Some Experiences are Priceless

 Tonight Aliza and I went shopping. The purpose of the trip was for her to buy Christmas presents for her family and Grandparents. This is the first year that she bought presents. We went to Dollar General so, for the most part, she could pick out anything. I carried the basket and she led the way. Thankfully, we had made a list or she would have picked something out for every aunt, uncle and cousin she has! She tried to anyway.

She started at the top of her list...
Anna: grabbed the first stuffed animal she saw and called it perfect
Josiah: another easy one...found the toy aisle and picked a tractor
(looked at all the things she liked for herself)
Mommy: wandered in to a Christmas aisle and got a most satisfied expression on her face and picked out a tall Christmas mug
Daddy: walked through the whole store trying to think of what Daddy would like. I said, well, Daddy likes penguins. We walked back to the Christmas aisle and she picked a pad of penguin note paper.
Grandma: she thought long and hard about what Grandma likes and we walked the store again (stopping a the toy aisle every time to look at things that caught her eye) she ended up in a hair care aisle and picked out some sparkly hair clips for Grandma. (Grandma does, in fact, wear clips in her hair!)
Grandad: immediately--Grandad likes fishing! There was not a thing fishing related in the store. We were back in an aisle with some small toys. I said, Grandad likes bowling too and pointed out a finger bowling game. She thought that was just right.
Great Gramma: "Great Gramma is pretty old. She needs something quiet and happy to do. Like a book!" We went to the books which were too high for her to see. I read some titles and then read one that struck Aliza as perfect "365 Ways to Be Happy"
Great Grandad: "He is old too." We talked about how Great Grandad likes to work in his shop. Aliza said, "He needs something warm and relaxing." We walked the store. (Stopped at the toys again.) I guided her to the bedding area and she spotted the fleece blankets. She immediately chose a bright blue one with snowflakes because it was Christmassy.
Grandma Karen: her first thought was Grandma is an expert knitter. (good thinking, girl!) But before another thought entered she spotted a sticker display that she couldn't pass up. Princess and fish stickers for Grandma.
Grandpa: We walked around for a while thinking about Grandpa. Then...I could get him a toothbrush. That's what we did! A 4 pack so he has a different one for every day.

Then we had to double check the list. That meant laying everything out on the floor in list order. There was no second guessing. She was quite satisfied and spent $20.85.

I was proud of her. We got a snack at TCBY, had some Mommy/Daughter talk time and headed home.

A few days later I took Josiah to do his shopping at the Dollar Tree. I was not at all sure about taking a 3 year old shopping for gifts. He saw a sippy cup right away that he picked up for Anna. Then he saw a few things that he absolutely had to have for himself. I let him pick one. After that when something really caught his eye we figured out who he could give it to. One memorable moment was when he saw a bow and ribbon set that he absolutely had to have to wrap presents. He picked a porcelain piece for each of his Grandma's. Gum for his Daddy. Josiah has had a recent obsession with wanting his Daddy to bring gum home for him so it was quite exciting for him to give gum, in fact, that was the only secret that he did not keep!

When it came time to wrap gifts Josiah remembered who each gift was for. He did not buy gifts for Grandad, Great Gramma or Great Grandad so he picked one of his toys for each of them.

These are some of my most cherished Christmas memories this year.