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A Slacker Mom's Guide To Holiday Gifts

A Slacker Mom's Guide To Holiday Gifts
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Ah, holy hell. It's holiday gift giving time. And if you're a slacker like me, that means a last minute rush. As if having to roast an overstuffed bloated bird while squabbling children run underfoot wasn't enough, we're also expected to hunt out and select personalized holiday gifts for family members far and near.

Some families resort to picking a name out of a hat and each only buying for a single person. Others only do gifts for the kids, figuring the adults can buy themselves whatever they want. But in my family, Christmas is a BIG DEAL. And as my siblings and I reproduce, the list of names gets longer and longer. And then there's the problem of selecting gifts for my in-laws. What do you get for retired people who can afford to buy any little trinket they may fancy? I've run out of creative, thoughtful, personalized solutions!

And so it's SLACKER MOM to the rescue, with last minute holiday gifts that are easy, cheap, and appear as if you actually put some thought into this.

SLACKER MOM's Guide to Holiday Gifts

Genius Gift Ideas:

  • Mason Jars! Once the container of choice for canning Grandmas, they've gone totally hipster. Fill a mason jar with most anything (coffee, candy, layered baking ingredients), tie a piece of twine around it and pass it off as a homemade gift. It's very Brooklyn flea market Pinterest-y.
  • Gift cards. Your local drugstore has an entire rack of them with cards for different retail outlets. Pair a gift card with a greeting card in a similar theme (a fish card with a Bass Pro Shops gift card for your father-in-law?) and it will actually appear as if you put some thought into this.
  • Holiday cookies. Take your packaged cookies and empty them into a holiday-themed tin and then go to a cookie swap at your child's school, where you will swap your store bought cookies for someone else's homemade ones. Voila! Holiday gifts.
  • Online Shopping. I had always taken great time and care to select the perfect gift for each family member. But since having kids, I rarely have time to shower, much less shop. Enter Amazon Prime! With a baby latched on one boob, I can shop online with my free hand. Shipping is usually free, only takes a couple of days and they'll even wrap the gifts for you, saving you from yet another dreaded holiday chore. Save your shipping and credit card information and you can check out with one click!

The ultimate slacker mom holiday tip: convert to a religion that doesn't believe in gift-giving at all. Though you may regret that on your anniversary...

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