Whenever we have school holidays coming up, I always try and order at least one new book for Anya. It’s just something I started doing a while ago but now it’s become a holiday habit. The holidays have somehow become my prompt to get her some new books and with half term coming up next week, I went looking. I don’t always get a story book but it can be an activity book, a joke book, an art book or anything that looks interesting and will keep her occupied for a while.
“Have you said thank you?” is the line I often find myself saying to my seven year old when she receives a gift or she’s leaving a party or a play date. She’s a well mannered child and does remember to say thank you most of the time but I still remind her just in case. It’s our job as parents not only to teach our kids good manners but more importantly to lead by example. I’m sure most of us are polite and always remember to thank our friends and family for the obvious things like gifts, their hospitality and their help. But what about the little things?
December is a month where we accumulate far too much. Anya has her birthday and then a couple of weeks later it’s Christmas. Apart from giving stuff to charity, I also don’t let Anya open all her presents at once. Do you do the same or am I the only mean mama? I seriously don’t think any kid can really appreciate 10-15 presents in one go or even 5. So she is allowed to open the wrapping but not the gift itself. I keep them away and come a rainy day in January/February when it’s too cold or wet, she always has something to do. Last week on one such day she opened this beautiful coloured sand Djeco craft kit and she was hooked for hours.
I still have to do my Christmas shopping – eek! Every year I vow to be more organised but yet I never learn and end up leaving everything till the last minute. Are you the same as me? The good news for all of us last minute types is that there is still enough time to do some online shopping which is always so much more pleasant than braving the crowds. I also prefer to support small independent retailers most of whom are online anyway. I often feature them on my blog as they always offer something different, something a bit unique and many of which are run by mums like you and me.
Being a small, independent retailer myself I know what it takes to make your presence felt. So if you’re in to shopping small and unique too, I thought I would share some top Christmas gift picks from my ebabee store. We have lots of gorgeous goodies many of which you won’t find elsewhere. To start with here our some of our favourite looks for girls as pictured at the top:
For smaller gifts and stocking fillers, our accessories are some of the cutest around! Not just for girls, our knee high socks are popular with boys too especially the blue bear ones and the fried egg ones. And for the girls, the raccoon socks and the red bear ones are unbeatable at under a tenner a pair!
Sometimes when time is short and you’ve left stuff to the last minute, it’s handy to have one place to go to, to find all your gifts. That place for me is Little Flea – a one-stop place where you find all the best baby and kids brands from small, independent retailers. Rather than trawl the entire web looking for christmas gifts for kids, I find it a lot easier to go to Little Flea where I still get lots of choice but save a lot of time too.
In our home, Anya’s birthday is just a little before Christmas. That means December is full of presents for her – sometimes too many. So what we do is give her a big present for her birthday and small, inexpensive stuff for Christmas. I always get her birthday present organised in time but with everything going on the little Christmas gifts often get left till the last minute. So today I headed to Little Flea to make a list of possibles for Anya and while I was there I picked out some of the best little gifts that you too can get for under £20 with many that are under £10 too. Here are my picks for the best Christmas gifts for under 20:
Books are my favourite gifts to give kids. For birthdays, for Christmas gifts, for any occasion at all. With so many fabulous kids books out there, it’s not hard to find the perfect book for any child. Here I’ve compiled a list of some of our favourite books – some of which we already have and others that are on our wish list. I’ve mixed up the selection to include picture books, art books, activity books, educational books and more.
Anya’s Christmas gifts always include books and usually a selection of different types like the ones I’ve suggested here. The one that I am looking most forward to buying her this Xmas is The School of Art which I have browsed through and it looks great not just for kids but for adults too. The books I’ve picked are for a range of ages from toddlers to 10 year olds so there’s something for everyone. The ages though are just rough guides, not set in stone.
Here are my best kids books gift suggestions for this year:
Yesterday it was all about the girls so my next Christmas gift guide, has got to be all about the boys. If you’re a regular reader you’ll know that I don’t do plastic toys, battery operated toys or anything like that. Instead I prefer toys that require imagination and encourage creative play. So you’ll find lots of fun wooden toys, games, crafts and more. Many of these gifts would work for girls as well, including things like the superhero dress up set – after all girls can be super heroes too, right?
Here are some of my favourite Christmas gift ideas for boys:
With Christmas fast approaching, I thought I would share my next gift list. This is a list of lots of gift ideas for girls aged mainly between 4 and 7 years. I’ve tried to mix up the suggestions as not all girls like girly things so I’ve included building toys and superhero stuff too. There are quite a few crafty things too as I always believe in giving gifts that encourage imagination and creativity. So here are my top Christmas gift ideas for girls:
Earlier today I shared some adorable Christmas gift ideas for baby boys. Now it’s the turn of the baby girls. I had such fun putting this list together because everything is so, so cute! While I’ve called this a baby girl gift list, there are lots of things here that would work just as well for a baby boy too.
I’ve picked a selection of toys, clothes and useful things all with gorgeous design and lots of cuteness for babies aged 0-2 years. So here are my favourite Christmas gift ideas for baby girls:
I can’t believe I’m talking Christmas already – where has this year gone?! But Christmas is coming and that means it’s time for me to share some gift ideas with you. Every year I ask you guys if you want gift lists and every year I get a big, huge yes! So once again I will be sharing lots and lots of gift ideas for kids of different ages and some ideas for mums too.
To kick of this years gift list, I’ve got a whole range of Christmas gift ideas for baby boys. Babies don’t need much but it’s always fun to spoil them especially at this time of the year. So I’ve gathered a range of fun toys, a few clothes and books most of which are suitable for babies from 0-2 years. I will be sharing a separate gift list for baby girls but as you’ll see there are many gifts on both lists that will be loved by baby boy or girl.
Ebabee Likes is a style guide for babies, young kids and their mamas. It’s all about inspiration, ideas and indulging yourself and your brood. It’s written by me ~ Nomita ~ a style loving girl from Mumbai who now live’s in London. Read More...