Christmas Shopping...With The Kids

I can't really remember when this particular family tradition began, but we continued it yesterday. It involves some secrecy, decision-making, and budgeting. We took the kids to do Christmas shopping for each other. 

Years ago, when the kids were little, we loaded up the van and drove them to a store. It wasn't the same store we visited yesterday. It's a store famous for its inexpensive merchandise--the dollar store. The rules were simple. Each child would browse the store for gifts for their three siblings. The dollar store worked for several years until the kids grew a little older.

We then had to change venues.

Now we go to Walmart.

The kids still have a budget, but it's still small for each sibling. What's nice about Walmart is the size of the store. The dollar stores were always so small--it was hard for the kids to not be seen by their siblings. At Walmart we needed cellphone texts to coordinate each other. As we waited for the other kids to finish up, I found a huge hat, put it on, and snapped a picture--you know, for posterity. 

The oldest was not in attendance. With school and two jobs, he's too busy As the others get older, they'll most likely stop participating in the family Christmas tradition. That's the way of things, I suppose.

None of our children have children of their own. I wonder if, in say ten or fifteen years, if they do have kids, they'll load up their van/SUV and head to a store at Christmastime, give them each a budget and an assignment--find presents for their siblings. We can't make our kids do it, of course, but if they do, it would put a smile on my face--just like the one I had yesterday.