Pulling Curls

Disneyland on Busy Days: What to do to keep it magical

November 14, 2018 By Hilary Erickson Leave a Comment

While you can try your very hardest to attend Disney when the crowds are lowest, sometimes you just look around and find that you’re at Disneyland on a busy day. The GOOD news is that you can still have a lot of fun even when it’s crowded. Here are 5 tips and 10 things to do when Disneyland & California Adventure are crazy busy.

I 100% recommend checking out how busy Disneyland will be at the time you plan to go. Last year we did a mid-year trip to Disneyland and it wasn’t bad at all, but sometimes the only time you can go IS busy, and sometimes even though it doesn’t look like it WILL be busy, it is. — so here are my tips for busy days (btw, this is part of my Disneyland Tips for Families page): [Read More Here…]

Spoiled Kids at Christmas: Giving Christmas joy without ruining your kids.

November 12, 2018 By Hilary Erickson 2 Comments

Forget their two front teeth. Creating spoiled kids at Christmas is a fine line. Christmas means giving — but how do you not give too much?

Circa 2015: I have a child who wants EVERYTHING for Christmas. Seriously, the list has been going for MONTHS and ranges from Swedish fish to a trip to Disneyland.

I have another one who doesn’t have a single item on his list that is less than 200 dollars. Any of this ringing a bell with how things are going at your own house?

I get pie in the sky. Especially in example #1. It’s easy to think “Oooo, I want that!” It’s exciting and we all have wants.

I just don’t have a pie. I do have plenty of sky. 🙂

Christmas will happen at our house this year, but I need to be REALLY thoughtful of what they get and what will truly bring the most glee into their little faces.

Christmas is magical, and I certainly don’t want to lose that — but I don’t need to lose my home over it. 🙂

This post was originally written in November 2015, and has been updated (although I have left the kids and our finances circa 2015 intact) [Read More Here…]

Hiding Presents: Where to put presents to keep it a surprise!

November 7, 2018 By Hilary Erickson 8 Comments

Where to hide Christmas Presents? There is an art to hiding presents. Christmas presents are no fun if you see them in advance, but how do you keep prying eyes at bay?

We lived in a house that was under 1200 square feet when we lived in California. I had three kids, and little kids toys are SO big. Their packaging is REDICULOUS (although, I LOVE Amazon’s frustration-free packaging). I-yi-yi… Here’s my 5 tips for hiding presents when you think you have NO space:

[Read More Here…]