Shopping

I started Christmas shopping on about December 26th-- last year.  I'm pretty sure that was the day I went out and bought some really cool stuff (can't say what exactly, partly because my kids read this blog, and partly because I don't quite remember) and stashed it in the back of my closet.  I felt SO prepared.  and thrifty!  The sales on December 26th make Black Friday look like a trip to Tiffany's in NYC.  Throughout the year I've found more cool things here and there, brought them home, and stashed them in the back of my closet as well.  The other day I decided it was probably about time to reach into the depths, pull everything out, and see just how brilliant I am.

Well... Not so brilliant, it turns out.  Some of those things I bought last December, when my older kids were...um...not quite so old, have since become The Things They Wanted Last Year That Are Not Cool This Year.  

Great.  Now what?  Do I give them last year's toys?  Try to return them?  (yeah, right)  Pass them on to younger siblings?  I really have no idea.

I can say, younger kids are so much easier to shop for.  They get a pretty doll or a train, and they're happy!  It doesn't matter if the doll comes in a Wal-Mart generic box or and American Girl box.  It's a doll!  And therefore it is worthy of love.  The train can be Brio or Target Cheap-O, and wither way, it's good for hours of driving time.

Enter the consumer-awareness, electronic phase of life, and Christmas turns from dolls and trains to cell phones and iPods.  Music is cool.  A digital camera/mp3 player/text-messaging/smoothie-making cell phone is even more cool.  And so Christmas shopping becomes a bit more tricky.

Thankfully, my kids are a good bunch and will be happy even if they all get is socks and toenail clippers from Santa this year.  I'm happy to have our tree up and to hear Christmas music on the radio.  I'm glad my girls will be home from college.  And I'm thankful for the wonderful life Jesus Christ lived so we could have a Savior, and a reason to celebrate Christmas.