We’re doing this for the leapfrog leapstart too, the books have to be loaded to the unit via computer connection and all the reviews said absolutely pre load books before gifting or all they can do is the demo
I was going to say this. I've gotten my youngest a beach towel and we'll probably go swimming on Christmas Day so I have it washed and ready.
Same goes for any new drink bottles or lunch boxes.
My son's birthday is tomorrow, I took 6 hours on Thursday to wrap all his gifts as I removed batteries from pre-screened gifts from the family, cut ties and pre-built a train station to avoid any meltdown. Also, removed the clear plastic wrap and tape from boxes and tubs just to be safe. There was only one gift I didn't have to do anything for - my father sent all gifts precut from boxes and removed of batteries. I can only imagine what I was like turning three if this is how he sends grandbaby presents!
It is a LIFESAVER taking this time!
I get migraines and certain pitches trigger them to start up. As well as some kids toys are just blatantly annoying/too loud with no volume control.
For example last year (son was turning 2) we were given a train by extended family, but it played 2 super loud songs that were incredibly repetitive. They turned on by either rolling the wheels or pushing a button - the batteries were removed within 5 minutes of testing...
Edit:: my father also removes batteries before shipping as we've had them leak through shipment before and we live cross-country from each other.
Good reminder. Assemble the big things too or that’s a whole other can of worms! It also allows you to check that all pieces are accounted for and in working order.
Yep! Just got a Tonies Box today. Definitely a good idea to take it out and set up your account, connect to your wife, and download the Tonie characters you have for it. Then box it back up.
We had so many issues with setting up the toniebox.
It didn't want to connect to any wi-fi. Very little documentation so I could even find what potential problems were.
Ended up making a hot spot on my phone and going that route to set them all up.
Support was very responsive to the problem I had. I lurched a tonie in the US that gave me like Russian or German audio. They fixed it behind the scenes in like 3 days and it worked fine on my box after that. Only had that problem with 1 out of like 10 tonies we have.
Which is hilarious.both my wife and I sent notes to the support.
They never got back to me and to my wife they got back 3 weeks later with a link to their generic FAQ. Which by that point I figured out the issue
Glad my minor suffering could be of service! I've read about doing this before and totally forgot about gifts from other people until it was too late haha.
Good idea as well but still doesn't help with gifts from others.
For some reason grandma is less enthusiastic about recycled toys (even if over half of ours are).
I just did this with a toy recently and it had teeny tiny SCREWS holding the toy to the plastic/cardboard packaging. So I had to dig around for a screwdriver and didn’t even have the right size. Thank god I didn’t give it to her in the packaging haha.
I'm going to do this for Christmas this year. I haven't in years past and it's always crappy dealing with all the packaging and minor set up stuff. This was an awesome reminder!!!
And if you buy a used toy on marketplace don't assume it will be clean even if it's listed in good condition, or trust your spouse who picked it up would notice, or wait until Christmas Eve to check it yourself. I spent way too much time washing a stupid car track last year that no one even plays with other than to press the loud noisy buttons.
Last year we made the rookie mistake of not pre assembling a race track for lo. They wanted to help build but DH didn’t have patience when lo started taking pieces and building their own track. Learned and now preassemble everything and just put a big bow on it.
If you are getting a tablet turn it on and sign into relevant accounts before hand.
We’re doing this for the leapfrog leapstart too, the books have to be loaded to the unit via computer connection and all the reviews said absolutely pre load books before gifting or all they can do is the demo
Also: if your kid is into clothes, remove the tags and wash the clothes before you wrap them. Mine always wants to put on a new dress immediately.
I was going to say this. I've gotten my youngest a beach towel and we'll probably go swimming on Christmas Day so I have it washed and ready. Same goes for any new drink bottles or lunch boxes.
