I Hate Shopping

I do not find joy in shopping.  It doesn't matter if it is shopping for food, clothes or cowboy boots,  "Retail Therapy" in not in my vocabulary.  I often try to bribe one of my children to go food shopping with me just to make the experience a little more pleasant.  There is probably one exception to this rule of mine and that is if the shopping means I get to spend time with someone I care about, then I will make the sacrifice.

I remember the days of going to Toys R Us
and getting all the gifts for the children.
I didn't realize how easy that was at the time!

Now, you might think this next fact is totally contradictory to the above statement, but hear me out.  I enjoy Black Friday.  I am sure most of you just cringed with that thought, but let me explain.  When the kids were little I could get up at 4am, do all the Christmas shopping and still be back by breakfast.  In those days I longed to do anything by myself, especially since that meant I did not have to contend with the three car seats while listening to Disney songs on the radio, so it worked.  As each of the kids hit middle school age, they began to join me on this annual expedition.  At first I thought, "ugh, now I can't buy their gifts!"  Soon I realized that at the same time they showed interest in joining me, their Christmas list desires usually meant buying them one gift rather then the little things I used to  pick out.  And so it began, a morning in which all three kids willingly wake up before dawn to join me for Black Friday.

Keep in mind, the part about shopping that I like is spending time with people.  We now have a system down pat in which all three kids participate.  We start by making out our strategies after all the Thanksgiving festivities are done.  We each make a list of what we need to buy to eliminate impulse shopping.  Emily prints out the store maps detailing where the items we are interested in are located.  Jack and Smyth help me scan the circulars in Thursday's newspaper and making lists.  Once we have gathered all our data, we make a plan.  So for me, the enjoyment of Black Friday begins with the team work the night before.  The kids each figure out their Christmas budgets and make their lists of people to buy for, all the while I listen carefully to see what each really wants this year.

Research and strategy, together as a team.
That is the part I enjoy!

We view Black Friday as a competitive event in a way.   We aren't competing again each other, but the preparation and execution of Black Friday is like training for a football game.  We don't necessarily go out and practice, but we do come up with something close to a playbook and study it carefully.  We itemize the "plays" in order of importance and scarcity and then commit the strategy to paper.  This preparation part is the key to me enjoying the morning.  Sitting around the table with the kids figuring out the plan of action all the while enjoying the side bar conversations, that is the best part.

Once we are out the door, we operate like a well oiled machine.  We know what to expect at each store so we put our plans into action.  Sometimes that involves having someone immediately grab an empty cart and stand in line while the rest of us scurry about the store grabbing the items on our list.  We use our cell phones to track each other's where abouts and meet back to unload at the cart.  We will rotate out who stands in line so everyone gets a turn shopping.

Teamwork gets us through our list efficiently, with the
goal of not having to go back to the malls between now
and Christmas.

Oddly enough I am at the point where I don't need to go out on Black Friday since the kids typically want specific items.  Yet I find myself wanting to be part of the process just to be with them.  We have made it a bit of a tradition and end up telling stories about it throughout the year.  So when I say "I hate shopping" I really need to clarify that I only hate mundane or pointless shopping, because apparently I have a like for waking up at pre-dawn hours and joining the masses for the busiest shopping day of the year - but with some great company.  And if I played my cards right, I will not have to go out Christmas shopping for another 364 days, and that thought makes me very happy.