Christmas Shopping Shaffer Style

When our two boys were old enough to grasp the concept of Christmas giving, we decided to give them a budget and take them shopping to choose a gift for each parent and his brother. We went together to a department store without much of a plan. We decided that my husband would take Caleb to choose a gift for me while I took Levi to choose a gift for Caleb. After the gifts were chosen and paid for, we would switch children so that Caleb could go with me to find his dad's gift and Levi would choose a gift for me with his dad. We had so much fun sneaking around the store, it became a tradition. That first shopping trip was seven years ago. We have since added two more children. What was once a sweet, simple tradition is now more like a military maneuver, involving cell phone communication and dropping bags off in the car before trading children. We have to trade children (or carts) a couple of more times and we sometimes forget who we are shopping for, but the annual children's shopping day remains a cherished family tradition.