Worst words at Christmas

As for many, Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of year! The smells, the music, the family gatherings... Since having children, this love has only grown. The kids are still small, and for the first time, our oldest understands the concept of Santa, knows all the words to Rudolph (including the classic inserts), and is talking of leaving cookies and Reindeer food on Christmas Eve. This is the year she (with the help of her teacher) wrote her first letter to Santa.

I don't know who is more excited! Her to receive the gifts, or me to play Santa. In looking at the letter, I figured I was lucky. The list had only three items, non of which were impossible (another brother or sister), or on the "Hot Toy of the Season" (Zhu Zhu pets) list. So, I grabbed my list for Conor, added these items, and headed to Toys R Us.

When I arrived, I grabbed a flyer and headed towards the preschool section. I figured I would start at the back of the store and grab the Toy Lawn Mower that Katie wanted to give to Conor first. Then, it began. After ten minutes and a few too many trips up and down the same aisles, I went searching for help. The Lawn Mower was "not in stock", the attendant said. Come again? "The red, yellow, and blue model is not sold at this location." "Model?" I asked. Well, the pink lawn mower certainly wasn't going to fly for the BOY I was purchasing it for. (Did I mention I drove to this particular location because it was one of the largest stores in the area?) Sigh.

Okay, no big deal. I'll get it elsewhere. Onto my next purchase...the Minnie Mouse. I can't find it. "Sorry, Ma'am", the attendant said. "We don't carry Minnie. We only have Mickey." For a moment, I thought I didn't hear her correclty. No Minnie either? "No, Ma'am," she said.

Okay, this is getting a bit odd. "How about the Leap Frog alphabet?" I said. "The one where you put the letters on the refrigerator." We walked to two aisles over. Sold out. This can't be happening.

We proceeded to My Little Pony. Surely, there would be plenty of the these. As we turned down the aisle, I was relieved, the shelf was full of little pink boxes. Success! Then, we got closer. The little pink boxes I had gotten so excited about seconds ago were the miniature My Little Pony dolls with all the itty bitty corresponding accesories, brushes, mirrors...the larger single My Little Pony dolls were...you guessed it...Sold Out. Grrr.

I had lost all my enthusiasm at this point. It was at 7:23pm, in the My Little Pony aisle of Toys R Us that I decided this year... Mommy was simply going to shop on-line.

On my way out of the store, I decided that just for jollies, I would see if the little table and chairs set we wanted to get the kids was available. Nope. Sold Out.

I left the empty cart at the door, got in my car, and called my husband with a heavy heart. It was my first Christmas with a list in hand, and I left the toy store empty handed. I was so dissapointed. As he always does, he reassured me we could purchase the list on-line, take advantage of FREE SHIPPING, still use all my coupons, and get the items in time to wrap before Christmas. In fact, he said, it would be easier.

He was right. I felt better. I smiled, hung up the phone, and tucked my coupons away in my wallet. As I did, I noticed the fine print on a couple...in-store only.

Bah Humbug.