Fa la la la la, La la la la!
Starting at the end of October, we get several catalogs a day. 
This is one day’s worth.
They’ll keep coming right up until Christmas, and through New Year’s, when they’ll finally stop. No more waiting for Thanksgiving to come and go. Nope, the Christmas machine starts gearing up before the kids have had a chance to Trick-or-Treat.
The older I get, the more I’ve become allergic to malls, especially around the Holidays. I’ve taken to doing all my shopping over the internet. I’m not wasting gas or fighting crowds, and I can shop at 4 am if I feel like it. It’s easy, convenient, and I can find anything under the sun, and get price comparisons at the same time. No holiday rush for me. What could be better?
The one down-side is that my name has been sold to a ton of catalogs. So I thumb through them all to get ideas for the kids. Then I order online. For Colin and McLean, Siera Trading Post and Campmor have most of what’s on their wish list. I like Museum Tour for Caitlin. When she was younger, Hearthsong was great, and I can still find a book or two on Chinaberry.
As I leafed through the grownup catalogs, I came across a beautiful (and expensive) Cashmere robe that I would have bought for myself when I was younger, pre kids and dogs. (Was there ever such a time?) Back when I cared about having nice things without spots or dog hair on them. Back when my house was always clean and tidy.
The thought of owning such a thing now seems ridiculous to me. I’d rather spend that money on my kids. In many ways now, my life is much simpler and the things I value are quite different. It’s time to write and get removed from all those mailing lists; better to save a tree, or two, or three.