Christmas Morning Must Haves

We are fast approaching the busiest shopping day of the year.  While you are out and about getting the best deals on the best items.  Don't forget to take advantage of the deals and stock up on those things you will definitely need on Christmas morning after Santa has visited and the kids are up and out of bed ready to rip open their presents.

Batteries

It is inevitable, those toys you thought came with batteries don't, or you bought some batteries but you didn't buy enough or you bought the wrong kind.

You will be amazed just how sneaky toy makers are about the kind of power it takes to run a toy.

Make sure you have a huge stock of AAA's, AA's and make sure you have a at least 5 of each C & D batteries, and a few 9-V.

Patience

Now I know you cannot buy patience, but make sure you bring a lot of it with you especially if you are going to be buying a lot of toys because you will spend half your morning, untwisting, clipping, pulling, pushing, tearing, and unscrewing things out of boxes.

Scissors/Knife

These toys are in these boxes.  They aren't going anywhere.  No matter how much you pull or rip, those plastic ties are like cement and the only thing that is going to bust them open is a sharp object.

Tools

Have a screwdriver set on hand because one of those boxes with that cool ninja or helicopter, or baby bounce a lot, will need to be unscrewed from something, or the battery compartment will have that tiny little screw that needs to be removed.

Coffee, Lots and Lots of Coffee

It took an act of Congress to finally get your kids in bed and now you have spent half the night putting together that dollhouse or bike or getting that special electronic toy working properly.  Then, who knows how, our kids are programmed to wake up extra early on Christmas, so with the lack of sleep you will be experiencing, you will need your morning caffeine.

So take advantage of the sales and buy yourself some really fancy, really good coffee for Christmas morning.

Accessories

Always keep plenty of electronic accessories on hand.  USB cords of every shape and plug size.  You never know when that cool new tablet or phone is missing a key piece to make it work, like a charger or data cord.  It's better to be safe than sorry.

Trash Bag(s)

From what I have learned over the years as an adult of a child, it is best to stuff wrapping paper into a bag as you go, rather than wait til the end.  It is much easier to find things in the aftermath when you trash as you go.  I lost $50 one year because we waited til the end of opening presents to trash the wrapping paper and somehow my card was buried in paper and went out with the trash.  Yep, so somewhere in a landfill sits $50.

Band-Aids

It will happen in the midst of tearing open packages for the kids, you'll cut yourself.  Especially if one of those packages is the those hard plastic super sealed packages ( I've heard you can use a can opener to open those, I tried, it didn't work out to well).