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This Christmas will be a little different in our house… And it’s not because we now have a tearaway toddler underfoot! Or, even, because we will be spending some of the holiday period in the sun!

But this year is the first year that all of our children will not be gloriously, fabulously, innocently childlike…

You see, my dear readers, my precious firstborn has gone from this…

To this…

Via GIPHY

And it’s happened almost overnight!

One minute my eldest was playing with dolls and reluctant to leave my side, and then, the next, she only wanted to spend time in her room, alone, doing what can only be described as ’secret stuff’!

This time last year, I thought maybe we’d escaped that awkward tween, preteen, phase, but, no, no such luck! We are now in the eye of the storm, as we speak!

Moodiness, tiredness, grumpiness, not wanting to eat anything that isn’t sweet shaped (literally!)… We’ve got it all!

And with each sweet binge comes a major mood dip! (We’ve just about recovered from Halloween’s excesses! 👻😱)

So, what is a super stressed parent to do when faced with the looming Christmas season, and the avalanche of sweet treat temptation that goes along with it?

How on earth do you limit a preteen’s (potentially mood-altering) sweet intake when everything from advent calendars to stocking fillers is loaded with the sugary stuff?!

Find totally tempting, inedible alternatives, of course!

And where tween girls are concerned those irresistible treats usually come in the form of cute ‘n’ kitsch beauty products.

Here are this season’s best of the rest…

1. Flutter advent calendar

Flutter is a tween-targeted range by Superdrug and it is soo cute that if I didn’t have a tween to consider I would probably just buy it for myself.

From yummy lip balms to the glossiest of lip glosses in the prettiest of pastel shades, this purse-friendly range (prices average around £2 per item) has it all.

And for parents not wanting their daughters to go on a sweet binge this December, this Superdrug beauty advent calendar (recently reduced from £16 to a very affordable £8) is an is an absolute godsend!

With a pretty pastel beauty treat hiding behind each window, your tween daughter will be able to hone her makeup skills as part of her secret bedroom ritual.

And as the shades are so natural, nobody will ever be able to tell what’s she’s been up to. It almost beats a secret sweet eating session… Al. Most!

At least, unlike that pesky pile of crumpled up sweet wrappers, I can… ahem… make use of any unwanted leftovers! 😉

2. Flutter soap flowers

Aside from the fact that these Superdrug soap flowers look like the prettiest of flower walls, they are just fabulous because they are guaranteed to encourage even the most soap-averse of tweens to take a bath.

If it fosters good hygiene habits, I can’t rate it highly enough! And at only £5 (reduced from £6), it won’t break the bank either! Brilliant!

3. Flutter lolli lip gloss

If your little one is missing summer (or just sweet treats in general, like my precious princess!), then these Superdrug ice lolly shaped lip glosses are just what the doctor ordered. A perfect selection of natural pink shades for your tween to experiment with, without the overall effect of being heavily made up! I love, love, love them! 💗

And at a great price (£4, reduced from £6), they are purse friendly, too, in every way… Hmm…

4-5. Flutter lip balm in strawberry and coconut

Great for keeping seasonal flaky lips at bay, these yummy Superdrug strawberry and coconut scented lip balms, reduced from £3 to an unbelievably low price of just £1, are simply irresistible! Who knows, these delicious beauty treats might even curb my sweet-addicted tween’s treat cravings? 😐

Well, we can in only live in hope… 🤞

6. PS… Love Your Lips cotton candy fragrance lip balm

Still on the lip balm kick, but moving away from Superdrug and into Primark’s best of the rest, this cotton candy scented lip balm (for just £0.60, people!) is deliriously delish!

I love it so much that I might have even been tempted to pick up one, or three, for myself as well! It is almost Christmas, after all! 🌲🎁😊

7-8. Dry shampoo and hairspray minis

Perfect for water-averse tweens, like mine, who love to experiment with different hairstyles, these fabulously kitsch mini bottles of dry shampoo and hairspray (around £2 each) from H&M are absolute must-have stocking fillers this season.

9. Carex bubble gum hand gel

Last but by no means least, this bubble gum scented hand gel ticks both the water-averse and sweet-addicted tween boxes. A virtual steal at less than £3 and great for freshening up on the go, while at school, or just out and about, this gel is bubbaliciously delicious. So much so that instead of curbing cravings, it could, perish the thought, actually create some… 🙀

Teaching tweens self-control…

An almost impossible feat… but, maybe, a life lesson/post for another day!

Stay tuned, folks!

Until next time,

💋 Mostly Mum

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