Christmas countdown, it’s the thought that counts...

Welcome to the holiday season. It may be the thought that counts, but parents still need tips to survive the race to the finish in the holiday shutdown.

It’s the season to be jolly, but also to flex those project management muscles and get organised.  Not long after you come up for air from the silly season; the new school year prep begins.  Start stretching, you can do this.

Speaking of school, ever made yourself late for school run because you’re gluing the beak back on a tiny penguin? I doubt many parents have. Or any other random acts of microsurgery on teeny weeny animals for that matter.

When you’re lucky enough to have an arrived-early-for-Christmas baby, you never imagine what your Decembers, (past that first blissfully happy and surprising one) will be like. How you’ll sprint through decades of Decembers, trying to keep up with end of year music performances, dress-rehearsals, dance recitals, holiday shopping, organising birthday parties. Wracking your brain for gift ideas to take to a plethora of birthday parties - an offshoot of finding yourself in a Christmas babies mothers’ group.

Doubling up on birthday and Christmas presents aside, when it comes to kids’ parties, you also need gift bags.  You’ll be judged on the quality of those gift bags. Take note.

Being mindful of allergies, intolerances, and basic food safety, all lollies need to be in wrappers these days.  My go-to gift bag rule is: heavy on tiny toys, light on sugar. So, each bag begins with a balloon, a Chupa Chup and a Kinder chocolate and a couple of two-dollar-shop/Daiso or Reject Shop novelty items.  This particular year, I found some very cute little rubber animals (which were actually Japanese designed collectable erasers).

But realising I would come up way short, I bought five-packs of cheaper imitations that looked exactly the same.  Until I opened the packet and they tumbled out in dismembered pieces.

Which rounds back to the superglue emergency that made me late for drop off. I needed those bags, with able-bodied animals inside each one, for start of school. Or the little animals wouldn’t be the only ones falling to pieces!

I’m definitely one of those Christmas-spirited people. I love choosing gifts, but from preschool to primary school there’s an additional expectation for teacher gifts and which extends to after school carers, music and dance teachers.

It’s nice, it’s thoughtful, it’s a show of festive gratuity, but these gift requirements can run just shy of double digits in quantity let alone the credit card balance.

The smart (and cost effective) way to do this is by ranking: really special gifts for teachers who’ve been around for years, slightly less-special ones for the new teachers and little presents for all the casual staff who also do an excellent job.

But wait, there’s more! From preschool and kindy to around year two in big school, birthday kids are often expected to bring party gift bags and or cakes for all their classmates. That actually does run into double digits.

I can burn water, so out of kindness, I avoid baking.  This means I go the extra mile with my party bags, which I’m told are legendary. However last time I was faced with the uncomfortable fact I needed TWEN-TY-FIVE legendary gift bags! Just for school.

My child is now at that age of needing techie gifts. She was using an iPad with more expertise than her mother at three years old.

A lot of parents try to combine holiday gifts with back to-school needs. Having new school stuff is a nice way to build excitement and dispel any anxiety over a new school year. Not to mention saving a little cash during the added expense of the holidays.

Better still you can avoid the car-parking-crises at the malls and shop online for tech from the comfort of your sofa.  If you’re buying from Optus some of our phones and tablets are available for you to pay off over time.

I’m seriously considering buying a smart watch for my offspring now that she’s older. She could do with being more aware of the time, and urgent messages from her parents, that she misses on her phone because it’s in the bottom of her schoolbag with headphones attached. 

If you’re considering a first phone for a child or tween, or you’d like to better navigate the internet and social media safely, Optus Family Hub is a great place to find loads of helpful tips and free resources.

If you’re like me and you have a child with both butter fingers and shallow pockets, I would always recommend a sturdy mobile phone cover and a screen protector.

Take it from me, repeatedly smashed phones are no fun and the out of warranty repairs, very costly.

If you’re considering buying a new phone for your small person and they have a habit of leaving things laying around (let’s face it, what kids don’t?) you might even to consider device protection insurance as well.

*Suzy Mac, former journalist, parenting blogger and contributor, now leads a team of talented digital writers at Optus.

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