Black Friday. Those two little words can strike fear in the hearts of men and turn normally rational women into an angry, clawing mob. We don't tend to get too incredibly serious about it in my family, but the women tend to leave the men at home to watch football while they leave and shop the sales beginning in the hours before dawn.
Our plan of attack begins after we've recovered from stuffing ourselves with the Thanksgiving feast and we pull out the ads searching for the best door buster sales to help us determine where to begin. I'm always amazed, year after year, no matter how early we arrive there's a line of people waiting that got there even earlier- some camping out the night before.
We try to hurry in and find what we came for so we can move on to the next store before their deals are snatched up but we never get caught in the trampling or tug-of-wars that you tragically hear about.
The weak ones (or maybe the smart ones) get tired and head back to my grandma's after only a couple of stores. I stick with the die-hard shoppers. I never spend much- I just love spending the time talking and laughing with my aunts and cousins who I don't often get to see- plus it's a lot of fun people watching- some come out in their pj's- some get (too) serious about material items- some we make friends with while we're standing in line.
I haven't been able to keep this tradition with the store. We only close Thursday and so we aren't able to travel to my grandma's where most of the family gathers. I did sneak away from the shop when I was pregnant with Levi to go with our mothers and get all the necessities for the nursery but last year I only had the energy and money to zip into one store to get something specific for Tommy. This year- who knows? I'm not sure what to get for him anyway.
The commercialism of Christmas has always bothered me- and yet now with our store I'm contributing to the problem. We need the business and I hope we sell every single basket and tons of pounds of coffee (quite literally) but I don't want people getting so caught up in gifts that they forget what Christmas is all about. I think most everyone reading would trade all the gifts in the world for another moment with their babies or loved ones- material things no longer seem to matter (though I will admit, I've been guilty of some retail therapy).
Just curious- how many of you are Black Friday shoppers & how early do you get up? Any football watchers out there? Anyone else stuck working? Any other traditions?
Our plan of attack begins after we've recovered from stuffing ourselves with the Thanksgiving feast and we pull out the ads searching for the best door buster sales to help us determine where to begin. I'm always amazed, year after year, no matter how early we arrive there's a line of people waiting that got there even earlier- some camping out the night before.
We try to hurry in and find what we came for so we can move on to the next store before their deals are snatched up but we never get caught in the trampling or tug-of-wars that you tragically hear about.
The weak ones (or maybe the smart ones) get tired and head back to my grandma's after only a couple of stores. I stick with the die-hard shoppers. I never spend much- I just love spending the time talking and laughing with my aunts and cousins who I don't often get to see- plus it's a lot of fun people watching- some come out in their pj's- some get (too) serious about material items- some we make friends with while we're standing in line.
I haven't been able to keep this tradition with the store. We only close Thursday and so we aren't able to travel to my grandma's where most of the family gathers. I did sneak away from the shop when I was pregnant with Levi to go with our mothers and get all the necessities for the nursery but last year I only had the energy and money to zip into one store to get something specific for Tommy. This year- who knows? I'm not sure what to get for him anyway.
The commercialism of Christmas has always bothered me- and yet now with our store I'm contributing to the problem. We need the business and I hope we sell every single basket and tons of pounds of coffee (quite literally) but I don't want people getting so caught up in gifts that they forget what Christmas is all about. I think most everyone reading would trade all the gifts in the world for another moment with their babies or loved ones- material things no longer seem to matter (though I will admit, I've been guilty of some retail therapy).
Just curious- how many of you are Black Friday shoppers & how early do you get up? Any football watchers out there? Anyone else stuck working? Any other traditions?
Comments
But you couldn't be more true. I'd vow to never practice this retail therapy again if it meant another day with Jenna. HUGS!