In a push to forego Christmas my best laid plans have backfired.
My children want their stockings.
Did I still have a stocking at 25 or so? No! But then my childhood wasn’t a normal one so that’s nothing to go by! My contemporaries agree with my children that sockings are The Best and I admit that hubs and I have never done stockings for each other.
“You should!” they exclaim incredulously.
When asked my children want the usual stuff, things they can and do buy regularly for themselves now that they are earning members of society: bandaids, toothbrushes, toothpaste, hot chocolates, an orange, sweeties, socks, and so on! .
Hubs, sensibly, wants to change the theme up and we wander from shop to shop not settling on anything.
This is not what I wanted to be doing this year. Call me a kill joy but I look at all the goods on display enticing people to buy things they can’t afford and I think, “nice…but I would only use it once…” Plus, all the “stocking” stuff is expensive…might as well be buying full blown gifts!
We found ourselves at the grocery store buying a prime rib, on sale, from the butcher. At the cash register we were told that we had saved $16.00.
“We should have bought a larger joint, we could have saved more…” a trivial piece of financial wisdom from the TV,
“The more you spend the more you save!”
This year we decided to have presence not presents.
The focus is on food and company, conversation and worship, music and photographs.
Last week I walked through one of our retail haunts with daughts and memories of Christmasses past came flooding back and I felt a pang…just a teeny weeny one…of regret. I am not doing anything wrong by not buying gifts. In fact our children are all for it and they know when they really want or need something we are always more than happy to go shopping with them and treat them…anytime of the year.
But stockings are still on the menu and hubs is still working up the new theme. I’ll keep you posted!
Well hello there! My name is Vivienne McNeny.
I am an empty nester exploring life as a Boomer…you could say I'm happily Boomering along!
As a homeschooling Mum I have finally quit the job of role model and mentor to my four children. I do what I want to do, eat when I feel like it, enjoy life with my blue eyed cowboy and clean my house once a month or so whether it needs it or not!
In true English form I write about the emergence of my true identity now that I can no longer hide behind my children as their Mum.
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