A Peek Inside an SLP's Christmas!

This year is different. In a "normal" year, we would be traveling to see my husband's extended family, a tradition they have had since they were kids. He has family from west coast to east coast and in between, so we all decide on a place to meet and that's where we go! 2018 was Park City! Unfortunately, we will be home this year with our small immediate family. Despite all the gloom this year has brought, I have SO much Christmas spirit. I am fortunate to have a healthy family and I'm excited for a Christmas at home with my boys.

Traditions~

As kids, we always opened a present on Christmas Eve, wore new pajamas and had hot chocolate in front of the tree. I have always loved this tradition and have continued it with my own boys, except we all have matching pajamas! My husband hates it and complains that we spent too much on pajamas he won't wear again! BUT, he's a trooper and goes along with! My son is in a HUGE dinosaur phase so we got matching dino jammies this year. The past two years have been Mickey. I cannot wait to see his face when we all open them! Because of course we ALL have to open them, something else my husband doesn't agree with-I mean, it is a waste of paper, but the kids love it. Then we will have hot chocolate and watch a Christmas movie. Elf is a favorite for my son right now. Personally, I prefer Home Alone or Santa Clause.

Stockings~

What does an SLP put in their child's stocking? Yes, I create lists for all of YOU but what I do I actually put in my kids' stockings. Socks and underwear are always a must. They make a great filler anyway and take up some space. We also got matching dinosaur Christmas shirts for both boys. They also got cups. Target was low on cups so they have princess dinosaur cups. I stuck to under $5 for stockings but it adds up especially when you bought things that won't even fit in the stocking. OOPS!

My 4 year old

• Card games and card holder, because it's hard for small hands to hold all those cards!

• Dinosaur flashlight slide kit (from our awesome Science Center!)

• Kinetic sand (sensory!)

• Favorite snacks-swedish fish, red bars (fruit leather)

My 18 month old

• Bath toys- he LOVES the bath. We got a wind up swimming penguin, glow in the dark dinosaurs, bath crayons

• Sensory ball

• Window markers/crayons

• Favorite snacks-Happy Tot snacks

Ok on to the good stuff! PRESENTS!

I love Christmas shopping for the boys. I *TRY* to break down the gifts into categories

READ. NEED. WEAR. WANT. I decided to add my own category of LEARN. Undoubtedly, there is always a toy *I* want for the boys. Last year it was magnatiles. And despite everyone raving about them, they are just EH for my son. This year for my 4 year old is a math scale and for my 18 month old, a fine motor hedgehog. I also got them wooden rainbow architect squares , similar to the rainbow sets you may see. (I will put links!). Sometimes we also add an EXPERIENCE, which is typically Disney on Ice, but none of that this year :(.

READ-I've got this taken care of, easily. I went a little overboard on books, as usual. I did some shopping local at our favorite book store, Bookie's, and ordered some Usborne books as well. I actually had too many that I decided to save some. #bookfanatic #choosebooks

NEED-This category is sometimes hard for me. We are so fortunate that our boys have what they need year round. We put boots in this category for my 4 year old and I can't think offhand what we got for my 1 year old. He may have NEEDED the music toy I got him.

WEAR- New jammies! A lot of times wear and need go together for my boys. My 18 month old got some new snow pants. The one thing that wasn't handed down. My 3 year old got dinosaur pajamas because he is suddenly outgrowing what he has. They also got matching mickey pajamas because they love matching :) My 4 year old also got an awesome science shirt from our local science shop. #shoplocal

WANT-Ok all of that gets kind of boring! On to the good stuff! So far, we have been lucky with my older son because has asks for ONE, yes ONE main thing that he wants for Christmas. Last year was a Tots toy and this year is a Paw Patrol Racer. I splurged and got him a Dinosaur Paw Patrol tower also. And then a few things I tried to call stocking stuffers ended up as gifts, like the dinosaur fossil dig for my older son and a playdoh set for my younger son. My 18-month old is obsessed with music and the Christmas characters that dance and sing. So we got him Fisher Price Linkimal animals. Apparently my rule of "toys without batteries" only holds true for everyone else. But really he loves interacting and dancing with the music, it's adorable! He also got a cat toy. For some reason I *think* he really loves cats, even though we are not a cat family, but it was one of his first words and he loved the Halloween and Christmas cat inflatables around the neighborhood.

I tried to reason with my husband that missing out on so many opportunities this year saved us money, so it was ok to spend a little extra this year, he didn't see it that way. But I can't wait for the boys to open their gifts! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, big or small, one gift or 100 gifts :) Merry Christmas!