<<<"I remember going Christmas shopping. We would all pile into the van and hit three big stores in one night. We would come home exhausted from the dizzying volume of sights we had seen; and the toys! Then one year Dad didn't take us. Instead he ordered everything off the internet."
Tom, why didn't you just hire a personal service person to shop for things on a list you provide them? That way you could be completely rid of the dreaded shopping experience; then all you would have to do is wrap the gifts and then watch the kids open the gifts. That is, unless you paid the personal service person to deliver the gifts
wrapped in gift-wrap and bows too.
You could even just do a traditional Christmas one year and video-tape it, and then you could as a family just watch the video the next year. Think of how hassle-free! and fast. Bet you could do the entire Christmas thing in 6 hours, tree and dinner included. All without having to leave the living room.>>>
My family has different holiday traditions than yours. Not better or worse, just different. My kids are 3 and 5 and still believe in Santa Claus. So we don't have the family shopping experience which you enjoy.
For better or worse, our gatherings are with lots of neices and nephews and my siblings and parents. They tend to get dominated by loud kids having a blast. Meaningful quality time spent with my siblings & parents at this time of year is rare and precious. My wife, who works full time, & I are also both church musicians, so we are quite busy with the music at this time of year. Also, being a physician, I try to make it to the Christmas meals in the homeless shelter in the basement of our church, so I can give out free medical care on Christmas morning (all those free samples from the drug companies finally get put to good use!).
I do recall getting in a good mood listening to Christmas music as I used to wander around stores at Christmas time. But that was before marriage and kids. Basically, now I'd rather spend the time doing other things than shopping. I am glad to be freed from the traffic and time-consuming bricks and mortar experience.
Tom |
