Sometimes, it can feel like a couple of weeks hardly goes by without a big event happening - Valentine's Day, birthdays, Easter, it never ends - so you constantly feel the pressure of gift giving.
As the cost of living crisis forced people to be more frugal with their money over the Christmas period last year, parents will be wondering how they can get ahead this year to avoid feeling stressed and unprepared when it rolls around again, as sadly, things haven't improved for many families.
One mum has shared her method to avoiding that overwhelming Christmas rush. It should help other parents breathe a sigh of relief as it means no panic-buying for any family member - and you could be finished with your festive shopping way before December.
The parent took to popular forum Mumsnet to share her tip, which sounds very simple but really works if you start planning ahead now.
She dubbed the trick a time-saving 'life hack' as it stops you from needing to panic buy, or spend all your money in December, when things may feel a little tight anyway.
She wrote: "I've also been buying one small thing a month for the kids so I don't panic buy at Xmas. It worked ok apart from one gift my 5-year-old daughter had lost interest in over the few months when I got it."
Another mum suggested a similar idea, saying that they bulk buy generic presents for children so they're not panicking the night before a birthday party.
Outside of festive advice, she also suggested parents keep a sticker book in a first aid kit. She said: "While I'm cleaning cuts and grazes, I get them to flick through the sticker books to choose which they want and it stops them from crying/freaking out."
The original poster hailed this idea as 'genius'.
One parent even suggested 'carrying a Sharpie' marker pen around just in case you forgot to label anything of your child's when they're doing to school.
What are your top parenting tips? Let us know in the comments.
