The Christmas Shopping Countdown

As of today, there are 18 days till Christmas. Only 18 days till Christmas???? Wait, if I order stuff online and want free shipping, I have to allow 8 days, but that’s business days (I think) so I really have to allow more like 12 days, so in reality it’s only 6 days till Christmas. Plus I need three days to sort and wrap, so it’s really only 3 days till Christmas. But we’re doing one of the family gift exchanges on Christmas Eve, so it’s really only two days till Christmas. And there’s no way I’ll be able to get my orders in the system before 5 o’clock today so OH MY GOD CHRISTMAS IS TOMORROW AND I HAVEN’T FININSHED MY SHOPPING YET!!!!

OK, it’s not really quite that bad. But trying to get my Christmas shopping done with taking care of two small children and rehearsals and performances of the Christmas show filling my schedule is not an easy thing. Online shopping is practically a miracle for a mom with two small children. If you’ve never been shopping with a small child, you can’t even imagine the difficulty of wrangling one in a toy store at Christmas time. You might think that having lots of toys to look at and play with would be a good thing, but you must remember that at some point you will have to leave. And that’s when the weeping and tantrums begin. Wrestling a squirming, screaming 40-pound two-year-old while carrying a 4-month-old is not a task for the faint of heart. So being able to shop from the comfort of my computer desk while said two-year-old is playing safely and happily in the next room and the 4-month-old is sleeping or playing in her exersaucer is an unparalleled blessing.

But the hardest part of Christmas shopping, in my opinion, is not even the actual shopping part. It’s coming up with gift ideas. In some cases, like my husband’s, the difficulty is finding things he would like that a) he hasn’t already bought for himself, and b) don’t cost a thousand bucks. (What can I say, the man has good taste. Expensive, but good.) And in some cases, like my son’s, it’s deciding which of the thousands of things I know he’d love that I should buy. So having online wish lists has been a huge help.

I’m fortunate that I have a relatively small family, so my list of people to buy for is quite limited compared to some people that I know. But it still takes time, and I always want to buy just the right present for each one. So I guess I’d better get cracking on my shopping. After all, Christmas is tomorrow!!