It’s crazy the amount that changes in a year!!! For a quick flash back, this popped up on my Timehop today and pretty much made me melt. Eli has grown so much in the last year.
This year is a whole new ball game! Eli is interested in Santa. We have to drive by the house with the Santa on the roof every night and more often than not, a few times. I can’t wait to go to Opryland and show Eli the Christmas lights. Being in Nashville for the first time for the holidays is really striking a sentimental note with me. It brings back my childhood memories in a way that it hasn’t in the past. And for the first time since Walt and I have been married, I think Christmas day is going to be a little slower.
In the past, we would start out at Walt’s parents, then lunch at my family’s house, dinner at Walt’s and then back out to a movie with my family. We spent the whole day feeling like a ping pong ball. For the first time in ever, we will wake up in our own home on Christmas morning and the cherry on top is that it will be with Santa bringing toys to Eli. We will do lunch at Walt’s and dinner with my family. I can’t wait! I am working on finding healthier approaches to all aspects of my life and am pretty happy with this one!
We are working to get rid of, donate or sell a lot of what Eli already has. He is one blessed kid and we try to keep things kinda simple so that he doesn’t just have a bunch of stuff! It’s overwhelming for his age and wasteful.
We got Eli two things that Santa will have brought and will be setup when he wakes up and we tried to really think about what he would love. Last year, we got him the house that is still in our living room and he plays with daily. He is half awake in the picture below, but he has loved it!
We are adding to it this year. Eli loves to “shop”. He asks almost every morning if we can go to Target after daycare…. It only happens about once a week but he would live there if he could.
We went with the following for the big gifts this year. The other things, I got throughout the year when they were on good sales!
For this one… prepare yourself for the obnixous amount of Instagram photos that I am going to post with him pushing his puppy, kitty cat, and sheepie around the house in this! (yes…. the list of stuffed animals keeps growing. Note, there are NO stuffed animals on his Christmas list this year).
The second item that we got is a coffee shop! Eli loves playing check out and saying that he is “Open for business” so I think this will be the perfect gift. I am counting on this providing hours of self entertainment….
(This one is Amazon prime if you are really feeling desperate for the main gift for your kid! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DDQTD78/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
Here is what I got him from when Toys R Us was closing and it was clearance and the rewards from hosting an Usbourne book party. I am aware that the writing books say 4+ for age…. I am one of those parents that buys things above my kids age range and pushes them to grow into it…..
Then there is the practical, “You needed shoes anyway, but it’s a Christmas gift” items. Side note, Eli LOVES these Bogs boots.
More than anything, I hope that the holidays will be a time that Eli cherishes with family and doesn’t ever grow to dread the family obligations that come with it. It’s a time to be thankfully a million times over that we are blessed to have those that love us and we get to spend the holidays with them!
It’s tough to think about all the things that Eli is going to receive on Christmas day. We spend some time going to Target this year and picking out things for a children on the Angel tree from Eli’s daycare. I know that he is only 2, but I want him to remember that things aren’t just about him and that it’s important to care for others. When we have been provided for and blessed, we should pass that long! It’s so hard to find the balance especially when he is very privileged… I think I am going to be working on that one the rest of my life.
Hacking the Working Mom 