Shopping online put the joy back in my Christmas

I love Christmas, the bright lights, Christmas trees, Christmas movies, Santa Claus, the anticipation of presents, and the joy of seeing my kids eyes light up on Christmas morning when they come downstairs and see all of the presents under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning, but the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping has always challenged my Christmas spirit.

Christmas shopping seemed to always turn my mood sour. The drain would begin as soon as I would pull into the mall or shopping center parking lot; and have to search for a parking spot for 20 minutes, that would most likely be way in the back of the parking structure; then would have to walk for 5 minutes from my car to get to the stores. And that is before any shopping had begun. Then once inside the shopping center or mall, the place would be so crowded and noisy that I could hardly think and getting to my desired store would be like walking thru Times Square on New Year’s Eve. But being the trooper that I am, I would overcome those obstacles and make it inside the first store that I want to shop in. If that wasn’t bad enough once in the store then were worse because, of course, the store would be packed with so many people which would make getting to the merchandise challenge. Nevertheless, I’d plow thru the crowds squeezing by people and people squeezing by me, waiting in the vicinity of certain item for room to open up so that I can fit in and possibly pick the item up. After doing this dance for a while while I fill up my basket or my arms I would then look over at the line and my stomach would sink. But I would forge ahead and wait in the line, sometimes holding my items for 30 minutes to an hour to pay for the merchandise. Then I would start out on my journey to the next store to repeat the process, but this time my situation is even worse because I have a handful of bags now.

So now I’m going from store to store fighting through the crowds, carting more and more bags thru each store till finally I’ve had enough for the day. I usually repeat this scenario about three or for times as the process is so draining that I usually only get about ¼ of my shopping done on each trip. After three weeks of these one or two day shopping trips I am so exhausted that I need a few days to recover. I usually time my shopping so that I am recovered about 3 days before Christmas so that I have enough time to wrap presents and get them ready for the big day and mainly so that I have enough time to get back into the Christmas spirit.

This year as the third week in November was approaching I began to gear myself up for my Christmas shopping experience. It was as if I was preparing my mind for a marathon, which is kind of what it feels like to me. And then I heard on the news how Cyber Monday might surpass Black Friday this year. I had an epiphany; I said to myself wow I never thought about doing my Christmas shopping online. I’ve purchased things here and there on the internet but never thought of the internet as a place to do a mass shopping spree. Don’t know why, I guess I’ve shopped at malls and shopping centers for Christmas for so long they just seemed to go hand and hand. I was fully comfortable buying baby shower gifts or wedding gifts or household products on the internet but never saw the internet as a vehicle to do Christmas shopping.

Well this year all that changed for me. I did all of my Christmas shopping online this year. And the experience was fantastic. I was able to comparison shop so I ended up getting the best prices for the products that I purchased. Also many of the sites have list of the hottest selling items in each category so say for instance your planning to buy someone a game, you can find out what the hottest games are that year which will narrow down your choices. Also the sites provide detailed information on each product which is great in helping make a decision on which brand to purchase.

So here I am one week before Christmas whereas I would usually be out plowing thru the crowds trying to purchase my last few items and instead I am sitting here writing this article. I purchased all of my gifts online in two days and they were all delivered right to my front door within a week. My Christmas spirit was never challenged and I’ve been enjoying myself the whole month of December. Online Shopping is the Best.

Abigail Isaacs is the author of this article on best shopping online. Find more information, about buy electronics online here