No One Said This Would Be Easy!

Okay, I've heard that saying plenty of times and have said it to my own family members more than once but I'm beginning to feel the pain of this not-shopping pledge.



I'm starting to get a little worried. I didn't exactly inventory the gifts I had purchased for my darling children and now I wonder: What will I do if I have plenty of gifts for two of my children and the other one has hardly anything? I couldn't do it. The mommy guilt would eat me alive. I'd have to break down and even things out.



The only way I'll know for sure where I stand is to lock the bedroom door and take an inventory. That means diving into my gift pit, aka: closet, dragging out the gifts that I've purchased and figuring out who gets what. I wrote this information down on a list a couple months ago but in my zeal to hide it from prying eyes, I've managed to hide it from myself as well. Clever, huh?



I may even wrap things while I've got them out, if I get a boost of energy, but don't count on it. What's Christmas without a really late night of wrapping and a paper cut or two? If I hadn't given up shopping I'd go buy some gift bags and spare myself the wrapping, but I didn't, so there.



Okay, now that I've gotten the Christmas gift angst off my chest, I have to confess I received a postcard from Kohls, a local department store. I like Kohls. They have a lot of great deals, especially at this time of year. They offer these sale postcards where you pull off the sticker and discover your discount underneath. It ranges from 15 to 30%. I usually get the 15% discount but not this time. I shouldn't have even looked but I just couldn't resist. I got the big one! 30% - Woo Hoo! Yes!! That's 30% off their sale prices, by the way. With this discount they'd be practically paying me to shop there, no kidding! But... I'm not shopping anymore, so my fabulous sweetheart deal of a post card is teasing me... Tempting me... I mean, who knows? I may never get another 30% off postcard. It seems wrong, somehow, to let those barganzas get away. I've been wanting a few household items and this would be the perfect, P-E-R-F-E-C-T time to get them!



I know, you're thinking, "Man, what a weenie! Did this chick think not shopping for a year would be all fun and games? No pain? No sacrifice?" Well, now you know why I am not an olympic athlete. After a close, hard look, it turns out that I don't really like sacrifice and I'm not all that into self denial either. They're overrated, I'm sure.



Okay, maybe they're not. Maybe that's what this goal is all about. Working my way through these challenges with grace and humor. Giving up whining and getting over my petty wants and desires. All my parental pearls of wisdom are going to haunt me for the next 11 months. Talk about a cruel irony! No one said this would be easy, and it's not, but there are things a lot harder and I am fully aware of that. It's time to cowboy up!