parent hacks

Here's my neighborhood right now -- the first white Christmas I've seen. It's a fluke for Portland to get so much snow for so long...and a treat, because it has caused everything to slow down. We don't hear cars or bustle -- just the sound of the wind snapping the ice off the branches, and the kids laughing as they pelt each other with snowballs.

I hope your holidays are full of celebration or quiet -- whatever restores you. And I'm so glad to have spent another year with you, swapping tips, sharing stories, and generally marveling at your warmth and generosity. I love hanging out with you every day.

Have a wonderful holiday, and a happy, healthy New Year.

Kari's savvy party hack:

At parties and family gatherings, everyone sets their cups down and then wonders, "is that mine?" Wonder no more. I just figured out that you can use window markers on glassware. I wrote my name on one of my glasses and it came off in the dishwasher without me having to even rub it off. We'll use these for our holiday parties and family gatherings now so that people can keep track of their cup. It's more earth-friendly than throw-away cups and more germ-friendly than guessing if it's your cup or not!

Related: Label glass baby bottles using dry erase markers

Susan's hack is so many kinds of wonderful, I'll just leave it to you to marvel at her smarts and generosity:

In the forever battle to keep declutter our house, Christmas inevitably causes stress, especially when it comes to toys and our 3-year-old. So in our house, we're not the only ones who recycle. Santa recycles, too.

About two weeks ago, when she started getting really excited about Christmas and Santa, we started talking about how we need to make room for new toys. I told her on Christmas Eve, when Santa comes to visit, that next to the cookies and milk she can leave a biiiiig box of toys by the fireplace (I do a lot of Christmas shopping via Amazon.com, so I've saved one of their larger boxes just for this purpose). When Santa stops by our house to leave *her* toys, he'll take the old toys with him back to the elves who will fix them up, recycle them, and send them to little boys and girls who may not get as much from their parents for Christmas as she does - so those kids have lots of toys, too!

Well, she has been *all* gung ho, even putting some of the toys that used to be her favorites and telling us that the little boys and girls who don't have as many toys will love them even more than she does. So on Christmas Eve, when my husband and I are sneaking around to play Santa, the box will go in grandma's trunk for a trip on Dec. 26 to the local women's shelter.

Related: Teach your kids gratitude and perspective by sponsoring children via relief organizations

Mark's practical tree trimming tip:

Our darling little girl just turned 18 months before Christmas. Last year she was pretty indifferent to the tree but this year she is all about it. At first we just gave up and the bottom 3 feet of the tree were just bare. Then I realized that I could fill out the bottom with her existing toys. I grabbed some little ones that were out of circulation for a little while and wedged them in the branches. Now we have a tree decorated from bottom to top and everything that she can reach is colorful and safe. It also makes the day end cleanup a little easier since we can just toss a lot of the loose toys into the branches.

Just double-check the tree stand to be sure it won't topple.

Related: Toddler-enable your Christmas tree with a few unbreakable ornaments

Janey's hack takes the reusable gift bag idea to a new level!

Every year we give our kids one present each for every night of Hanukkah. Last year we went thru tons of wrapping paper and tons of time spent wrapping - this year we got smart. We've been using the same box every night and just replacing the presents! We just slip their present in and then they get to "open" it. Saving a bunch of trees and oodles of tape and time. We have decided that after the holdiays we will let them each pick a big wooden box to decorate and then we can use it for all occasions that merit a gift. They are so excited to be able to have their own special gift box!

Related: Lots of great holiday hacks in the Holidays/Special Occasions archive

My final contribution to Target's Christmas Wrapped site implores everyone to forget the last-minute Christmas cramming. It's time to let go and enjoy the holidays.

This post was inspired by a wonderful, heartbreaking conversation I had with a long-distance relative yesterday -- her 14 year-old daughter is suffering from the effects of Lyme Disease. It was painfully clear to me just how much connection and gratitude trump fantasies of Christmas "perfection."

Here's to happy, healthy holidays and safe travels for us all.

• Flexible Dreams: Crayon Hack
  Egg carton as crayon holder! Brilliant, Amy!
• Smart-Bottom Enterprises: Made with Love - Celebration Posters
  A sweet, simple way to makes your kids feel special on birthdays or other big days. Thanks, Darcy!

Last minute shopping? Amazon's got two great Gold Box deals going on right now.

The LeapFrog Learn & Groove Musical Table was the favorite toy around here when my kids were babies and had just started standing. It's on sale right now at Amazon for $22.07 (45% off).

For older kids, check out the LeapFrog Didj Custom Learning Gaming System. It's on sale for $44.99 (44% off) -- not bad as I just saw it last week at Target for over $80. The Clone Wars game cartridge for the Didj is also on sale: $19.22 (36% off).

Prices expire today -- in 15 hours, in fact!

Steven's BRILLIANT tips for getting whole family involved in Christmas tree takedown:

My kids are almost teenagers now but we have a few family traditions that help when it is time to take down the decorations.

The first is the “Hidden Santa.” During the holiday season I bought about half a dozen, foil-wrapped, chocolate Santa Claus candies and hung them on the tree when the kids weren’t around. I did my best to hide these among the other ornaments on the tree so that they blended in well. They are a treat for the kids when the time comes to put away the ornaments. The kids end up scouring the tree looking for every last one. No candy may be eaten until all of the ornaments are off the tree.

Speaking of ornaments, each child has his own heavy-duty plastic storage box for ornaments. They are responsible for packing them up. Of course I double-check before storing the boxes in the attic, but this cuts down on a lot of “where is it?” arguments. This also leads to the last item, the tree topper.

Each year we take turns putting the Angel on the tree. In the past we sometimes forgot who did it last, resulting in an argument. Now, when taking down the tree, the person who put it on top gives it to the next person in line and they store it in their ornament box for next year.

Related: A bunch of Christmas tree hacks!

• Testing your children for super powers is highly recommended. | Daddy Hogwash
  What a lovely story. Thanks for sharing, Karl!