bargain bins.  They have great stocking stuffers for toddler girls too.  Do you have ideas to add to my list? Please leave me a comment.  You may also like:  Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Toddler Boys.

 

Free Letters To Santa and Games

 

letter to Santa

Stop, don’t pay for letters to Santa.  Christmas is around the corner, and every child dreams of writing letters to Santa.   This year I will be helping Xavier write a letter to Santa and I’ve found the perfect site, The Christmas Registry.  The letter is free, and they have Christmas games for kids!  I’ve seen sites that charge as much as $9.95 for a child to write a letter to Santa.  Personally, I think it should be free too.  I know that everyone is looking to make a profit, but not off the dreams of our children.

This site doesn’t have a profit in mind, only the happiness and excitement of the holiday season and helping to make a child’s dream come true.  It’s full of activities for children which includes games, crafts, and recipes from Mrs. Clause.  One of my favorites during the holidays is Candied Almonds.   They have the recipe on the site.  I’ve made this recipe with pecans when I didn’t have almonds on hand.  Are you interested in making a gingerbread house?  Here’s a link to making a, Gingerbread House, the site has step by step instructions.

I played several of the games while I was visiting.  Xavier, was 6 when I wrote this post, will enjoy the Crazy Santa Racer game.  I rather enjoyed it myself after I figured out how to play it.  I’m looking forward to playing it with my grandson.  Another game that I enjoyed was the Match Game.  Children will have to remember where they’ve seen various pictures to make a match.  If Christmas games for kids is the goal, check out The Christmas Registry.

A few additional things about the site and the letters to Santa.  You will be responsible for composing the letter and the reply from Santa.  The site does give suggestions to help you compose the letter; however, the return reply will be sent via email rather than through the post office from the North Pole.  Possible drawback, but remember the site is free.  You can look at things from another perspective, Santa is now technically savvy.  Sending an email cuts down on the number of trips that his elves have to make to the post office to mail letters and emails are much faster.  After all we do live in a technological world.   Don’t want to write a letter, it has a message option. 

Santa can also reply with a message.  Oh, the letter to Santa is delivered directly by one of Santa’s elves, so you won’t have to make a trip to the post office or worry about it getting lost in the mail.   I like the idea of having direct access to Santa via elf.

letters to Santa

 

There’s a Wish List section.  You can help your child enter their wish list to Santa.  There’s also a Naughty/Nice Meter that you can play with.  It ranges from 1(Naughty) to 10(Nice).  This meter can keep your little ones on their toes during the holiday season.  You can adjust it accordingly.

Lets talk about setting up the accounts because it can be confusing.  You must register as the adult since you will be controlling your child’s activities on the site, but you must also create an account for your child.  When I was logged in as the adult, I was unable to access the games, recipes, or crafts.  It seems that only the child can access these activities.  Since they can’t cook alone or prepare crafts without assistance, this was somewhat confusing to me.  No worries though, the Activities Area is appropriate for children of all ages.

All in all, I think the site is great for composing a free letter to Santa and playing Christmas games for kids.  I also like the Naughty/Nice meter.  Take a few minutes to check it out.

Note:  This review is my opinion, I was not compensated in any manner for this review