Christmas is, without a shadow of a doubt, my favourite time of year. I love hearing carols all-too-early in the shops, the cheesy Christmas adverts, the excuse to splurge on special food and choosing decorations for the tree. Basically, I’m a bigger kid when it comes to Christmas than either of my little girls!
But however much you enjoy Christmas, it does bring with it a lot of stress, and I’m always looking to ways to reduce this. In a way, I guess I’m fine-tuning Christmas! For example, last year, instead of braving the supermarket for our big Christmas shop (present-shopping I love, food-shopping I hate, even when it does come with carols!), I ordered everything online and had it delivered. While browsing, I also noticed that Christmas trees can now be bought online as well. Those who are interested in procuring a real Christmas tree can do so from online retailers such as Mr. Greentrees, which tend to provide their customers with a wide variety of choices for selecting just the right Christmas tree.
This year I’m trying something new when it comes to present shopping for my nieces, nephews, step-family, in-laws, and everyone else I buy for. I know my kids and husband inside out, and I find it really enjoyable trawling shopping malls on the look-out for stocking fillers and little extras for them.
I decided on getting some cute Santa onesies for the kids which I think will be the perfect holiday costume. I’ve been meaning to get them for a long time now, and right now, is the perfect time for it! As for my husband, I’m still torn between two options, so I’ll let you know once I finalize on something amazing for my equally amazing husband.
However, shopping for my nieces and nephews, especially because they’re a lot older than my kids (it’s all iphones, ipads, imoney, ieverything these days – a far cry from Moshi Monsters and Dora the Explorer!) I find to be a lot harder, as I find shopping for many other members of my family too. Furthermore, I know my brother and step-sisters sometimes don’t know what to buy my kids either, which has led to some rather weird and wonderful gifts.
So what we as a family have decided to do this year is try out MyRegistry.com, and I’ve got to say, it’s made my life a heck of a lot easier so far!
At MyRegistry.com you can create a list of gifts you would like to receive (or ones you know your kids would like), allow members of your family to access it, and they can each choose something from the list they would like to buy – just like many brides and grooms do for their weddings. You can add to your list absolutely anything you want from any store worldwide, and can send a fun e-card containing the link to your list (or you can just email the link itself) to anyone looking for some present inspiration for you or your kids.
The site is incredibly easy to use, and the best way to add gifts to your list quickly and easily is by adding the “Add to My Registry” button on to the bookmarks bar when you first set up your account. In doing this, you can add gifts straight from any online store to your Wish List.
A really simple way of browsing gifts and adding them to your list is by checking out the “pre-screened” retailers featured on the MyRegistry.com site. So, for example, my kids selected the “Kids” category and were taken to a huge list of “pre-screened” retailers they could choose products from, including big names like Amazon, Disney, Build-a-Bear and Lego, to name but a few. By clicking on the store you’re directed to the store’s website, and from there you can browse through items and add whatever you want to the list.
I know it’s technically in the Kids section, but once I saw Disney were featured on the site, I couldn’t resist logging on and adding a couple of products to my own Christmas list!
And, of course, being an English teacher and a massive bookworm (the old-fashioned kind as I don’t own a Kindle – yet!), I’ve had to add loads of books on to my list!
Another feature of MyRegistry.com I think is a really nice touch is being able to send an e-card to relatives and friends with a link to your wish list. My kids spent time putting together little messages for their grandparents, aunties and uncles etc, as well as choosing pictures of themselves to upload to the cards (although you can choose ready-made designs) which I think is a great family task for children to be involved in, and it’s really nice to receive a card with a personalised message in, having received a few now from various nieces and nephews along with their Christmas wish lists.
This has made life so much easier for us as a family when it comes to buying presents for each other’s children. I’m now secure in the knowledge my nieces and nephews are going to genuinely love their gifts, rather than fake-love-thank-you-very-much-auntie-Ella them – or on their parents’ heads be it!
This is actually a really lovely way for kids to make a Christmas list anyway, and for those looking to educate their little ones on the monetary value of items and develop some basic numeracy skills, this could be an opportunity not to be missed!
In a time where everything is digital, are we really surprised kids’ Christmas lists for Santa aren’t? I’m pretty sure even Father Christmas is online in this day and age!
This article is provided by Agents of Drive Blog.
