Christmas Shopping as a Couple?

by Sherry Holetzky | More from this Blogger

10 Dec 2006 11:10 AM

Do you and your husband or wife do your Christmas shopping together? Do you pick out gifts together, take them home, and wrap them up? Maybe you shop together but one of you does the wrapping.

My husband and I shop together whenever we can and then he carries most of the stuff inside. We hide everything in our closet and then I usually wrap the stuff (after I've had a chance to recuperate from shopping!) My husband is a great shopper and talented gift giver, and he's awesome at carrying stuff in, but wrapping? Not so much. I don't mind. I have fun wrapping gifts. This is where the kids usually join in. They like to help wrap each other's presents and the stuff that's for other family members, friends, teachers, etc.

My husband and I went on a shopping trip yesterday. We had a really good time spending the day together. He's fun to shop with, has lots of great ideas, and takes great pleasure in choosing gifts that he knows will make our girls faces light up. There have been years that we weren't able to shop together, and when that happens, he still goes out after I do most of the Christmas shopping and picks out at least one special item for each of daughters. I think that's pretty cool.

In some families, one spouse does the majority of the shopping or maybe even all of it. It's fine if that's what they agree to do. Sometimes however it can become an issue, especially if the spouse doing it all feels overwhelmed. When I was growing up, Mom did all the Christmas shopping and gift-wrapping. She'd be worn out by the time Christmas morning arrived.

Then, when we'd open gifts Dad would say, "Come here and let me see what I got you." I understand that Dad worked hard and everything, but it would have been nice to know that he picked something out just for us, or maybe he could have just avoiding letting us know that he didn't. This is something else to keep in mind if you have kids and one spouse does all the shopping.

Besides, shopping together can be fun! My husband and I feel like a couple of kids, laughing, joking, and getting all excited about Christmas. We compared deals on items we each chose to see who got the better bargain. We got so many great deals yesterday that we were able to buy a lot more stuff than we thought we would within our budget, and we had a great time doing it.

So, how does Christmas Shopping work at your house?

Related:

Christmas Eve Traditions for Couples

Learn more about Sherry Holetzky

Sherry Holetzky is a work at home mom and freelance writer. Married to her best friend, Sherry and her husband are raising their family in a quiet rural setting in the beautiful Ozark Mountains.

View Full Profile | More from this Blogger