Call Me Crazy

our local christian radio station plays christmas music on halloween every year.

usually it drives me crazy.

i love christmas music but hearing it on the last day of october makes me feel a little panicked.  it emphasizes the fact that christmas is around the corner and my to do list goes in my mind goes to overdrive.

this year it was different.

this year i heard the christmas music and felt joyful.

this year i am basically done christmas shopping. 

yep, except for homemade gifts we make for coaches and teachers {i still need to get something for my hubby} i am done.

we haven't exchanged adult gifts for years with either my family or my husband's family.

the kids haven't exchanged gifts with their cousins for a few years either. since we all live apart it just isn't cost effective to have to ship gifts.

so my shopping list is very small. just pretty much my little family.

ever since morgan was born i have usually had the majority of my christmas shopping done before thanksgiving.  her birthday is in november so once i started shopping for her birthday i would just do christmas as well.  so for the last almost 12 years i've done my shopping early.

i am not one to fight the crowds. 

i don't get a thrill from black friday.

i would much rather enjoy the friday after thanksgiving in my pjs hanging with my family.

every year i look through the ads on thanksgiving hoping i don't have any buyers regret. did i really miss a good deal?

i can't remember a year where i was wishing i had gotten up at the crack of dawn to fight the crowds.

this year i did most of my shopping from the comfort of my home.

it was so easy.

i had no stress and no crowds.

i loved finding fun new shops and having time to puruse their inventory.

i didn't feel rushed.

i didn't feel pressured to make choices or buy because i was running out of time.

it was perfect for me.

there have been packages arriving every few days on my door step.

my kids freak out when they see the packages.

they know the packages are off limits

but they love to guess what's in the boxes and who is getting what is in each box

it adds to the excitement of christmas.

i do have a boy who likes to snoop.

last year he climbed my closet and went into some bags and boxes looking at gifts.

this year i started wrapping early.

i usually don't wrap until mid december but my closet was driving me crazy with boxes {i really need to find a better spot to keep their gifts} and i wanted to prevent landon from snooping.

last weekend while the two older kids were on a play date and mauryn was snuggled in with her daddy to watch some football, i locked myself in my bedroom and got to wrapping.

it honestly felt SOO good!

i felt a weight just lifted off my shoulders to get those gifts wrapped.

mostly because i knew mr. snooper wouldn't get into the gifts but also because my closet was more organized {phew!} and it is one less thing on my to do list in december.

i know some people think its crazy to start shopping and be done this early but it is a sanity saver for me.

i can now focus on enjoying christmas.

i can be full present during our advent activities.

i can feel relaxed and peaceful instead of rushed and crazed.

let the christmas music play, i am ready!

do you shop early or do you like the hustle and bustle of shopping in december?