Friday, November 23, 2007

The Things We Do for the Holidays

This is the third year that I have participated in the annual day after Thanksgiving sales. Three years ago I started shopping on the day after Thanksgiving because my assistant at the time talked about all the great deals that she got by going out. I decided to try it and it was actually easier to shop very early in the morning because I did not have to find a babysitter for my child. I could zip in and out of stores with my list and handful of ads. I came back with lots of things, especially clothes for my son.

Last year I was not going to go out and shop at 5:30am on Friday because I had a newborn at home that did not sleep through the night, but decided after looking at the ads to go anyway. I was glad that I did because my son was going to school with me last year and the time that I would have had to shop after school, he would have been with me. I got lucky at Toys R Us because I found what I wanted down the main aisles and just turned a corner and there was the line for the cash registers. I got some good deals last year even though I spent a lot of time trying to find a Radio Shack that did not have what I needed anyway!

This year, I set my alarm for 4:30am even though the stores opened at 4am. I thought did I really want to go out before 4am if I have to work from 11-5 and I cannot go home and take a nap because I have two children that need attention? The answer was no! Anyway, I missed my alarm and woke up at 5:15am. Usually, I go to JC Penney's last, but this year it was one of my first stops. I got my clothes that I needed from there and went to Michael's for picture frames. I ran into Julie and Becky there and they told me not to even try Toys R Us because the line inside was incredible and it was on 7:15am. Good thing for me that they did not have very much that I needed or wanted. Onto K Mart I went and thought why am I standing in line for things that are not on early bird special, and I am not even sure are priced for my benefit. I put my things back and left. I got home about 8:30am, my wallet a little bit lighter, but my stress level lower for finishing some of the people on my gift list.

Will I have time to run to Target after work? We'll see....

Will I do it again next year, you bet! Shopping without kids in tow is awesome!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I used to do that shopping when my boys were little. Now I can do everything online pretty much. Their "toys" are much different at this age.

So we sleep in :)

Thanks for stopping by today to say hi. It's been fun visiting here. I hope your son is so much better today. That was scary. And the ER visits are never, ever fun.

Blessings to you today!