Do you find yourself with a flurry of Holiday MomProblems on your hands this season? Between the Elf on the Shelf and the million gifts to buy, moms are finding that they are SLAMMED. The to-do list is never ending, and the requests to make more and more commitments seem like they’re never going to stop.
Between the Elf on the Shelf and the school functions, the gifts to purchase and then to wrap, and the endless amounts of cooking and baking that go on, you’re likely feeling as stressed as we are.
But never fear- you’re not alone. The Salty Mamas have been there and done that with pretty much all of the Holiday MomProblems you have. In no particular order, here are the things that are driving us crazy this holiday season.
We are getting into the Christmas with toddlers BIG TIME over here. My kids are all about Christmas, all the time. From the Elf on the Shelf to writing (and rewriting. And rewriting) letters to Santa, they’ve got the holidays on the brain in a big way.
So when I opened one of my (THOUSAND) Amazon packages from my Black Friday shopping and saw that it included this green bubble wrap, I knew just what to do with it- turn it into a process based Christmas art project for toddlers (which just so happens to include an ADORABLE product for you, too).
If you’re kids are as into the holidays as ours are, we know they’ll love this Christmas tree print-making activity using bubble wrap. Read on for the instructions on how to make it happen!
It’s that time of year again. And I’m not talking about Pumpkin Spice Lattes, or even holiday cheer. Nope- we are rapidly approaching houseguest season.
Before we know it, my too-small house will be filled to the brim with friends and family members hoping to crash with us for a few days. Sometimes they’re just on their way through, and other times, they settle in for a week or two. Either way, we want to make them feel at home.
So if you find yourself with a few extra guests on your hands, we’ve got some tips to help make get your guest room ready for holiday houseguests.
At the risk of sounding like HUGE jerks…there’s just a few things we WISH we would have gotten for Christmas. I mean, they are largely impossible, but still… a Salty Mama can dream! Continue reading “What We Wish We’d Gotten For Christmas”→
Ahh, it’s that time of year again. The lights! The food! The parties! The inappropriate board games! The passive-aggression! Read on for a list of things we have overheard at holiday parties so far this year.
Along time I asked myself- should I do the Elf on the Shelf with my kids? I decided against it- it’s just so extra– and for a long time it was easy enough to pull off. It’s relatively simple to decide not to do the Elf on the Shelf when your kids are little. Maybe you pass by them in the store, tell your kids those are just elf on the shelf toys, and move on with your life. Maybe you have vowed never to take up with that foul creature. Maybe you’re just bitter you aren’t the marketing genius that came up with that thing. Whatever the case may be, you’ve probably been okay skipping the elf without anyone knowing the difference.
But be prepared- someday one of your kids will start school. They’ll hear about the elf on the shelf in great detail. You’ll find yourself with a choice to make- should I do the Elf on the Shelf with my kids?
Should I do the Elf on the Shelf with My Kids?
I knew “all the kids” in Lila’s class had elves, and had even successfully fielded some questions about why we didn’t get one at our house. Santa knew Lila was nice enough already without sending an elf to spy on her, and all the elves were visiting other kids this year. She accepted it cheerfully enough and I thought we were out of the woods.
And then we had a friend from school over for a playdate, and they asked to see her elf, and Lila was like, “oh she’s on the roof today.” I said out loud, “silly Lila, we don’t have an elf,” and she burst into tears, and I found out my daughter sits on a throne of lies and smells like beef and cheese (see what I did there?).
She felt super left out when the other kids were talking about elves, and so she had told them she had one, too. She’d even told them stories about her elf’s exploits. So when she got busted? Yeah, she had all the feelings.
I couldn’t decide which tack to take. I mean, she had lied- not ideal Christmas-time behavior. But she was so genuinely distraught that it made deciding to do the Elf on the Shelf a little easier. It wouldn’t cost me a ton of effort (if I played my cards right), but it WOULD make a big difference to Lila. Against my better judgement, we hopped up on the bandwagon sleigh and away we went.
We wrote a letter to Santa asking what the hold-up was in the elf department. Lila requested he “find a solution and send an elf to this house by Friday.” (She told me to write that part in a stern voice.) Then I headed off to Target and worked on finding an elaborate backstory for why her elf took so long to get here.
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So for others who might find themselves in a similar situation…we’ve compiled this list of resources to help you. Or not. Because, despite what our kids would have us believe, you are still in charge and you can do what you want to.
Last year at Christmastime, I had everything. I had a beautiful Christmas tree, home baked goods, the love of my family and friends…
And an entitled three year old who thought SHE should have everything, too. Everything from the Target toy aisle, anyways.
No matter how I tried, I could NOT convince her to pare down her list. Every catalog that came in the mail, every trip to Target for diapers, even phone calls to the grandparents seemed to unleash her inner Gimme Monster. On one particularly bad, trying-to-make-a-list-for Santa Claus day, this Mama had had enough. Continue reading “Teaching Kids the Spirit of Giving This Holiday Season”→
I don’t know about you guys, but we are constantly waging the Battle Against Stuff over here. My kids have all the toys, all the gadgets and gizmos, and so many clothes. And do you know what they play with most? Rocks and balls and baby dolls, and we’ve got plenty of all of those things already! But Christmas and birthdays will come around again, and lovely, well-intentioned people will be asking me what the kids want. So, what DO you get the child that has everything? Here’s a few of our favorite ideas!
