MoonzieStar

For the first time since my kids were born, I didn’t get to spend Christmas with them as they spent this year with their dad.  Although their absence made me very sad, I decided to make the best of it.  After all, since they would be returning Sunday, 12/27 it gave me an extra few days to get shopping done and take advantage of the after Christmas specials.

What I ultimately gained from this sad occasion was crowd free shopping and clearance stocking stuffers.  While not a huge gain considering the quietness of my home on Christmas Eve/Day, it was nice.  No long lines at the registers, fighting for parking, or the last minute present wrapping crunch. Lucky for me my kids wish lists didn’t include hard to find items (flashing back to Tickle Me Elmo makes me shudder).  I did get a couple of good buys – like half price regularly overpriced candy, but that was about it.  The lack of chaos was the biggest gain of all.

I look forward to trading this quiet shopping experience in next year for the opportunity to enjoy the holidays with all my kids.  Christmas Eve wasn’t quite the same without having to remind the twins again and again that they had to wait until Christmas Day to open all of their gifts.  I also truly missed not having to argue with them over going to bed as gone are the days of bribing them to sleep with “or else Santa won’t visit” threats; not to mention missing baking Christmas cookies for Santa with Emily, among other things.

The holidays just aren’t the same without them!