10 Creative Places to Hide the Kids’ Christmas Gifts

When the kids are little it usually isn’t all that difficult to keep their gifts a secret, but as they begin to get older and understand that Christmas entails receiving gifts, they tend to get a little more inquisitive and may start poking around trying to find out where you’re hiding the presents.  If you think your kids are going to be poking around before Christmas in an attempt to locate their gifts, try these 10 different places for hiding them away from their prying eyes:

1. Trunk of the car – If the present isn’t going to be affected by heat or cold, keeping it in the trunk of your car is a great hiding spot because the kids rarely have a reason to be in the car without you being there too. Just don’t forget you stashed them there and send the kids to get something out of your trunk!
2. Empty suitcases – These are the best hiding places! Those suitcases sit there day in and day out and no one has any need to move them or look at them.  You can hide quite a bit of small gifts in one of the larger suitcases, however, if you have an overly bulky item you may need to think of another spot for it.
3. Under bed storage boxes – Most kids don’t have any reason to go under mom and dad’s bed, and the under the bed storage boxes will hold a lot of stuff.  If you have a typical bed, you won’t be able to store very big items underneath it, but Barbie dolls and video games fit well!
4. The neighbor’s garage – If you and your neighbor are friends, this is the ideal hiding place for big items.  You can put your item in a corner and cover it with a blanket.  This is especially great if their kids aren’t little anymore so they can tell their kids the present out there isn’t theirs.
5. A box in the attic – Attics offer a perfect hiding space as long as it doesn’t double as a play area for the kids.  Also, be sure that you don’t store things up there that might be affected by extreme heat or cold. Big items work well in an attic as long as you are strong enough to get them up there.  Cover them up with a blanket and you are good to go.
6. Behind your clothes in the closet – Keep the kids out of your closet this time of year! Hiding presents behind long dresses and suit bags is a smart place to stash them because at first glance, the closet looks the same, and only you will know where you stashed the secret items.  You can even use this spot to hide stuff for your spouse since it’s not likely he will move all of your dresses and shoes looking for his gifts.
7. Your work place – If you pick up some gifts on your lunch hour don’t bring them home, just leave them under your desk at work.  Or, if they are expensive, you can lock them in your desk or file cabinet.  Make sure the cleaning crew can be trusted.
8. Storage box in the garage – Buy a few extra storage boxes that match the ones you have in the garage already and hide the gifts in there.  Then, store the boxes behind normal storage boxes in case someone would happen to look in one.  Add an X or something on the box so that you will know where you stashed the gifts; it’s not good to lose the gifts you went to such lengths to hide!
9. High shelf in the closet – Use a coat closet or a guest closet to hide gifts in a box up on a high shelf.  Put some blankets or other storage items in front of it so it won’t stand out if one of the kids is playing hide-n-seek and decides to hide in that closet.
10. Linen closet – Most kids probably don’t venture into the linen closet very often, and if they do it’s probably just to grab a towel.  Hide small items on the top shelf in the back and no one will be the wiser.  Closets in the laundry room work well for this too, as the kids rarely would have any need to go into the laundry room, let alone the closet in there.

Make sure you keep a list of your hiding places somewhere so that you know where everything is hidden. You don’t want to be scrambling around in the days leading up to Christmas trying to remember where you so carefully hid everything!

 P.S. This post was  proposed to me for publication by Paul Taylor. I'm therefore publishing it by his invitation and under his permission. See also the link below fore more information:

http://www.babysittingjobs.com/blog/10-creative-places-to-hide-the-kids%E2%80%99-christmas-gifts/ 

10 Tips for Picking the Perfect Teacher Gift

Teachers are such an integral and important aspect of kids’ lives that, as parents, you may want to thank them for their hard work and dedication to teaching and serving your children.  Several times a year occasions arise where you may want to give your child’s teacher a gift to express your appreciation.  While the teachers won’t tell you that they didn’t like your gift or that they tossed it out, you do want to make sure that you are giving gifts that truly reflect your appreciation, as well as the teacher’s interests and tastes.

1. Find something she likes.  Be observant when you meet with your teacher for a conference.  Look around the room.  Do you see a lot of monkeys?  She might really like monkeys.  Do you see her always walking around drinking Mountain Dew or a mocha latte?  Ask your child about her teacher’s favorite things. The answers provide hints to choosing the perfect teacher gift.
2. Try to always give consumables.  Chocolate is most always an appreciated gift. Gift cards are too. Things that can be eaten or used tend to make great gifts.  Figuring out where to buy the gift card is the tricky part.  Shoot for teacher stores, coffee places – unless you know for a fact she doesn’t like coffee, book stores, and retail centers that are close by the school. You can also opt for a pre-paid VISA gift card.
3. Personalize the gifts for her.  Give her thank you cards with her initial on them or better yet, “From the Desk of”… with the teacher’s name. Teachers use thank you cards all the time.  Bake for her or buy her candy and put it in a cute jar with a ribbon.
4. Bring her flowers or a plant.  Your child could bring her a single flower just to brighten her day or a complete bouquet in a school-themed vase.
5. Give her a magazine that she may like.  If you know she does scrapbooking, then give her a scrapbooking magazine.  If she loves to run in marathons then give her a magazine about running.  Ask your child what hobbies the teacher talks about to get an idea of her interests.
6. Give her things for her classroom.  A bouquet of pencils or a jar full of glue sticks can be practical and appreciated.  Be clever and turn the jar full of glue sticks into a vase and turn candy bars into “flowers” by taping them to a skewer and sticking them into the jar.  Add a ribbon around the jar and your gift is ready to give.  It’s both festive and consumable.
7. Bring her lunch.  For this gift, you can just tell her you’d like to treat her to lunch and ask her what she would like.  You can go pick it up and bring it back to the school during her lunch hour.
8. Bring her some of her favorite soda. Teachers can usually have drinks in their classroom so that would be a nice treat for her in the middle of a busy day.  She’s talking a lot to the kids and probably gets thirsty.
9. Get the kids involved.  Have each child put their thumbprint on a big popcorn bowl and paint around each print and turn it into a piece of popped popcorn.  Add the child’s name next to it so that the teacher has a memory of all of the kids in her class that year. This is something that is fun and useful.
10. Let your child draw the teacher a picture or write her a note.  Kids can be so sweet and having the present come from the child is many times more special than anything that you can buy at the store.  Take a picture of the teacher with your child and frame it for a fun gift to give later in the year.

P.S. This post was  proposed to me for publication by Hannah Anderson. I'm therefore publishing it by her invitation and under her permission. See also the link below fore more information: 
 http://www.fulltimenanny.com/blog/10-tips-for-picking-the-perfect-teacher-gift/

The worst Christmas gifts

Don't you know what to present your partner for Christmas? Worried about Chistmas' gifts? Just joint through the following link the worst Christmas gifts! http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2009/dec/08/worst-christmas-gifts