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Giveaway: $500 AmEx Gift Card & Year’s Supply of Boogie Wipes

On December 24th this year, I am packing up my Jewish family and taking them to Poppy and Nonna’s house in Rhode Island for their very first Christmas.

Poppy, aka “my father”, has been trying to establish a holiday with the family for years. When my parents got separated, back when I was ten years old, it was written into the divorce settlement that holidays would be spent with my mother (aka Grammy, but not Grammy at the time for obvious reasons.) My sister and I didn’t think much of it growing up and our traditions carried into adulthood, which means that even now, we spend holidays with our mom.

A few years ago, my dad mentioned something to my sister and me about spending Thanksgiving with him that year and we reacted like this was the most ludicrous thing we had ever heard.

“We can’t NOT spend Thanksgiving with MOM!”

“You don’t even care about the holidays, Dad.”

I will never forget the look on my dad’s face. It was at that moment I realized the reason my dad never seemed to celebrate the holidays was because he couldn’t celebrate them with his kids.

For a few years after that, we tried to establish fake holidays that we would spend with my father. “Liar’s Day” was a celebration that took place on March 6th, the day my dad thought was his birthday for most of his life, until his mother broke the news to him that he was actually born on May 6th and she had lied so he could make the kindergarten cut-off. “Status Day” was a celebration that took place on October 29th, the date my brother-in-law’s parents engraved on the back of his fancy new watch which had no significance whatsoever except that was the date they bought the watch. FYI- “Status Day” is a fabulous holiday where you go out to a really expensive restaurant and buy your loved one the cheapest item you can find from an obnoxiously upscale brand. Like a Gucci pair of socks or a Prada shower cap.

But none of these holidays really stuck with my father.

Then this year, my dad invited us up to their house in Rhode Island for Christmas. Nonna (my stepmother) is Catholic and celebrates Christmas as most people do— with a tree, Christmas Eve Dinner, stockings hung on the mantle, etc. He said the kids could help decorate a smaller kid’s tree the night before, we could do the whole cookies and milk thing for Santa and open presents the next morning.

“Oh my god, DAD! This is it! Why didn’t we think of this before? YOU CAN HAVE CHRISTMAS!!!!!!”

So. Now I am tasked with not only buying Hanukah and Christmas presents, I also need to buy stocking stuffers. I HAVE NEVER HAD TO BUY STOCKING STUFFERS BEFORE. It is the most exciting thing ever.

In partnership with Boogies Wipes, I have put together my “#1 Picks” for stocking stuffers. You know, since they are the experts on all things stuffed and picked. If you don’t see the wordplay there, your children stick their fingers up their stuffed noses to pick out their boogers far less than mine do.

To make it even more fun— if you tell me your #1 Stocking Stuffer Pick in the comment section below, you could win a $500 American Express gift card and a year’s supply of Boogie Wipes! (I’m really having a lot of awesome holiday giveaways, aren’t I???)

Here goes…

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1) Pink dice 2) Go Fish 3) Heart Measuring Spoons 4) Silver Glitter Glue 5) Snowflake Cookie Cutter 6) Glow-in-the-dark bracelets 7) Frozen band-aids 8) Snow White Mini Puzzle 9) Elsa gloves 10) EOS all-natural flavored Lip Balm

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1) Pink Babiators 2) Dinosaur Crayons 3) Wooden hexagon magnets 4) Unscented Boogie Wipes 5) Butterfly Bubbles 6) Paw Patrol characters 7) iHome Color Changing Speakers 8) Harmonica 9) Sofia’s Magical Amulet 10) Bubble Guppies bath toys

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1) Cord catch 2) Diamond Love ring 3) Coffee cozie 4) Gold sparkle nail polish 5) Mother Hen and Baby Chick mommy baby matching socks 6) Dry Bar gift card 7) Fingerless mittens 8) myCharge HUB 6000 9) iPhone tripod 10) Nars red lipstick

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1) J. Crew striped socks 2) Carry-On Cocktail Kit 3) Coal gumballs 4) Emergency Clown Nose 5) Flash Drive Money Clip 6) Superman cufflinks 7) Cocktail multitool 8) Starbucks gift card 9) Bacon flavored Candy 10) Assorted Lottery Tickets

Boogie Wipes are made with saline to dissolve mucus caused by allergies or the common cold.  They are extra soft and come in Simply Unscented, Fresh Scent and Great Grape. Boogie Wipes are recommended by Pediatricians as a gentle, effective alternative to a dry tissue.

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They are the perfect stocking stuffer for your gold digging kid with the super crusty stuffed nose.

TO ENTER:

1) Tell me your #1 Stocking Stuffer Pick in the comment section below.

2) For a second entry, pin any graphic in this post to Pinterest with the caption “Best stocking stuffer ideas for moms, dads, babies and kids”. Then leave a second comment saying you did so.

3) For a third entry, tweet the following and leave a third comment saying you did so:

Just entered to win $500 and year supply of Boogie Wipes by naming my #1 stocking stuffer! http://bit.ly/1qvtAy5 @mommyshorts @boogiemom

4) For a fourth entry, subscribe to Mommy Shorts daily or weekly emails and then leave a fourth comment saying you did so. If you are already a subscriber, just leave a comment saying so.

Winner will be announced on December 19th. You can read the full rules here.

GOOD LUCK!

Winner Update: Congrats to JD! She was selected randomly to win a $500 Amex gift card and a year’s supply of Boogie Wipes. According to her comment, she will be spending the first $4 of that $500 on a box of Frozen Band Aids. Or maybe, she’ll be spending the whole $500 on 125 boxes of Frozen Band Aids. It is up to her! Please contact abby@mommyshorts.com to claim your prize. Happy Holidays!