Here I Go to Shop Again....

Well, it's that Holiday time again. Time to stress over who is getting what and just how much do I spend! But why? Why do I do this to myself every year? I think it's my attempt at trying to create the Christmas I remember from my youth.

When my sister and I woke up on Christmas morning (long before my parents were awake) we were greeted to presents that seemed to go from one end of the living room to the other. My mom tells me there were never "that" many presents. She insists I must be making my memories more grand than they really were. Well, it's possible, I was young and impressionable :o) but I know there is a picture from one Christmas morning where the scene I just described actually happened. Ahhhh yes! That was the year of the Barbie Townhouse. What better gift could a 6 year old girl get? And it's that memory that haunts me today.

My kids ask for so much. Well they actually ask for everything they see, but do they really want it all??? I don't think so, but boy the marketing experts for the toy industry sure make my kids think they need it all. I mean really.....Moon Sand?!? So I'm left trying to filter through the 29 items on my daughters list and 18 items on my son's list to determine just what it is they REALLY want and what we can afford. (Too bad my son, no Peg Pergo Thomas the Train. When did playing with trains become riding one?)

So off I go to view the sales ads yet again, hoping that one of them will speak to me, inspire me, or maybe guide me to the "perfect" gift. If not...maybe I can just get a really good deal.