I'm not sure what had gotten into me, but yesterday morning I decided to go Christmas shopping with all four kids in tow! You can probably imagine how my day went, but just in case you can't, let me give you a little glimpse.
It started off well enough. We were singing carols along with Bing and Beyonce and discussing what we thought Santa might bring us. Then it began....from the backseat...you know how it goes. He's touching me, she slapped me, somebody licked somebody! Licking I tell you....I'll give somebody a licking! I had to pull off of the interstate and make people switch seats! This was all before I had entered the crowded stores.
Our first stop should have been an easy one. I needed one item and knew exactly where it was. My plan was to use the "man strategy". You know...enter the store, hunt down the item, shoot it, and drag it home. This would have been successful had I been by myself! Instead, one child had to potty, two others would not leave the bikes alone, and the eldest decided to give me a lecture on why he thought the item I was trying to purchase was not the best choice. What should have been a five minute purchase turned into something closer to twenty minutes. Time was ticking away!!
Once we were safely back in the car and surrounded by chicken nuggets and leaky honey mustard containers, I had to make an important decision. Could I avoid the mall and still accomplish what I needed to? Normally the mall is my very best friend! (I heart it with almost as much love as I feel for shoe stores, but that's another post.)However, it's Christmas shopping season and I was accompanied by four children and a sinus headache! Anyhoo....on to the mall.
The mall was just as I expected it would be. Filled with other procrastinators, just like myself, trying to find those last minute gifts. I knew basically what I was looking for and so figured it wouldn't take too long! Ha! Apparently I had learned nothing from the last few hours! We trudged on, going from store to store hunting down the perfect gift. Only there were a few complications. More children had to potty. Of course this only happens when you are no where near the bathroom. Other children were thirsty and so was I, only the mall doesn't sell the kind of drink I was needing! No one had the one main item I was searching for and I was becoming more frustrated by the minute. Children were playing in the clothes racks. Why do they put those there? Why don't they just spread everything on the floor so I don't have to pull my monkeys from the racks of cashmere sweaters! Just a side note...if your child is in a stroller REJOICE! It may be a pain now but you'll wish you had it later!!
We managed to survive the mall and even located the unlocatable item. I still had one more stop to make and was using the "if you guys don't behave in this store you will be grounded forever and ever and probably be on Santa's naughty list!" I know I should try to be more patient, especially this time of year, but did I mention I had a headache!
We went to our last store and made our purchases. The kids weren't exactly nice, but weren't exactly naughty either. I didn't ground them forever. All in all the day was pretty normal. The kids were being kids (at christmas) and I had expectations that were a little too high. Next year I think I will go with my brother's idea. He said we should just buy everyone empty gift cards and let them fill it with the dollar amount that suits them! Brilliant!!
As Brian and I sat on the couch on Christmas Eve, feeling rather exhausted and hyperventilating from blowing up all those balloons, only one thing kept coming to mind. "Yes Virginia, we did spend way too much money!" My attitude was that of an exhausted mother. I was tired from shopping, baking, cleaning and wrapping. I kept thinking of all the work I had done and how the next morning it would be destroyed within 30 minutes. I looked at the tree and all those gifts and realized the joy it was going to bring to my children. No, they wouldn't appreciate the hours of effort put into their Christmas bliss, but their happy, smiling faces would more than make up for it. I never appreciated the work that my parents did. It was all so magical on Christmas morning when we would emerge from our rooms to see airplanes hanging from the ceiling and balloons filling the room and that delicious aroma of fresh baked cinnamon rolls wafting from the kitchen. I appreciate it now! The gifts are wrapped, the balloons are filled and cinnamon rolls are in my oven.
