Could I Have Lost My Will To Shop?

I know, I know this could never happen. Could it? Today I learned that unfortunately it can.

Early this afternoon I had the sitter and I ventured out baby free to buy Christmas presents. Luckily my list is always the same and everyone is pretty easy to shop for. The truth is in just this one day I am pretty much done. Mom, Dad, Step Mom, Little Man, 3 sisters, and Husband all checked off my list. All that is left is the in-laws for which I can enlist the help of my brother and sister in-law to help find that perfect gift.

Being done so early in the game should make me happy but the fact is that it is just not all that much fun this year. I thought it had something to do with the fact that I am not asking for anything this year from the Husband (the trench was more than enough) and from our family we want new pots and pans (fun fun) but I think it is much more than that. 

The stores are empty, decorations are at a minimum, and everything is on sale which is great for the pocketbook but also makes it all seem so sad. For me, the state of the economy makes Christmas seem so frivolous this year, and even though we have yet to be effected, I feel like as a nation we are all buying things because we have to buy them not because of some sense of holiday giving. The fact is that Christmas is coming at a very crappy time this year. Can't we just move it to July? 

Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE Christmas. Love the trees, love the lights, love the music, love  decorating, pray for snow, I even love the egg nog. What I do hate is that this year it all seems so material. I feel like I need to find a way to balance out the commercial side of the Holiday. I am fortunate enough to have a babysitter two afternoons a week and I'm thinking that I should take advantage of one of those days and try to give back this Holiday season. I think that will help me to relieve some of my consumer guilt. I going to try not to dwell because although he is still little, this is the little man's first real Christmas (last year he was still very blobish) and I really want him to love this Season as much as I do. However, this year I am going to make a very conscious effort to make this time of year not revolve around material things but rather the traditions that we are creating as a family.  

Maybe that is the benefit of the current financial crisis. Maybe it's time that we  collectively take a look at what is really important and what Christmas and giving really means. Maybe this year that will be the true meaning of Christmas. 

You know it's a bad sign for consumer spending when even yummy mummy doesn't want to shop. I guess that just means more sales for everyone else who still has a little spending in them.