Christmas Shopping Online No Thank You Not In My World

I’ll start this post by explaining something, my world is different to most peoples.

If ever you watch one of those good old fashioned black and white Saturday matinees The Enchanted Cottage being a prime example, that’s my world.

Well here’s an old blog post of mine I’ve just discovered from a few years ago which sums things up for me, Go and close the curtains when reading this and join me in my world.

The wife has been nagging for weeks to start the Christmas shopping and my excuse has always been Christmas doesn’t start until December and neither does my shopping!

It’s now the 21st December and the nagging has raised a notch

I have numerous websites, spend approx 16 hours a day online (probably about 15 and a half of those just dithering around), but just can’t seem to raise any enthusiasm to do my Christmas shopping online.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas and always have, this Christmas is going to be even better than usual, both my kids are the perfect age now, we’re staying at home and money isn’t an issue.

Why is it then I just don’t feel like doing my shopping online this Christmas?

Maybe It’s because I’m just old fashioned, a bit of a dreamer and think Christmas shopping should be like you see at the movies.

I love the thought of everyone enjoying shopping for the ideal gift for their loved ones, having good old fashioned Christmas music playing in the background, everybody being in a jolly mood, seeing kids excited about the countdown to Christmas, enjoying a hot chocolate with twirly cream and a flake in it whilst I take a rest.

I love to take the kids to see a jolly, fat, red faced Santa with a real (or real looking) white beard and a nice heavy (like old curtains) bright red costume. I like him to sit the kids on his knee, whisper in their ear and then delve in to the bottom of his sack and bring out a wrapped present (different size and different wrapper for each kid)

I even enjoyed Christmas before I was married and had kids, my day dream then was to accidentally grab a book at the same time as a beautiful girl, as it was the last one on the shelf let her have it and receive a lovely smile as a thank you. Later on bump in to that same girl at the cafe and share a hot chocolate (with twirly cream), laugh at each other for twirly cream moustaches and arrange to meet on Christmas eve for a night out. (I think the deNiro, Streep film Falling in Love has a lot to answer for).

It’s the same when I go to a fair. The fairs I always imagine are like something from a Famous 5 book, all the stall keepers are jolly old souls, smartly dressed, but ruddy faced, They laugh and smile with you, wish you luck and commiserate with you if you don’t win (and give the kids a sweety). There are stalls with freshly made sandwiches, home made cakes, home made lemonade and big jugs of homemade ginger beer. The rides all sparkle, the music is jolly and everyone feels safe and relaxed.

Back to Christmas shopping. I’m going to put up with the nagging until the last minute, not do any online shopping but put my Sunday best on and nip in to Castle Quay at Banbury. If it’s anything like my perfect Christmas shopping experience I will make a full day of it and get all my presents bought, if (as is more likely) it’s not like it is in my mind, I dare say I will be browsing at Amazon on Wednesday.