Christmas Shopping
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Just me on Thursday, December 11, 2008 11:02 AM
I’ve had some very productive days of Christmas shopping this week.
The best part about it is that I’ve been able to accomplish it all from the comfort of my own living room.
Perhaps some of you are shocked that I am still working on my shopping a mere two weeks before Christmas. Trust me: I am a major procrastinator. The fact that I have even *started* my shopping at this point puts me way ahead of the game compared to myself in past years. When I was a college student I started after exams were over, on December 20th or 21st.
My husband’s father owns a jewelry store and he tells stories about men rushing in at 4:30 on Christmas Eve looking for gifts for their wives, often buying extravagant items to assuage their guilt about not having bought anything before that point. I’ve always felt sympathy for those men.
But discovering online shopping saved me from myself. I used to delay shopping until the last minute because I dreaded it: trudging from store to store, exhaustion in my feet and back and stress in my head from the pressure to find the perfect gifts from a limited selection, knowing that if I didn’t finish that day, I’d just have to come back tomorrow and do the whole horrible thing again.
Then the year Camilla was born, overwhelmed by newborn care, Bryan and I decided to try ordering all our gifts. We had everything delivered and wrapped by December 14th. I felt like a Christmas-present-buying rock star.
Ever since then, I’ve been a devotee of online shopping. I love the huge selection, that I can do a quick search to make sure I’ve got the best price, that the stuff gets delivered right to my door… and best of all, the fact that I can do it all while sitting on the couch in my pajamas with a hot cup of tea by my elbow!
I know it’s not for everyone, though. My sister spent an evening at the mall earlier this week, and when she was telling me about it she sounded exhilarated. “We got so much done!” she said. For her, going from store to store and piling up packages feels like more of an accomplishment than clicking around on websites ordering things does, which makes mall shopping the right thing for her. Thank goodness there’s room in the world for all types of shoppers!
And on Christmas morning, we’ll be enjoying the happy looks on our loved ones’ faces equally, regardless of the different ways we bought their gifts.
What’s your preferred way to shop?
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