The gloves are off for Christmas shopping
I’ve already bought my Christmas presents. What’s wrong with me? That’s when you know you’re getting older… Once upon a time, I’d be so embroiled in Christmas partying I’d buy whatever was left in the shops on Christmas Eve! Hang on, is this getting old or am I getting smart? After all, I’ve bought all my presents discounted, in the ‘sales’. (when isn’t there a sale on these days?… Gotta love a recession!) I’ve saved myself a fortune; well, probably enough to pay for all the stuff I ended up buying myself while shopping for others… It was like a game of “one for them, one for me, one for them…”
“I hid it so well even I couldn’t find it”
To be honest my Christmas shopping started off as “one for me, one for me” but I managed to adapt it eventually and present shopping is done. What I’m learning though, is that if you buy presents too early you just end up seeing more stuff weeks later and spending more!
I’m single handedly keeping the economy going. I’ve found a ‘Hello Kitty’ coat I bought in June for my child’s birthday in August, I somehow forgot about… I hid it so well even I couldn’t find it. How much stuff should one buy a child for Christmas? I don’t want to spoil her but I want her to feel like something special is happening. Maybe if I let her eat biscuits on the sofa she’ll know it’s Christmas! Maybe if I don’t bark at her to wear something warm she’ll know it’s Christmas. “Take those flip-flops off! Its not summer/your birthday/Christmas!” I want to hide the flip-flops; they are the bain of my life. She wants to wear them 24/7. It’s November, it’s one degree out there in open-toe land. She should wear a T-shirt that says “I’m not cold” she says it so often. Well I am. So I bought a woolly hat and she sweetly says: “Can I wear it?” She gets so hot in it, she takes off her coat which I then have to carry, while walking home with my cold ears.
I then buy myself gloves (while Christmas shopping for everyone else; “One for me, one for them”). My daughter spots my gloves: “Can I wear them?” Of course, I had no idea ‘Miss Hot All Year’ needed them. They are black and fingerless. My daughter now looks like a market stall holder. When we get home she does pull ups off the wrought iron bed. She looks like a boxer preparing for a match. I try to claim my gloves back but she says she likes them – “except I would like them with finger bits on.” So I tell her I will buy her some kids’ mitts with finger bits and I try to get mine back. “No I want these!” Grrr. If you are buying me a Christmas present please buy something my five year old can’t borrow.
