Gift Supply Closet

Have Presents Handy

Ever gotten ready for a kid’s birthday party and realized you completely spaced on buying a present? Welcome to parenthood, where remembering your kids’ names sometimes presents a challenge, much less their friends’ birthday and favorite things.

We fixed the gift quandary by buying toys and books whenever they speak to us. That can be because we couldn’t resist something, but our kids really don’t need more stuff. Or sometimes we find a deal too good to resist and we stock up (going out of business sales ringing any bells?). We tend to have things in our own kids’ age ranges and interests, but some things work for almost any age group, like sand toys and craft supplies.

We have what we call the gift closet, where we stash all our goodies. So far our kids haven’t stumbled upon it, though I expect that to change eventually. When we have an event coming up that requires a present, we can go shopping without ever leaving the house. Instead of rushing around trying to find the perfect gift and ignoring our budget in our hurry, we have a selection of high quality items that appeal to us and our kids ready at a moment’s notice.

Now if only we could remember to wrap things ahead of time, we’d be all set.