Twas the night AFTER Christmas and all throughout the house…was CHAOS!
That was last Christmas, our daughter’s first. We were so blessed to have come home with a living room full of toys for her, but I was feeling overwhelmed. I had focused on preparing for Christmas and forgot to prepare for after Christmas!
This year, I am wiser and want to share some of what I learned with you. So grab yourself a hot beverage, relax and read on! Don’t forget to share your holiday strategy on my Facebook and Instagram page!
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Clean Up and Stock Up!
Now is a good time to go through toys and closets to rid of all things outgrown. This will allow space for new toys and clothes. Regularly doing these things keeps play spaces and closets tidy and more manageable.
If you do not already have toy storage, now is a good time to read my Minimizing Toy Clutter article for ideas.
Stock up on trash bags AA and AAA batteries for new toys. It’s always a good idea to have these on hand and they won’t go to waste.
Ask What to Expect
My in-laws are very open what they plan to give for my daughter; my mom likes it to be a surprise for both me and her. Either way, it’s ok to ask for a heads up (or even permission) for large items like playhouses, slides and jungle gyms. Considering these are going to require a planned space in your home or yard, it is best to not have these come as a surprise.
Knowing what other items your child will receive can help you plan on storage and order additional items. Ball pit? Order extra balls (trust me).Kid recipe book? Ingredients. You get it!
Santa Sacks
It’s the hottest fashion accessory of the North Pole and a soon-to-be favorite of yours! Every year we celebrate at multiple relatives’ houses. I take the gifts we are giving in a Santa sack and use them to take all the gifts we received back. These are perfect to hold multiple gifts for easy transportation to and from your house. They’re much more festive than a garbage bag!
I typically look for these at Home Goods, TJ Maxx and Marshall’s where they have awesome designs for a good price!
Think Out of the Box (Literally)
All you want to do is relax, but you have a pile of toys waiting for you to wrestle them out of the packaging and overflow your trash cans. Especially when there is an impatient child looking at you, you don’t want to be struggling with wires, zip ties and tough plastic.
Consider requesting close family and friends to take toys out or partially out of the packaging before gifting them. Your kids will be happy to be able to play with their new toys instantly.
The drawback is you won’t be able to return an item. I am ok with duplicate toys because they’re great to have one for the house, one for the car, or one to pack in an overnight / diaper bag. I also will donate toys if they are not appropriate for my child’s age or we already have a duplicate.
Hot Tip: Take a pair of these Kitchenaid Scissors when opening gifts to cut through the toughest of packaging!
Separate Messy Toys
Slime, Play Doh, craft kits and kits with a thousand tiny parts can be separated from the other new toys and stored out of reach. Place in a locked container to be played with only with adult supervision. Your walls, carpet and furniture will thank you!
Recently, I was playing with my three-year old niece. She LOVES playdoh, but most of it in her play area was dried up. To a small child who smashes the colors together anyways, putting the playdoh back in its individual, tiny containers with flimsy lids is asking for trouble.
Consider placing playdoh, slime and similar products in Tupperware containers. My favorite containers are the OXO Pop containers because they are airtight and easy to use, even for a small child. Then, put them in your locked container.
Puzzles
Are you puzzled when you find a puzzle piece on the floor because you are not sure which puzzle it belongs to? Before you take a puzzle out of its packaging, invest in these zippered bags. The large size bags are 16.9 inches by 12.4 inches, meaning they can hold even those massive, wooden puzzles for babies and toddlers!
These bags will withstand being thrown around unlike the thin, cardboard boxes puzzles typically come in. Some puzzles come only wrapped in plastic with nothing to contain them!
When dealing with puzzles with a large piece count, use colored markers or stickers on the back of each piece to categorize. This way instead of guessing which puzzle a stray piece belongs to, you can look at the color on the back. To make things super easy, mark the puzzle pieces the same color as the zippered bag that holds them!
