Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 8 - Christmas Shopping

The most interesting year of Christmas shopping for me was the year I was put on bed rest before the birth of our third child. Our second child was premature (but healthy) and the third was showing signs of impatience as well. So I did all my shopping via the Sears Christmas catalog. No Internet shopping in 1981 but it all went well.

Love this Christmas wrap from 1961!

Now almost all my Christmas shopping is from home as well, but via the web. Sometimes we make visits to stores early on to see if the "big gift" for all the adult kids is really what we had in mind, but in the end, we order almost everything online.

There is one caveat. Our children were born in December (Christmas Eve, no less, that was the preemie), January and February. When they were young, even when my shopping was done, I would go out and shop the last minute sales for birthday bargains. Because there was no immediate need, it was very relaxing, and I enjoyed the people watching and the bustling about.

My favorite wrap - environmentally friendly re-useable shopping bags.

So today, even when I am done shopping, I still go out just before Christmas for those last minute bargains, and I still enjoy it as much.

I am not a fan of wrapping presents in the traditional fashion although I will wrap some for the grandkids. I much prefer using environmentally friendly reusable shopping bags. I find that many of the stores sell them and they make a much more economical wrap. Plus it takes much less time to wrap the gifts. The bags at right cost only a dollar at the local grocery store.

I hope I can find something similar this year - it makes my Christmas Eve preparation so much easier!

"The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com.”