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A Day of Christmas Shopping

December 9, 2007 | By Kristen | In Chaos of Life, Tips & Advice 

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My parents came down today to watch the kids so my husband and I could brave the crowds and try to get a start on our Christmas shopping.  Everyone has their preference for shopping styles, I have to admit I am NOT a wandering shopper. I spend little to no time in the malls all year since I tend to be bored by the same stores that have their shelves stocked with the same things and I’m one that is always searching for ”that” special present.

A present that shows you found something just for them, unique and useful and not a shrink wrapped pre-made gift off the shelf. This does make my shopping challenging I have to admit.

Of course, the end goal of our shopping day is get as many gifts checked off the list as quickly as possible so we can end our day at one of my favorite brew pubs for munchies and my favorite beer that is only on tap during the holiday season. Priorities!

So with my three ring binder under my arm- because my husband refused to carry it at any time saying he felt like he was back in school- we made our direct hits with much success. What was in my binder? All the coupons from the paper and various mailings, the Toys R Us catalog that seemed to have every toy circled, “THE” santa lists, My complete gift list of who I needed to buy for between nieces/nephews/swaps and teachers, my excel spreadsheet for the budget and an envelope to keep all receipts and gift receipts in.

The crowds were not bad and I didn’t need to wait in any lines. This surprised me for a Sunday afternoon at prime season.  It is amazing how fast you can be in and out of stores when not toting the kids and the need to stop every three steps and explain why we are not buying XY or Z.

The toy store was once again my most difficult stop. I think I’ve become so negative toy shopping that I actually feel guilty. I can’t help but walk up and down the isles and pick apart every gift with a simple glance… junk, junk… parts that will be lost after the first 2 days…too many batteries…looks cool but will not be played with after the first week.. junk, junk…  HOW much for THAT?? and I’m going to be picking that up again and again…

This year I chose less toys and more practical and I’ll share since none of them will be reading my blog :) For my three year old who LOVES to work and I mean really work, he lives to work -I found a Home Depot tool box that actually has small real tools and a build a birdhouse kit. Yes they are both for ages 5 and up but he will do just fine with these and it makes a good project for us while the big kids are at school.

For Drew, the six year old who wants everything I found a cool game of Star Wars edition RISK- Yes! That was a good find that we will be playing often. And of course, legos..

For Taylor, the eight year old that is in the tough in-between stage of toys and tweens we found some High School Musical and Hanna Montana treasures and a couple new leotards to go with her gift certificate for a season of gymnastic lessons. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for arts and crafts projects.

And the baby has a couple new little toys from santa.

Of course, I’ve held out as long as possible and will be breaking down to the Nintendo DS for the big kids- expensive but that is their big gift of the year that they have been asking for from Santa.

I also found a shake and go plane that is made of foam and is made for 3 and up. We have a few of these cars and they are so great that I couldn’t resist the plane. However, it is the toy that with every bump in the car it started to make noise. We always end up with one christmas toy that is noisy so every time we go in the closet it starts on it’s own and we have to try to mask the noise from little ears.

More Favorites that I like as well as the kids:

Little People and Playmobil are the other toys that are great toy for all ages and the kids enjoy playing together with.

Kidz Bop music for their walkmans or family listening in the car

Gift cards to the game store to pick out their own video games and they are good at trading in old games for extra credits.

So that concludes my shopping for this weekend hopefully while Dylan is at school on Tues or Thursday this week I’ll be able to wrap up my odds and ends and get things wrapped so I’m not doing my normal 2 a.m. Christmas Eve power wrap.

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2 Responses to “A Day of Christmas Shopping”

  1. Cool Star Wars Legos on December 28th, 2007 12:04 am

    I love Lego. Thanks for the post.

  2. Star Wars Legos The Game on January 8th, 2008 7:59 pm

    My boy loves duplo but is keen to get his hands on the latest Lego model.

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