Well, Christmas is officially over! So say the shoppers, anyway!! Yesterday, my mom, my sister-in-law and I went shopping at the Mall in Columbia. We found little in the way of after Christmas sales and much in the way of grinchdom. It was a little disappointing, but I guess once the Christmas mood dissipates, that is what you find.
We started our journey by finding some cute outfits for the girls (mine and my niece) to get pictures in. I'm not sure my sister will go for it - she doesn't like professional photos - but we'll give it a try once they return from Lancaster. We then decided to grab a quick bite to eat.
The food court was mobbed. It was 2 PM, the race to find a table was in progress the entire day, and it's a LARGE food court. I picked up food for my mom, my sister-in-law hit Chick-fil-A, which they do not have in New England. Once I found them, they had secured a table for four with one chair. The woman to our right had two children, one in a high chair, one in a chair and that left an empty chair at her table that she refused to give us! The woman behind us sat eating her salad alone with an empty chair across from her filled with all her purchases. She refused to give us her chair. I could hardly stand it, so my mom and my sister-in-law made me sit down in our only chair to shut me up. Have I mentioned before how I dislike the people in this area???
Just as we were finishing up, the woman to our right pulled her child out of the high chair and plopped him in the empty chair, which he refused to sit in. I guess she finally realized how stupid and insensitive she looked, so she had to try to show us how she NEEDED that chair for a child who didn't even want it. I wanted to leave with a big THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH, but decided just to walk away from those ridiculous people. Plenty of people saw this, witnessed it and so I know we weren't the ones who looked that way. I figured I didn't need to change that perception.
It's really amazing that a holiday like Christmas, that was meant to celebrate the birth of the world's savior, can extinguish any semblance of good cheer in people. I would venture to say that in some in only propagates more selfishness. I can see it in these people, and sadly, I can see that in myself. Rude and inconsiderate people are a pet peeve of mine, but I'm sure I've exhibited these characteristics myself. Who am I to think that if I'd spent all morning shopping with thousands of other people who were disappointed in the lack of after Christmas sales too and then fought for a table to sit, eat and keep my purchases safe that I wouldn't zone out on the world? and it's needs around me? Or if I'd done the same while dragging my two children around and just needed to keep them happy I wouldn't reserve the right to have a chair for my unruly toddler should he throw a fit and need a chair?? Still, the good cheer of Christmas has clearly been spent, and what's left is nothing I feel like participating in.
We finished our shopping trip in our usual haunts, Bath and Body, Yankee Candle, Sephora (not my usual, but my sister-in-law lives there!) and any store with on sale clothing. Bath and Body had advertised through email they were starting their semi-annual sale, and my sister-in-law who used to work there had to go yesterday because they ALWAYS begin this sale the day after Christmas. Well, this year, it's the day after the day after Christmas, so we have to brave these crowds again, today! Now with children!!! HELP! I might just stay home with the girls and send them, because after yesterday, I'll just be belligerent with these post-Christmas shoppers!
Our Christmas, as a whole, was awesome. In every way, we all had a wonderful time. I love to be with my family, give gifts, play with gifts and acknowledge the true meaning of Christmas with people who really matter to me. T's parents chose not to have Christmas with us - that was our only disappointment. We had 16 for dinner and plenty of food, plenty of help, plenty of laughter, plenty of fun. We are already planning our New Year's party!!
Favorite Christmas Moments:
- Skyler, my niece, and everything she has said - she is amazing to us!! a true gift
- Em's face when she saw her pretend computer and her carrying it all over the house with her
- Kt's face when she saw her PC trainer AND her carrying around her first REAL Bible (she never liked any of the children's ones!)
- T with his Seagate (?) portable hard drive - he's such a geek. I don't even know what it is or what it does, but he couldn't put it down
- Sprinkling reindeer food all over ours and my aunt and uncle's yard on Christmas Eve
- Telling Em it was Jesus' birthday and having her be surprised (for the 100th time!), she decided that for his birthday, he would probably like a picture of himself! Hmmm... we got some work to do!
- Having my cousin's two grown children show up for dinner - I had no idea they were coming, but it was SOOOO special to have them join us. I felt honored to have them!
- My mom opening her gift from us - a satellite radio she can use in her car and at home. Each year we used to give my parents a special gift from all of us. Lately, we've tried to come up with good gifts for my mom but she never wants us to get her anything. We really surprised her this year and she LOVED her gift (as far as I can tell!) We all love to make her happy!
- Uncle Doug and Kt playing Xbox together - it's nice to see my brother relax because he works too hard
- My brother telling his wife, who has been sick since she arrived, to stop cleaning and go take a nap. He rarely tells her to stop and she is a cleaning freak. We all love her, but she can't stop. It was nice that HE finally noticed!
I have a lot more, but those are the ones that stick out on my head. I don't think I have least favorite ones, except for my older daughter sulking in her room that no one was paying any attention to her after she had just opened $250 worth of presents!! I guess it's the age? Or maybe it was the fact that there really wasn't a $175 American Girl Doll Trunk under the tree that she was hoping for! We'll sort all that out after the relatives leave!
We are planning Christmas somewhere else next year, likely Savannah. I love Christmas in the South. Maybe we'll even squeeze in a Disney day! although I'm not a big Disney at Christmas fan - too crowded! It's a whole year away, and a lot can happen in one year...
We started our journey by finding some cute outfits for the girls (mine and my niece) to get pictures in. I'm not sure my sister will go for it - she doesn't like professional photos - but we'll give it a try once they return from Lancaster. We then decided to grab a quick bite to eat.
