Simple Parenting Tips for a Busy Holiday Season
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. This post is sponsored by Huggies. All opinions are mine alone. #NoBabyUnhuggedCB #CollectiveBias
Are you ready for the busy holiday season? I love celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas, even more so now that we have children. However, being a parent with two little ones has shown me how busy the holidays can be! For that reason, I am focusing more on the simple things that help us enjoy all the special holiday moments.
1. Plan ahead.
In particular, plan ahead with special holiday activities for your kids. For example, if you plan to decorate cookies now, bake the cookies and freeze them so you can pull them out on the day you want to decorate. Advance planning makes everything go smoother – especially with children!
2. Shop now for kid necessities like diapers and wipes that you know you will need.
It’s so simple but a great way to be prepared before the busy holidays start. I am a firm believer in staying stocked on diapers because not only do you find better deals, but you never have to worry about a last minute diaper run to the grocery store. That’s the last thing you want to be doing on Christmas Eve!
I’m a loyal Meijer shopper because I love getting great deals on my groceries with the convenience of anything else I need at the same time. Meijer is where I buy almost all of my diapers, thanks to Mperks rewards as well. We shop the Meijer baby aisle on almost every single trip to the store.
We are big fans of Huggies diapers in our household because they are reasonably priced – and there are always coupons available! Have you tried the Huggies Little Snugglers diapers? They are inspired by hugs to keep baby’s skin clean and healthy with a soft, breathable cover. Personally, the wetness indicator is my favorite feature! Paired with the Huggies Natural Care wipes, this is a great combination that makes Emma – and her mama – happy!
As a loyal Meijer shopper so I was excited when I heard that Meijer and Huggies will donate to the National Diaper Bank via the “No Baby Unhugged” donation program for all Huggies’ purchases made at Meijer stores. Through January 2, 2017, for every pack of Huggies purchased at any Meijer store, Meijer will donate $1 and Huggies will donates a day’s worth of diapers to the National Diaper Bank Network to help babies in need.
Plus, with the new Huggies Reward App, you and I can donate our rewards points to the National Diaper Bank. To learn more about diaper need visit the National Diaper Bank homepage. The need for diapers is indeed great. What a great (and simple) way to give back this holiday season, too!
Now that you know about that, back to the rest of my simple parenting tips!
3. Stick to your routines as much as possible but be flexible.
There are going to be late nights and big celebrations. We all know that. Try to make naps a priority but don’t stress when days don’t go as planned. Whether you are visiting family or family is visiting you, remember that the holidays are a special time. Be flexible and enjoy the out of the routine celebrations with your kids.
4. Include one or two kid-friendly foods in your holiday menu plans.
Yes, your kids need to try new foods but it will make the meal much easier if you have a couple foods you know they will eat. Maybe this means serving homemade macaroni and cheese as a side at Thanksgiving or plain corn as a side at Christmas. Including kid friendly foods in your meals will make for smoother meals all around. You don’t want to have a food fight around the dining room table with company there!
5. Have a surprise holiday activity or two up your sleeve.
Plan a special Thanksgiving craft project or show a new Christmas movie that will keep your child occupied when you need to be working on holiday preparations. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or cost much at all. One of my favorite surprise activities is to have “new” themed holiday books to read together. Visit the library or shop your bookshelves to find all your holiday books. We have a stack of Thanksgiving books that we are reading in November, and I’ll switch these over to all my Christmas ones when December comes.
There you have it. Those are 5 simple ways that I’m gearing up for a busy holiday season. What tips would you add to this list?
We always tried to stick to the routine when my kids were small. It helped a ton! #client
Great tips for the holiday season! I’m a huge planner, so planning ahead is top on my list. 🙂 That makes going with the flow, a bit difficult (I’m for sure a type a personality). Thanks for sharing!