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Has it always been this hard? Holiday shopping as a first-time mom

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Has it always been this hard? Holiday shopping as a first-time mom

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Holiday shopping for a child should be considered an Olympic sport.

Between juggling a budget, increasing toy prices, competitive parents, a fast-approaching deadline and the pressure to make the holidays special, there are so many tasks and not enough hands.

This is my first real Christmas with my soon-to-be one-year-old and I have to ask: has holiday shopping for kids always been this hard?

Last Christmas, I was the new mom of two-week-old baby. I can barely remember the day, just snapshots of matching pajamas and my sleeping newborn.

While I had a child last year, I wasn’t exactly scouring the shelves or toy aisles at nine months pregnant. I was at home, with my feet elevated. My baby was gifted a handful of outfits, a rattle and few pacifiers.

This year is a totally different challenge and it’s somehow harder than pregnancy.

It makes me wonder if inflation, the general economy and social media have made Christmas shopping harder than it was in years past.

I see parents everyday on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok discussing the toy their child needs this year. Not just to play with, no — it’s for his development. He wont read, or walk, or function without this or that toy. The guilt around what he has or doesn’t have is instantaneous.

But then there’s another mom talking about how all the holidays are about is presents, adding kids should just get a couple gifts and be grateful.

I want to be an ideal mom, the mom who pulls off dozens of Pinterest-worthy crafts, facilitates epic traditions that will be passed down for generations, spends hours baking cookies and wrapping presents and somehow manages to find time to do normal things, like vacuum and change diapers.

But who has the time?

I have a very clear routine in my house and it doesn’t leave much wiggle room for pulling off crazy holiday traditions or shopping for gifts. I get two hours each night to myself and I prefer to spend that time with my husband, not scouring websites for the most “developmentally appropriate gifts for a one-year-old.”

A search for a wooden climbing gym

My child loves to climb. He can’t even walk and yet he is regularly trying to climb the bookshelf, the couch or the TV stand. He climbs so much it feels like my entire life is pulling him off things and catching him before he falls.

So, the big item on my list is a pickler set — a wooden climbing gym for young children. The problem is a pickler set costs between $100 and $150 which seems like too much for a single toy, especially for a baby.

My Midwest sensibilities require a deal, a bargain, a chance to feel like I got away with something and I can’t find a good enough price. Even if I could, I’d be left wondering why it’s so cheap. Like, did the manufacturer use lead paint?

I could save money by only buying him the pickler set and call it a day. But is only buying him one gift too little? Am I depriving my kid of a gift-filled Christmas? Or is it better to cut back, be less materialistic? Also, he’s one. He’s not going to remember. But then again, I will.

It’s the start of his relationship with the holidays. This is the year to build traditions, but traditions aren’t cost effective. Last year, we wore matching pajamas, but I spent nearly $100 outfitting the whole family, which was just three people and two dogs. Am I really going to spend that every year before I’ve even gotten to presents?

So here I sit, stuck scouring websites and toy aisles only to leave empty-handed. Seriously, I haven’t bought a single toy yet.

There isn’t an easy solution to the question “How much do you get your kid for Christmas?” and I’m not the one to answer it. But with the help of a few mom-friends and my grandmother — I think my answer (at least for this year) is to focus on what will excite my kid.

He’s not that passionate about toys — the dog bowl and TV remote hold his attention for longer. He wont care about how many presents he got this year compared to last, and he’s more likely to be excited by the wrapping paper than the actual gift.

What he’ll like is Christmas decorations, a sparkly tree and some twinkly lights. I’ll wrap his presents in easy to tear paper and yes, I’ll buy the pickler set, because he’ll use it and love it and it might keep him off of my TV stand for five minutes. If I’m lucky.

I’m going to give myself a break when it comes to traditions. They don’t have to start year-one and if I don’t spend hours baking and doing crafts this year, that doesn’t mean I can’t next year.

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