POV: It's Thursday. You look at your weekend Google calendar and realize the swift transition from the holiday season to the birthday party circuit has begun. You have a 3rd birthday party at noon followed promptly by a 1st birthday party at 4. You are ill-prepared and understaffed. Life is not good.
Ladies and gentleladies, Amazon prime exists for this very reason. This is why we pay them the big bucks. Amazon is optimizing the birthday gift game and we are here. for. it. So we have compiled a quick list of our top shop must haves for the birthday party you completely forgot about...
For the boy who loves anything with wheels:
Bath bombs are the ultimate mom hack. They satisfy two key components: 1) getting your kids cleans and 2) killing time. These particular ones are 100% organic and natural and contain a little pull-back car surprise in each. For under $20, this is a perfect signature gift. Be sure to take advantage of the 5% off coupon right now.
For the girl who loves anything mermaid, unicorn or rainbow:
This is it. This is the holy grail of gifts that keep on giving. As we mentioned above, bath bombs are the ultimate bribing tool of veteran moms anywhere. These particular ones are free from chemicals and contain soothing ingredients like shea butter and coconut oil. Each colorful orb contains some sort of princess-adjacent surprise so it's like a gift within a gift. 10/10
For the kid whose mom is anti-screen time:
First of all, if you are the gatekeeper to the TV or tablet. Good for you. You are a stronger mom than I. But I get it, we are all trying to actively prevent our kids from watching 27 episodes of Bluey in a row (even though we love the Dance Mode episode) and pretend that we don't rely entirely on a screen to get anything done with kids around. Enter: the tonie box aka the hottest gift of 2022.
With a variety of different starter packs like the one above geared towards the classics and this one --> geared towards Frozen fanatics, there's a tonie for every jabroni. And the best thing? While the box itself is a little bit of an investment ($99 here) the tonies themselves are only $15 each making them an easy stocking stuffer or quick gift for a kid who already has the box. And they have most of your favorite Disney characters in stock so you can really personalize your picks towards the birthday boy or girl.
Our personal favorites are Mulan, Little Mermaid, Poppy, and their new mindfulness Calm tonie for winding down.
For the kid who has trouble staying in bed:
Transition to big kid bed have you saying "oh sh!t, what did I do?" Look no further than this astronaut galaxy projector. This gift gives new meaning to staring at the ceiling. For $35, you can get a variety of modes and 360 degrees of rotation. A regular nightlight could NEVER. Give a tired mom the gift of sleep and a wired kid the gift of staring off into space until they fall asleep.
For the crunchy kids:
We recently discovered cosmic kids yoga and we are getting down with it, dog. Encourage your kids to get their namaste on with a mini yoga mat that they can use to get their wiggles and giggles out on. Easy to clean, this mat can also double as a runner/placemat for those messy kids meals or as a safe place to color or paint. It's $20, what have you got to lose?
For the serial entrepreneur child:
There are very few toys that really stand the test of time and this is one of them. Not ugly and made of wood (we love a more sustainable material), this Melissa & Doug ice cream shop set-up is cute, fun, compact, and will keep your kids busy for hours (ok maybe not hours but at least enough time to wolf down some Annie's mac straight from the pot). It's a great deal at $25. You'll be eating pretend ice cream FOR DAYS.
For the kid whose mom you don't like:
Move over playdoh and kinetic sand, there's a new most annoying toy in town and it is this dancing cactus. If you are looking for a fun gag gift or attending a birthday for a mom who was rude to you in the carpool pickup line one time, this one is for you! All kidding aside, this cactus has kept both my 3 year old and my 1 year old entertained for HOURS, yes hours.
For the neighborhood kids:
These walkie talkies are such an underrated gift. They can reach up to 1 mile away so your kids can chit chat the night away between rooms or with neighbor pals and you can over&out your parent duties for the evening. They are super fun for long range games of hide & seek and your kid can gift one of the 3 that come in the pack to a friend close by.
For the mom who wants to look cool to the kids:
Laser Tag. It's a tale as old as time. This gift would be fun to give to a neighbor so you guys can participate in a street-wide competition of this iconic game. This would even be fun to play AT the birthday party if you want to hijack the activities and make it clear to the other moms that you got the best gift. Hell, I might gift this one to myself and make my husband play with me. Feels like a good way to get some cardio in.
For the future Olympian:
These aesthetically-friendly balance beams are a super fun way to keep your future Nastia Liukin entertained. With so many different configurations and ease of set-up, your little boy or girl can play an epic game of 'lava' or just walk around in circles to their heart's content. This one is under $100 but I personally have this one which is slightly more expensive but gender neutral. Don't bend over backyards for birthdays, let the kids do that instead.
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