It’s about time we start thinking about it. We can’t avoid it much longer. Black Friday is next week, you know.
Christmas shopping.
‘Tis the season.
Wait, what? You have all your Christmas shopping done, wrapped and sitting under your perfectly-decorated tree? Now all that’s left to do is sit around drinking hot chocolate and singing Christmas carols?
Lucky you.
I, on the other hand, haven’t done jack to get ready for the holidays. Fortunately all I have to do for Thanksgiving is show up at one grandma’s at noon and the other grandma’s at three with two cute kids. I’ve got that covered.
But Christmas?
Not so much.
As for decorating – I have visions of white lights all over our house and yard. However if I remember correctly, I found out the hard way last year that about 2 of the 43 strands of lights that we own work (please tell me I had the sense to throw out those that didn’t) and there’s a strand out on our pre-lit Christmas tree. So I don’t exactly have this part under control.
I don’t even know what to get the kids for Christmas. Kate has one item on her list: a puppy. Not gonna happen. (Unless her father buys her one while I’m not home. Which is entirely possible.) So I don’t know what else to get her. Sam has an extensive list of two things: a Reds hat and a Bengals hat.
Frankly, one look at our basement makes me never want to buy a toy ever again.
So, that leaves me in quite a quandary.
Give me some inspiration here, people. What are you excited about giving your kids (or spouse or neighbor or whatever) this year?
My husband needs a new GPS because he drives for work all over everywhere. So he is easy. I am also going to buy him a new electric griddle. He is the designated bacon maker in our house and our old one broke. My kids are actually a little tricky this year. My 5 yr old is getting his first brand new bike. So far he has had hand me downs and one I paid 3 dollars for at the thrift store. I have to decide before Friday what to get the other 2. I am getting my niece paper jams. She wants it super bad and it is in my price on black friday.
I am getting my son a new mickey mouse DVD so I can watch something different. I think his big sister will appreciate this too since she covers her head everytime we watch it now. I am also getting her a my little pony DVD that she borrows from the library every single time we go there. Art supplies are always a big hit in our house!
I am getting some games for the kids. This is something we will all enjoy on family game night.
My children are young adults now. If I had to do it over again, I’d concentrate more on gifts for both children and adults that are not “things” or “stuff”. I’d emphasize experiences ( trip to zoo, circus, theater, sporting event, a historical special place, national park, etc.) instead. Toys would run on imagination and muscles instead of batteries: blocks, building sets, science kits, art sets, skates, bikes, athletic equipment, books, blank journals and colorful pens or pencils , etc. are great gifts that have longevity and can be used in different ways.
I’m getting my niece and nephew (and a few other people, too!!) magazine subscriptions. I’ll probably get the first issue for them from the store, so they have something to unwrap, but that’s not more stuff that takes up a lot of room.