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Christmas shopping all year?

Holiday Shopping All Year? by Alison van Diggelen Judging by the proliferation of Christmas boutiques from Carmel to San Francisco, it seems some organized people in Silicon Valley have an eye towards Christmas all year long. Personally, I find it vaguely disorientating in mid-summer to see a festive store complete with gyrating Santas, merry music and snowy winter scenes featuring tired old Rudolf and his alcoholic nose. In our house, mid-November is a tad early to start thinking about Christmas. The commercial extravaganza of Christmas has become so encompassing, it’s in danger of developing like a monstrous inflatable ship and cutting lose from its mooring in December and drifting into November, October and earlier. Its enormous shadow may even begin to loom over us when we’re barbecuing burgers on July 4th. For my part, I’d like to keep it berthed within the month, and contain its wonder, even if it means I almost have a nervous breakdown in the process. Are you one of those organized people who have completed their holiday shopping list by December 1st, right down to presents for the teachers and the mailman? And even bought the last color coordinated napkin for your Martha Stuart-esque grand family gathering? Or are you like me, in a feverish panic? I once knew some of these organized people, but they are no longer on my Christmas list. It’s not good for your blood pressure to be around them. They can pop your holiday mood bubble in micro-seconds. By December 15th, I’m normally in such a state, the last thing I need is someone to smile smugly at my frenzy and tell me they’re “all done”. Just like those straight-A geniuses at school who’d get up half way through the exam and saunter out with an air of supreme confidence while the rest of us were still struggling with Question 1 part B. It seems with holiday shopping you have two options, either work on it methodically all year or do several day-long, manic splurges at the mall. The former method has four big drawbacks: 1. You have to be organized, (some of us simply don’t have this gene). 2. You run the risk of over-shopping and accumulating troves of “treasures” which you simply can’t find since they’re hidden so cleverly around the house. 3. You miss the undeniable pleasure of group holiday hysteria at the mall to get you in a festive mood. 4. Since you avoid ringing up new all-time highs on your credit cards, you miss out on congratulations from your bank in January and whopping new credit card limits for next year’s extravaganza. The splurge method requires making a pact with yourself not to leave the stores until every item is bought, even if you have to leave with the help of two brawny security guys. You may be suffering blistered feet, aching muscles and a rampant case of buyer’s remorse as you consider your empty purse and how rapidly you surpassed your credit limits. But remember you’ve pulled off an efficiency coup, testing the rule that tasks expand into the time available. You’ll go through the mall doors tired but triumphant. So, assuming you want to do my “Big Splurge” approach. Here are some pointers: 1. Pick your day carefully and leave the kids and/or partner at home (there’s no time for temper tantrums, dragging feet and second opinions). 2. Prepare as you would for a marathon, do some heavy carbo-loading beforehand (giant pasta dishes and whole loaves of bread are good). 3. Choose your mall carefully (make sure it has the requisite range of merchandise and restroom facilities). 4. Make a list of people by interest (e.g. Aunty Ethel and your mother like gardening, cousin Duncan and Uncle Willie are computer geeks, family “millionaires” can have Harry Potter). 5. Take snacks and some water. (Think Power Bars etc.: you probably won’t have time for that three-courser at your favorite cafe). 6. Take earplugs (that Christmas music can get painful after six straight hours). 7. Check your credit limit (this is crucial or you’re sunk). While you’re there, enjoy the satisfaction of checking the names off the list in lightning fashion as you find the right items. It’s amazing how time pressure can focus the mind: revel in how decisive you are. Hey, perhaps I’ll see you there! On December 23rd, when I’m in line at the Post Office and bump into an acquaintance who announces that everything is bought, wrapped and already winging its way to worldwide destinations by regular mail, I’ll just bite my tongue. I’ll pay the exorbitant price of priority mail which hits me annually like a levy for the terminally disorganized and swear that next year will be different. But deep down I know that I’m not that kind of person and I just don’t have it in me. Yet, the last minute approach has its own magic, even if it requires nerves of steel. I’m giving Santa the eleven-month break he deserves and keeping Christmas where it belongs, in the month of December. And yes, I’ll probably be taking one more name off my Christmas list. © Alison van Diggelen

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