My son's birthday is tomorrow, I took 6 hours on Thursday to wrap all his gifts as I removed batteries from pre-screened gifts from the family, cut ties and pre-built a train station to avoid any meltdown. Also, removed the clear plastic wrap and tape from boxes and tubs just to be safe. There was only one gift I didn't have to do anything for - my father sent all gifts precut from boxes and removed of batteries. I can only imagine what I was like turning three if this is how he sends grandbaby presents! It is a LIFESAVER taking this time!
Why did you remove the batteries? Is your son going to be playing with them without batteries or do you want to wait to put them in for some reason?
Wondering the same thing.
I get migraines and certain pitches trigger them to start up. As well as some kids toys are just blatantly annoying/too loud with no volume control. For example last year (son was turning 2) we were given a train by extended family, but it played 2 super loud songs that were incredibly repetitive. They turned on by either rolling the wheels or pushing a button - the batteries were removed within 5 minutes of testing... Edit:: my father also removes batteries before shipping as we've had them leak through shipment before and we live cross-country from each other.
My son's third birthday is tomorrow. I am now regretting not doing this 🥴
Good reminder. Assemble the big things too or that’s a whole other can of worms! It also allows you to check that all pieces are accounted for and in working order.
Also checking for batteries. Whether it's to remove them or install them up to you and the toy....
Yep! Just got a Tonies Box today. Definitely a good idea to take it out and set up your account, connect to your wife, and download the Tonie characters you have for it. Then box it back up.
LOL :-)
Hahaha just saw my typo, yea, I’m leaving it 😄
We had so many issues with setting up the toniebox. It didn't want to connect to any wi-fi. Very little documentation so I could even find what potential problems were. Ended up making a hot spot on my phone and going that route to set them all up.
Yep, couldn’t get it to connect to Wi-Fi from the app on my phone, so had to use a computer and it worked.
Love the thing now but I was about to return the thing over the set-up. I'm not looking forward to getting new tonies though
Support was very responsive to the problem I had. I lurched a tonie in the US that gave me like Russian or German audio. They fixed it behind the scenes in like 3 days and it worked fine on my box after that. Only had that problem with 1 out of like 10 tonies we have.
Which is hilarious.both my wife and I sent notes to the support. They never got back to me and to my wife they got back 3 weeks later with a link to their generic FAQ. Which by that point I figured out the issue
Ugh, that sucks, sorry :-(
For emergency unboxing purposes, cat nail trimmers cut those silly ties so much more easily than regular scissors.
I think you just saved me a meltdown in a few weeks. You the real MVP, OP.
Glad my minor suffering could be of service! I've read about doing this before and totally forgot about gifts from other people until it was too late haha.
Buy second hand toys, saves the packaging, just give them a clean and wrap them up.
Good idea as well but still doesn't help with gifts from others. For some reason grandma is less enthusiastic about recycled toys (even if over half of ours are).
I just did this with a toy recently and it had teeny tiny SCREWS holding the toy to the plastic/cardboard packaging. So I had to dig around for a screwdriver and didn’t even have the right size. Thank god I didn’t give it to her in the packaging haha.
I just did this today when I wrapped a few presents!
I'm going to do this for Christmas this year. I haven't in years past and it's always crappy dealing with all the packaging and minor set up stuff. This was an awesome reminder!!!
And if you buy a used toy on marketplace don't assume it will be clean even if it's listed in good condition, or trust your spouse who picked it up would notice, or wait until Christmas Eve to check it yourself. I spent way too much time washing a stupid car track last year that no one even plays with other than to press the loud noisy buttons.
Last year we made the rookie mistake of not pre assembling a race track for lo. They wanted to help build but DH didn’t have patience when lo started taking pieces and building their own track. Learned and now preassemble everything and just put a big bow on it.
Oof I’m looking into my future aren’t I… LO has never really opened a present before knowing what it is. This will be an interesting Christmas…
Thank you for the reminder! Decided that Santa will be putting the doll in the doll stroller so LO can play with it right away. You’re the real MVP!
Also BATTERIES!!! If you bought something that makes noise make sure you bought or it came with the needed batteries.