Amazon
I love Amazon. Who doesn't these days! While I fully respect the in-store retail experience (having done that for 7 years during high school and college) nothing beats the convenience of on-line shopping. As a busy working mom, it is SO great to be able to order that whatever it is the kids need. Or when my hairdryer blew out and I had NO time to get to Target that day. Maternity clothes, sugar-free coffee syrup, replacement bowls for the ones I just dropped and broke--Amazon has it all. Christmas shopping? Wow! SO much easier now. No crowds. No shopping around. No parking and with a Prime account, no shipping costs! They've taken away just about every excuse. But there is a downside--at least for us. And honestly, it's not really a downside. Just something to navigate.
Being hours (and sometimes days) away from our families makes Christmas shopping and shipping easier for us and our wonderful families. We ship to them and they ship to us. The challenge comes when EVERYONE uses Amazon and they all ship DIFFERENTLY. Now, please don't take this as a complaint. Because it definitely is not. I am grateful for the generosity of our families who make Christmas special for all of us since we can not be together. My kids feel remembered by aunts and uncles, cousins and second cousins and of course the Grandparents. It makes for an impressive Christmas Tree for sure.
What almost scares me though is how fast these wonderful packages are delivered...and how stealthily. Especially now that Amazon has it's own delivery service. And for them, there are NO rules. I've been driving behind one of their delivery vans when it decided to stop right at the stoplight at the end of the street, park, get out and run a package up to a house on the corner and then hop back in the car and drive off. What? You completely blocked traffic! It's worse than a school bus. They at least have a law to back up their stop anywhere and throw out the stop sign habit (again, I'm a parent, I appreciate these things!).
It's almost like they're real Christmas elves. There is no concern for time of day, weather, existing carrier schedule. They will deliver anytime, to anyone, using any method they please. Yesterday was a perfect example. It was Sunday. We awoke at our usual Sunday hour (Iris and me ridiculously early, everyone else, a more reasonable hour). When we left that morning there were packages by the door. Oh great! Let's get those inside--it's raining. Wonder when they showed up--last night? This morning? Who knows. Mid-afternoon I ran out to do the weekly shopping. When I got home, more packages had arrived. Wow! Totally forgot that the USPS is now doing Sunday delivery. Probably BECAUSE of Amazon.
Our basement is full of unopened brown boxes, mostly because I haven't had time to go through them and because if they're still sealed, I don't have to try to hide anything from prying fingers and curious eyes. I added these recent deliveries to that pile and telling myself I really needed to start going through things. Christmas is just over a week away and most of these gifts aren't wrapped (I enjoy the wrapping--it's like Christmas in reverse!)
It was a bit of a lazy Sunday after that but towards the end of the day, I needed to go outside for something--I don't remember what but as I opened the front door I found something blocking my path. More? Why, yes. The Amazon elves had returned and we had more boxes by the front door. But the creepiest part is that when I finally did open all of these boxes, I found that the stuff I had ordered on Saturday had already arrived! I had a moment of panic that what "Santa" is bringing for the kids are things a caring aunt or grandparent had bought as well. It wasn't until I looked at my email and saw that my packages had been delivered was my mind at ease.
I wonder what will show up today!
Being hours (and sometimes days) away from our families makes Christmas shopping and shipping easier for us and our wonderful families. We ship to them and they ship to us. The challenge comes when EVERYONE uses Amazon and they all ship DIFFERENTLY. Now, please don't take this as a complaint. Because it definitely is not. I am grateful for the generosity of our families who make Christmas special for all of us since we can not be together. My kids feel remembered by aunts and uncles, cousins and second cousins and of course the Grandparents. It makes for an impressive Christmas Tree for sure.
What almost scares me though is how fast these wonderful packages are delivered...and how stealthily. Especially now that Amazon has it's own delivery service. And for them, there are NO rules. I've been driving behind one of their delivery vans when it decided to stop right at the stoplight at the end of the street, park, get out and run a package up to a house on the corner and then hop back in the car and drive off. What? You completely blocked traffic! It's worse than a school bus. They at least have a law to back up their stop anywhere and throw out the stop sign habit (again, I'm a parent, I appreciate these things!).
It's almost like they're real Christmas elves. There is no concern for time of day, weather, existing carrier schedule. They will deliver anytime, to anyone, using any method they please. Yesterday was a perfect example. It was Sunday. We awoke at our usual Sunday hour (Iris and me ridiculously early, everyone else, a more reasonable hour). When we left that morning there were packages by the door. Oh great! Let's get those inside--it's raining. Wonder when they showed up--last night? This morning? Who knows. Mid-afternoon I ran out to do the weekly shopping. When I got home, more packages had arrived. Wow! Totally forgot that the USPS is now doing Sunday delivery. Probably BECAUSE of Amazon.
Our basement is full of unopened brown boxes, mostly because I haven't had time to go through them and because if they're still sealed, I don't have to try to hide anything from prying fingers and curious eyes. I added these recent deliveries to that pile and telling myself I really needed to start going through things. Christmas is just over a week away and most of these gifts aren't wrapped (I enjoy the wrapping--it's like Christmas in reverse!)
It was a bit of a lazy Sunday after that but towards the end of the day, I needed to go outside for something--I don't remember what but as I opened the front door I found something blocking my path. More? Why, yes. The Amazon elves had returned and we had more boxes by the front door. But the creepiest part is that when I finally did open all of these boxes, I found that the stuff I had ordered on Saturday had already arrived! I had a moment of panic that what "Santa" is bringing for the kids are things a caring aunt or grandparent had bought as well. It wasn't until I looked at my email and saw that my packages had been delivered was my mind at ease.
I wonder what will show up today!
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