30+ Editor-Picked Holiday Gifts for Parents

Dear friends,

The number of times we have written “During this weird year…” or “In these unprecented times…” I couldn’t even begin to say. Our content over the past eight months has largely been focused on bringing you relevant information, tips and tricks for the situation we’re all facing, in an attempt to do our part to help everyone feel a little less alone in pandemic parenting.

That’s why, when we started to curate our gift selection for the holiday season, we thought about a few things: 1) how could we support smaller retailers who are weathering this storm? 2) how can we help people select personal, unique gifts from the comfort of home? and 3) how can we also choose gifts from larger retailers where the price point may be lower, to help those who may be experiencing a loss of income? The result is what you’ll find here, with gifts from stocking stuffers to splurges, from larger stores to small, Canadian retailers, with the hope that we’ve found something for everyone. And if you need to round out your gifts, consider gift cards from area restaurants and shops to support your community.

On a personal note, one of my favourite stories of the season is The Gift of the Magi. If you don’t know it, look it up. It features a husband and wife who are down on their luck, and tells how they respectively sell their most prized possessions to buy a gift for the other. For me, the overall message of prioritizing kindness and joy has stuck with me since I first heard it, when I was no more than 12 or 13. This year we will need that selflessness more than ever, when we can’t actually see or touch many of our most important people. Perhaps a carefully chosen, meaningful gift will go a long way when we physically can’t.

Happy holidays to you all, from all of us at ParentsCanada, and from my house to yours.

Katie Dupuis
Editor-in-chief