Shopping

We have a tradition of sending each kid into the Dollar Store with their own money and one parent to buy a gift for each family member. It's usually pretty hilarious what they pick, and since everything is only a buck, they get free reign to pick anything they think the receiver would like. Their styles are vastly different, though.

Jack goes in by himself and comes out 3.5 minutes later, mourning the loss of his dollars but not his time. He's a busy middle schooler, for crying out loud, and has texts to make and his ipod to mess with.

Henry is thoughtful, but doesn't buy the cats anything. He also gets Jack the worst gift he can find him. He is embarrassed picking out girl stuff, but he usually gets the girls something along they're lines of interest.

Olivia is like a mini Jack, throwing stuff randomly into her basket so she can be done. The exception is when picking out gifts for the pets. She spends a long time pondering what she thinks they might like, and usually ends up getting them each two things.

Grace is the worst. She wants everyone to have the perfect gift, and at the Dollar Store, that's pretty much impossible. It takes at least an hour of putting stuff back and contemplating each selection's value to the recipient. For her dad, she really wanted something special and it was kind of driving me crazy, because, hello, the Dollar Store? Ick. Anyway, to hurry things along I suggested a daily calendar of trivia. "No, Dad doesn't need that. He already knows everything." This went on and on until she settled on two things, but obsessed all the way home that he wouldn't like them.

Then they pick out their own wrapping paper and wrap all their gifts with no help. Let's just say it's a good thing I buy scotch tape by the case from Costco.