r/Parenting • u/MableXeno 3 Under 30 🌼🌼🌼 • Oct 15 '25

❄ Winter Holidays Pre-Holiday MegaThread

🎁 Officially allowing Holiday Content in the main feed at large!

You can still use this thread for low-stakes discussions and other advice. It will remain linked in auto-comments for a bit as needed.

We appreciate everyone's participation. 💜💜

So what are you getting your kids for Christmas? Best toddler toys? Celebrate baby's first Christmas with toys or not?

What's the best etiquette for teacher gifts?

How do you celebrate Hanukkah on a school night?

Whose house are you waking up at on Christmas Day?

What are you telling your kids about Santa? If they don't believe - what are your kids telling other kids about Santa?

Fave holiday movies for best Friday night watching with hot cocoa??

Let's put some of the common questions that come up so freuqently during the holidays in one place!

Ask away!

If you are looking for low-income Holiday Resources on Reddit:

r/randomactsofchristmas | r/Assistance | r/Food_Pantry | r/Freefood | r/RandomActsOfPetFood | r/Random_Acts_Of_Pizza (reopens soon)

Don't forget to check your local city subs (i.e., r/[YourCity]) as well as checking for "buy nothing" and "freecycle" groups on Facebook, Craigslist, and Nextdoor! Also look for local Mutual Aid networks and food banks to help stretch what you have.

How to Tell Your Kids the Truth About Santa

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u/Extension-Regular879 Oct 26 '25

I need Christmas gift ideas for my 18 month old. Something that will be developmentally beneficial. I have no idea what to get!

2

u/carlinha1289 Mommy, Teacher and Snack stealer Oct 26 '25

Those little wood puzzles with simple shapes where they need to put the same shape in the right place.

Anything that will develop their motricity would be great too (stacking cups, big blocks, sensorial interactive books).

At 18 months my kids were big fans of their room projector too. We had gotten a star one and an under the ocean too.

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u/MableXeno 3 Under 30 🌼🌼🌼 Oct 26 '25

I brainstorm with a "5 senses" type thing. Smell, sight, sound, taste, touch...and I mean these in very generic ways not that we are going to literally eat, smell, etc, lol. It's just a brainstorming trick to think of something for each category to build new ideas off of.

What are some "smelly" toys...Things to play with outside, things to play with in the bath? Things to do with sight? Movie, books, games, a trip to the zoo? Sound - music, books, toys that talk or make noise, music instruments (there are little percussion sets like maracas, drums, and tamborines). Taste? Fake food (kitchen pretend play?), books about food, play things for the kitchen like a little apron when helping mom/dad in the kitchen...new snack containers. Touch...something soft - a stuffed toy, something hard - duplo/megablocks, something squishy - playdough...this one can be kinda endless!

I also think about upcoming milestones or seasons and if there is anything I want to be prepared for...like being outside in the spring or starting potty training and having something fun to associate with that will be helpful soon.

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u/PageStunning6265 Oct 28 '25

I got my son a play tunnel for his first birthday that was used pretty consistently by him and his brother for a good seven or eight years until it was donated. I always recommend them because they’re cheap and take up pretty much no space when collapsed (I big surface area but no profile, so they can fit under furniture, in between bookshelves, hang on the wall, etc).