Trying to figure out what you should buy your children for Christmas is hard when they are getting older. However don’t be fooled that it is equally as hard to do once they are younger also too. I know that I always said I would not try to spoil my kids because I know so many families who went so above and beyond for their children that it was nearly insane. You also know that no matter how many toys that you were to get your children at the end of the day half the time they are on to their older toys and not playing with their new ones for more than a few days after. Here is how I am handling Christmas this year with a new baby and my toddler!

For my toddler it was not super hard to figure out what to get him for Christmas. Firstly, I am so thankful that I was able to get some of the toys I wanted to give him early because they are seemingly unavailable on Amazon and I know there is some shortages also with wanting to get holiday gifts for people as well too. Which is challenging in their own rights. And when I did find something I had already purchased on Amazon I know I did not pay the price it currently is listed for. Mainly we got our son some Blue’s Clues toys. He loves blue and we thought this was a great way to get him a few new things. We also will be giving him something and having “Santa” give him something. We did not want to go all out on toys or anything because let’s face it, He has so much already and he will not even care about what is under the tree. Not to mention also my parents will be getting him some more toys in the process as well too. He has a lot of clothes however we did buy him some new winter boots though since he has none.

For his stocking we went kind of the same direction. Lately he has been loving the bath tub and I mean LOVING the bath tub. We got a few new books also for him to read as well too. This is so that we can have some new things to play with in there. Also added in there was some little toys and marker sets that are the kind where you can write and only on the special paper does it make marks so it saves a lot of clean up too. We never really got much candy or chocolate or those things because well, he is a toddler and he does not need that all in his stocking. Not yet anyways! And he has some underwear because in the near future he will be also starting the potty training journey and what better way to add those in. We also included a new tooth brush, hair brush since he loves taking mine, and little hygine products as well too.

This one was a bit more challenging however this Christmas we will have a newborn! Or maybe a one month old, depending when he decides to show up in the world because as I write this he is still comfy inside and not wanting to leave! We went simple for him. First of all a baby does not need a whole lot. Plus when we had our first son, we had so much already bought that we did not want to buy just for the sake of buying. For his gifts I did however buy a few new outfits since we mainly are using hand-me-downs from our first I did want him to have a few new outfits though. They were not super expensive and will add a few things to his gifts.

His stocking also is quite light and simple. WE did buy some new crinkle toys and a few teethes. Again we had a lot of this when our son was born that for our second son we didn’t want to just waste money on things we already had. Which of course my parents and family will probably be buying things for him also too. We didn’t want to not do anything though because obviously his holidays are important even if he is so little.

Lastly, a tradition that we started last year with our first and will continue on this year again was we do the “Pajama Box” on Christmas eve. This is where we bought them a new pair of Pajamas and you can include a new book for each of them to read on Christmas Eve. Obviously as they get older you can move up and add more treats and toys or activities and or movies into the mix however with them being so young a new set of pajamas (Yes, I am the mom who got them both matching ones also!) and will be looking for a new book as well too. That way we can read it with our Night Before Christmas book which we gave last year to our son!

Overall we did not want to have to spend a fortune on our children especially with them being so young. They are going to be so pumped with life and all the excitement that they wont even remember half of the things, especially out little fella too! Even with them being so young though we wanted to make it special and a memorable one. Sometimes I think when we get older and have a family we want to give them everything that we never had. Not that I never had great Christmas’s which I did, but we want to give give give to almost out do out parents. This is something we need to stop doing because at the end of the day it is about who you are with and not about what you get.

What are some things your child(ren) asked for the holidays this season?
Are you finding it hard to get everything or some times on the list due to shortages also too?

Let me know in the comments below! I would love to hear from you.