The Self-Care Mom

When it comes to planning the perfect gift, I always like to think of what would the person need in their everyday life. Oftentimes I focus on the person’s hobbies.

This year, I am trying to convince Jeff that the kids don’t need toys. I’m focusing more on extracurricular activities we can do together as a family. 

I stopped by Costco this week to scope out possible gifts and pick up a few things. Costco usually has a great selection of practically everything your family would need.

Since living in South Florida, we’ve had a lot of family time. From long walks at local parks to visiting different beaches throughout, we always try to pack light and make our trips as comfortable as possible.

Whenever I go shopping for things we could use during our trips, I always pay attention to the different uses of the product. If it can serve more than one purpose, then I’m all for it. For instance, we recently bought a lightweight Tommy Bahama beach cart  http://www.amazon.com/Tommy-Bahama-Terrain-Beach-Cart/dp/B004TM0ZQO that has a small cooler as well. This makes traveling with kids a lot easier, more so since all we have to do is pack our beach cart http://www.amazon.com/Tommy-Bahama-Terrain-Beach-Cart/dp/B004TM0ZQO and strap our kids to their car seats. 

When Jeff and I celebrated our first Christmas together, it was interesting to see we had different ideas on gift-giving. 

Jeff prefers only buying gifts for the kids, this way we’d keep the holiday special for them. For me, it’s all about family. I believe that if you’re giving someone something, it should be something that involves everyone. So, I make gift baskets for each family. My mother started this tradition in our home and I’ve adopted it from her since having my own family. 

Each gift basket comes filled with love and things their family will enjoy. And last year, I’ve added my infamous peanut butter cookies. They’re known to cause you to want seconds, thirds, etc. until you have a handful. They, too, are made with love. 

This year, I’ll be adding a special something to everyone’s basket. And I can’t wait to share it on my blog in a future post. 😉 

If you can think of one special gift that can be used by someone and their significant other, then you’ve struck gold. Jeff’s brother is looking to open up a business or two and his wife has a couple of clients for her at-home nail studio. To help them better manage their finances and accept more than just cash, I plan to sneak a Square reader into their gift basket. It’s a simple gift that goes a long way. Also, their eldest is 18 and in college so the Square reader will come in handy for her as well.