Hacks To Make the Holidays Easier as a Parent
How to Decorate a Tree with a Busy Toddler
Decorating the house with little ones running around is… interesting. I love to deck the halls but there are also a lot of modifications in place 😅. Hopefully you can avoid some of the chaos by using the tips in this video! Take a look through this YouTube playlist to see what other tricks we use and some gift ideas as well!
Store your holiday books with your holiday decor
This is so simple but so effective! We store ALL of our holiday themed books (including Halloween, Valentines, & Easter, with our holiday decor! It makes it nice to easily pull out and preoccupy them a bit while I decorate! And an added bonus is to add in any holiday-themed sensory or craft kits!
Implement a cozy Friday night movie night (or afternoon)
We are pretty screen-minimal in our home but by the end of the week we all just need a breather! I’ve loved implementing a Friday night movie night! We make homemade pizzas to connect and then pop on a movie. I’ve created a list below of the community’s favorites (accidentally left off The Polar Express). I also usually do my weekly meal planning + grocery list prepping during the movie and then focus in! It’s nice to have a designated time for this.
Speaking of meal/grocery planning: Pre-plan a meal rotation + grocery list for anytime you return from travel
I absolutely HATE the feeling of getting home, having loads of laundry and things to unpack only to open up my fridge and pantry to find they’re EMPTY. Recently, I created a Google Doc meal plan list of all my easiest meals + all the groceries it takes to make them + our general weekly necessities (milk, eggs, yogurt, snacks, etc). I will use this meal plan for any winter weekend we’re away and will use our travel time to order grocery pickup or delivery to make my life easier coming home. I’m actually so so excited about this after doing it once and feel like it’s going to reduce the travel overwhelm so much for me! I’m currently trying to figure out a way to save a grocery order to duplicate so stay tuned for that ha! I will be writing a full blog on this soon!
Do your laundry while traveling if possible
Or better yet, let your MIL or Mom do it :) I used to struggle with allowing other people to help and would feel awkward utilizing the laundry while I traveled but now if I’m with family, I’ve made it a must-do! It’s so so nice to come home with most of our clothes clean and usually the Grandmas love serving us in this way which is an added bonus :) Plus, we all love putting on the clothes that smell like each Grandma’s home/detergent. Call us weird, but it’s totally a thing.
Finally—as we go through this holiday season, I want to remind you of this:
Toys grow old, the list never ends, but your unconditional love lasts forever. Your baby needs your peace and your presence. They need your comfort and cuddles. They need your eyes locked with theirs more than your phone (man is that hard sometimes with the isolation of early motherhood)
They need your wisdom and warmth. But most of all, they just need you. Just as you are. In all of your brokenness, you are their best friend and the best parent for their little heart 🖤
God created you for this. He knew your flaws and entrusted this little soul to you.
So don’t get caught up in the distractions of the season but refocus on what matters: love. And how Love came down so that we could give and receive that love freely to others 🤟🏻
