Ah, today began the same way I slept: not well. We were up early, scrolling through flight trackers and anxiously sipping coffee, waiting for any updates from the boy as he navigated Heathrow. Spoiler: he’s not a fan. Heathrow apparently lacks the “ambiance” (whatever that means to a teenager) and the food? Let’s just say he wasn’t about to Instagram his meal.
But the real highlight of his Heathrow layover? A rat brushed his leg while he napped. Yep, you read that right. Needless to say, the boy is now wide awake and will likely stay that way for the next decade. Thanks, Heathrow—nothing like rodent-induced adrenaline to make travel memorable. Maybe he better took the xat with him.
Meanwhile, once he boarded, I dove into something equally stressful: Christmas shopping. Retail therapy was supposed to soothe my nerves, but my ADHD brain had other plans. First, I found a fantastic bag for myself. Did I need it? No. Was I shopping for me? Also no. But there it was, calling my name.
Then Bjorn (because of course, this trip involves Bjorn) found himself a “yellow walking price.” What’s a walking price, you ask? That’s when an item is so expensive it practically struts off the shelf, flipping its price tag in your face. So no, we did not adopt the yellow walking price, much to Bjorn’s disappointment.
In the end, I can confidently say my daughter cleaned up today. She’s now the proud recipient of many gifts she didn’t ask for but will undoubtedly love—or at least pretend to. As for me, my retail therapy helped…sort of. It’s not exactly soothing when you’re trying to dodge other last-minute shoppers while internally screaming, “Why did I wait so long to do this AGAIN?”
And let’s not forget the weather. Yesterday it was raining buckets; today, it was snowing. You’d think snow would feel festive, but no. It just made the roads slower, the shopping carts harder to push, and my mood slightly frostier than the weather outside.
So here I sit, somewhere between proud of myself for finally buying gifts and slightly annoyed that I still have wrapping to do. But hey, at least I didn’t fall asleep next to a rat today. Small victories, right?
Stay sane, stay shoppy,
A Snowy Mom with a Full Cart
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