Christmas Lists and Shopping

Have you started to think about your Christmas shopping? I hear that flyers are starting to come out already. My boys dearly love sitting down and circling or marking the toys/products they wish to receive for Christmas. I love when they do this because then I am not spending hours trying to figure out if a toy is fun enough or something my child would even like. My older boys are pretty good at letting me now what they want, however my younger boys really haven’t a clue…that is until they look through the store flyers. This lets me know that I need to buy hotwheels for a Christmas present, or something different all together. What is popular one year isn’t necessarily “cool” the next.

Please tell me that my children are not the only children that add things like brownie pans and blankets with arms to their Christmas lists! It’s even more fun when they bring me THEIR list and then on the side they have something added that they think Santa should bring for mom. You now, something like the newest workout equipment they have seen advertised on tv, or something that is supposed to suck my tummy in and make me look thinner! I love my children and hey, at least they are thinking of me, right?

We have been online making our wish lists. It can be a bit overwhelming when you do a search engine search for  something like “toy story toys”. You will get a ton of results. But,  now I know that stores like Argos sell toy story toys.  I highly recommend doing research before going out and purchasing the products your children have circled in the flyers or added to their wish lists. It will save you not only money, but a huge headache. One year I spent quite a bit on a couple of toys that my children just “had to have”. We got them home and what do you know, they break almost instantly. I was very disappointed, however had I sat down and did a little research I would have seen all of the negative reviews on these toys and I probably wouldn’t have spent the money.

With all that being said, my biggest tip for you is to research before you buy.

Have your children stated making you lists? Have you started your shopping?