Saturday, December 4, 2010

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING MEMORIES

This morning as I debated whether or not to go Christmas shopping, a funny little memory came to mind.  My parents took all of us kids, there were seven of us, the eighth hadn't come along yet, to Idaho Falls to do our Christmas shopping.  My older brothers set out with Daddy, but they soon let him know they could manage on their own.  Mama was trying to help us younger kids, but I kept wandering off. 

I found my brothers and showed them a gift I wanted to buy.  They groaned, but bought it for me, then reunited me with Mama and the rest of the family.  Mama then assigned my older sister to keep track of me.  We wandered around until I found a gift I wanted to purchase for another sibling.  She paid for it then took me back to Mama before I could spend any more of her small hoard of coins. 

Mama made it clear to Daddy that she couldn't help the two little ones shop or do any of her own shopping while trying to keep track of me.  That left Daddy to shepherd me through the stores.  I had a great time picking out presents, which he paid for, and when we finished he took me to a store with a soda fountain and bought me a chocolate malt.

At the end of the day, we all piled into our car for the hour long ride back to Arco.  My brothers and sisters began moaning over how broke they were.  They didn't even have enough money to buy a treat for themselves when they finished their shopping.  Finally one of them in a teasing voice asked me how much money I had left, assuming my meager amount of money saved from finding eggs around the farm and selling them to the grocer in Arco was long gone.  I opened my little plastic wallet and showed them I hadn't spent a penny.  They had all assumed I was out of money and kindly tried to help me.  Of course, they were all mad at me, but honest, I didn't know I was supposed to pay for the things I bought myself.  No one asked me for my money.  It became the family joke for years afterward, "Don't go shopping with Jennie."

I love the memories shared thus far by those of you who have submitted Christmas memories.  It's going to be hard to select a winner.  Keep the stories coming!

2 comments:

Kristie said...

My favorite Christmas memory was the year that we all saved and bought my dad new tools to replace the ones that were stolen out of the garage. I was about 12, but mom got us all involved. And she made it so much fun. I remember being so excited to see dad open his presents, hoping he was excited. He was, and it has been one of my best memories. The idea of giving is better than receiving.

Elizabeth Morgan said...

My favorite thing to do at Christmas time is shop for others. In the past couple of years my family has started going to The Quilted Bear. It is so much fun and the booth are awesome.