Toddler Christmas wins!

Just wanted to make a post to say what really helped reduce holiday stress this season. We spent the holiday at my in laws a 6 hour drive from home. Just hoping others might find these useful!

1. no tree in our house. Only at grandmas

2. fiercely defended bed time. We were always home by 6. Bedtime is 7. This meant saying no to things/leaving early. But no one wants to hang out with my child past 7pm.

3. we opened 2 toys. I didn’t buy any new toys. We played with them until he was done. All the other gifts will be rationed over the course of the year. And one was reserved for the drive home.

4. we went to tons of local libraries. They have children’s areas that are great for indoor play at this age. Helped get out of the non-baby proofed house.

5. we shipped a large play yard to my in laws and had them set it up in advance. That way the fact that they didn’t baby proof wasn’t a huge issue.

6. brought the pack and play and slumber pod for all on the go naps

7. said no to a lot of stuff - meals at restaurants, late night holiday parties, gatherings at venues that would have been difficult. Instead we had people over to our home in several small groups.

We also left the baby with my in-laws for some gatherings. People were annoyed that they didn’t get to meet the baby - but my baby is not a spectacle. He’s a human. And he would rather hang out with grandma and go to bed on time.

I think about whether an event will be fun for me before saying yes. If I’m going to be baby wrangling the whole time and unable to carry a conversation then there’s really no point to being there.

8. noon years eve at the local library is our plan!

9. didn’t drink. Parenting hungover is not something i want to try. My partner also did not drink at my request on this trip.

10. local lights show 5 minutes from our house. This had a Santa with no line so we did it. But we had decided we would not wait in line for a Santa visit. We also did lots of festive light walks in our neighborhood.

11. all meals for the little were prepped before the trip and brought in our cooler. We didn’t need to think about what he was eating - it was just grab and go.

12. we scaled back our cookie baking tradition since our little couldn’t really be involved. (We haven’t introduced sugar yet, and didnt think it’d be a good idea to start while also on a trip) we only made two batches instead of the 20 batches my MIL usually makes. I actually think everyone felt a lot better with this change.

So yeah! What have others found helpful?