The food court was mobbed. It was 2 PM, the race to find a table was in progress the entire day, and it's a LARGE food court. I picked up food for my mom, my sister-in-law hit Chick-fil-A, which they do not have in New England. Once I found them, they had secured a table for four with one chair. The woman to our right had two children, one in a high chair, one in a chair and that left an empty chair at her table that she refused to give us! The woman behind us sat eating her salad alone with an empty chair across from her filled with all her purchases. She refused to give us her chair. I could hardly stand it, so my mom and my sister-in-law made me sit down in our only chair to shut me up. Have I mentioned before how I dislike the people in this area???
Just as we were finishing up, the woman to our right pulled her child out of the high chair and plopped him in the empty chair, which he refused to sit in. I guess she finally realized how stupid and insensitive she looked, so she had to try to show us how she NEEDED that chair for a child who didn't even want it. I wanted to leave with a big THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH, but decided just to walk away from those ridiculous people. Plenty of people saw this, witnessed it and so I know we weren't the ones who looked that way. I figured I didn't need to change that perception.
It's really amazing that a holiday like Christmas, that was meant to celebrate the birth of the world's savior, can extinguish any semblance of good cheer in people. I would venture to say that in some in only propagates more selfishness. I can see it in these people, and sadly, I can see that in myself. Rude and inconsiderate people are a pet peeve of mine, but I'm sure I've exhibited these characteristics myself. Who am I to think that if I'd spent all morning shopping with thousands of other people who were disappointed in the lack of after Christmas sales too and then fought for a table to sit, eat and keep my purchases safe that I wouldn't zone out on the world? and it's needs around me? Or if I'd done the same while dragging my two children around and just needed to keep them happy I wouldn't reserve the right to have a chair for my unruly toddler should he throw a fit and need a chair?? Still, the good cheer of Christmas has clearly been spent, and what's left is nothing I feel like participating in.
We finished our shopping trip in our usual haunts, Bath and Body, Yankee Candle, Sephora (not my usual, but my sister-in-law lives there!) and any store with on sale clothing. Bath and Body had advertised through email they were starting their semi-annual sale, and my sister-in-law who used to work there had to go yesterday because they ALWAYS begin this sale the day after Christmas. Well, this year, it's the day after the day after Christmas, so we have to brave these crowds again, today! Now with children!!! HELP! I might just stay home with the girls and send them, because after yesterday, I'll just be belligerent with these post-Christmas shoppers!
Our Christmas, as a whole, was awesome. In every way, we all had a wonderful time. I love to be with my family, give gifts, play with gifts and acknowledge the true meaning of Christmas with people who really matter to me. T's parents chose not to have Christmas with us - that was our only disappointment. We had 16 for dinner and plenty of food, plenty of help, plenty of laughter, plenty of fun. We are already planning our New Year's party!!
Favorite Christmas Moments:
- Skyler, my niece, and everything she has said - she is amazing to us!! a true gift
- Em's face when she saw her pretend computer and her carrying it all over the house with her
- Kt's face when she saw her PC trainer AND her carrying around her first REAL Bible (she never liked any of the children's ones!)
- T with his Seagate (?) portable hard drive - he's such a geek. I don't even know what it is or what it does, but he couldn't put it down
- Sprinkling reindeer food all over ours and my aunt and uncle's yard on Christmas Eve
- Telling Em it was Jesus' birthday and having her be surprised (for the 100th time!), she decided that for his birthday, he would probably like a picture of himself! Hmmm... we got some work to do!
- Having my cousin's two grown children show up for dinner - I had no idea they were coming, but it was SOOOO special to have them join us. I felt honored to have them!
- My mom opening her gift from us - a satellite radio she can use in her car and at home. Each year we used to give my parents a special gift from all of us. Lately, we've tried to come up with good gifts for my mom but she never wants us to get her anything. We really surprised her this year and she LOVED her gift (as far as I can tell!) We all love to make her happy!
- Uncle Doug and Kt playing Xbox together - it's nice to see my brother relax because he works too hard
- My brother telling his wife, who has been sick since she arrived, to stop cleaning and go take a nap. He rarely tells her to stop and she is a cleaning freak. We all love her, but she can't stop. It was nice that HE finally noticed!
I have a lot more, but those are the ones that stick out on my head. I don't think I have least favorite ones, except for my older daughter sulking in her room that no one was paying any attention to her after she had just opened $250 worth of presents!! I guess it's the age? Or maybe it was the fact that there really wasn't a $175 American Girl Doll Trunk under the tree that she was hoping for! We'll sort all that out after the relatives leave!
We are planning Christmas somewhere else next year, likely Savannah. I love Christmas in the South. Maybe we'll even squeeze in a Disney day! although I'm not a big Disney at Christmas fan - too crowded! It's a whole year away, and a lot can happen in one year...
3 comments:
Hi,
I happened on your blog and must say I totally enjoyed it...you should write a book. Since you blog I wonder if you venture into others, may I share a lovely one. My friend is staying in Texas while going thru cancer treatment and she is a young mother and also shares lovely messages. She is a Christian woman and so much of her site is a sharing of Blessings...
Tamisjourney.blogspot.com
By the way I loved the imagery of your big family Christmas and all those children, and of course the post Christmas world and it's back to self attitudes. Be Blessed and may the New Year bring you and your family many wonderful adventures.
Rebecca
Wow! Thank you, Rebecca. You are too kind! Please stop in anytime and I will certainly visit your friend's blog. I'm not sure about a book, but I sure do love blogging. Hope you have a wonderful holiday and Happy New Year!! deanna
HI SARA!!! So good to hear from you! I'm quite certain Kt would remember you. Em never pays much attention to anyone, so if you weren't around in the last week I doubt she'd remember you at all (haha - so you're not the only one!). We'll likely give you a call! Enjoy your break - see you around new church. d
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