Okay, so I know what you're thinking: "weekend before Christmas shopping, are you INSANE!!!" In my defense, yes, yes I am. But it actually isn't that bad. Let me tell you first that I come directly descended from my mom who is the person with the organized gift closet full of Christmas and birthday gifts months in advance. She is amazing...and I try to be as organized as she is...sometimes...well I'm not organized, but I'm working on it. Anyway, at the very least, I did pick up from her that you should start shopping early so that you don't have an expensive mound of shopping to do right before the holiday. Most of the time, that is what I do, I plan early. This year, I had everyone's shopping done and gifts planned for early...everyone except for my kids that is. Morgan could not tell me anything she wanted for Christmas with the exception of a small yellow puppy. A stuffed one. A two dollar puppy. Now I love shopping thrifty as much as the next person but spending $2 on your child for Christmas when you bought $25 gift cards for the other kids in the family is pretty awful. This morning, Morgan changed her tune and started telling me she wanted video games (strange since we have none and to my knowledge she doesn't play them anywhere) and a barbie castle.
So about 6 days before Christmas I ventured out with Mikayla to brave the last minute crowds to get some gifts for my girls. To say it was crowded would be the understatement of the year. I have to say that the insane crowds actually proved to be a benefit to me. As I mentioned earlier, organization does not come easy to me. The wall to wall people all over the stores forced me to be very strategic about my shopping. Go in, head for the toys I had in mind, don't over-think price comparisons/colors/different styles, nothing. See what I want, grab it and go. The end. No sitting in the aisles like I usually do trying to figure out if it would be cheaper on Amazon once I paid sales taxes on it or if Morgan would prefer the pink or blue swimsuit on her barbie. The zoo that was the store really helped me to stay organized with my shopping list and keep on track. Mikayla even seemed to join me by grabbing one toy off the shelves and hugging it for the rest of the trip. Guess what Santa got her? I was out of that store (which happened to be Target) in less than a half hour. That NEVER happens.
So bottom line is that although the prices may not be as good as they were back in August, I probably wound up spending a ton less by not browsing the aisles like I usually do. I may save the bulk of my shopping until the last minute next year, too.
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