I have even more respect now for my parents and everyone else who had to do their Christmas shopping before the Internet. Yesterday, I completed my Christmas shopping by 10 A.M. and I never left the house.
Here are some of my online shopping tips and perks if you have never done it before. Hopefully, by the end, I will have made a believer out of you and you will never look back.
The List
The key to buying all of your items as quickly as possible is to compile a succinct and complete list for all of your recipients. There are millions of items online and it is easy to start clicking here, there, and everywhere and once you know it, you have browsed nearly half of those millions of items and actually accomplished nothing. If you have a list and go through it methodically, then you will finish your shopping in no time at all.
Prices
One tricky part of online shopping is making sure you find the lowest prices available. This problem exists in the real world, too. Shopping in the stores though, you would have to cover a lot of area to compare prices and then backtrack to get the item you needed to save £2. But, with websites like www.pricerunner.co.uk, you can type in any product and the cheapest online location with your item will appear in seconds. This also proves that Amazon is not the end-all-be-all to online shopping. For instance, I saved £50 on one of the toys for Jackson this year by using this website to compare prices. And, at this other website, the delivery was free and I got to choose my delivery date. (That website was www.activitytoysdirect.com, if you're interested.)
Delivery
This is another perk of online shopping. It can sometimes be a downfall, but still, it is easier than carrying bags around the mall and making trips to the car to stuff them in the back seat. Home delivery is a perk if you can choose your date or a pick-up location. The downfall comes when the deliveryman shows up and you aren't home. In England, they leave the item with a neighbour, at the post office depot (depending on the company that is delivering), or they try to deliver the item again another day. I guess it depends on who your neighbours are whether this is a downfall or not. Luckily for us, we have pretty honest and kind neighbours. Alternatively, you could have the item delivered to a friend or family member who you know will be at home.
Time
A definite perk of shopping from home is saving time--which is one of my favourite things to do. Amidst my clicking and buying from the comfort of home, I could eat my breakfast, play with Jackson, put a load of laundry in the washing machine, and catch-up on television shows that I missed during the week. I've heard of multi-tasking, but online shopping helps you take things to a new level.
People
Say what you want about me after you hear this, but this is my truth: The best part of online shopping is avoiding the public. In fact, it made me so happy that I wrote a poem/rap to celebrate. So let's get wrapping:
Yesterday, there was no one
Running into me with a shopping cart,
Waiting in lines,
Finding a parking spot
Someone knocking my car,
Kids screaming,
Crying babies,
Morose store clerks,
Burnt out moms being shady,
Rolling their eyes
And pushing their way through
Dads clogging up the aisles
Watching Stranger Things 2,
Feels like the try-outs for Supermarket Sweep,
These are the ultimate perks
Of online shopping.
Last Sunday, we went on a bear hunt through the woods.
Well, we didn't see a bear (thank goodness), but we found a family of ducks.
Lee was quite artistic with this photo.
We let Jackson lead the way and by the end, he was so tired that he wanted us to carry him all the way home.
P.S. Happy birthday to my dad! Every time I would go to do my radio DJ slot in college, my dad would say, "Don't embarrass the family." I hope the rap wasn't too much, Dad.
Developmental updates: Jackson's new words this week were piggy, snow, hug, everybody, and goat. He is giving a lot more hugs now and likes to tell us when he is on his way to give us a hug. Jackson will say, "Hug Daddy," with some of his other original language mixed in when he is coming towards us. He is very independent, but there were a few times this week when he wanted our attention or acted like he couldn't do something on his own (something he has done a hundred times before). When he was on the slide yesterday, he wanted our help to sit at the top when we all knew that he could do it on his own.
If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.
