X-mas shopping in September

I'm one of those people who shops for Christmas gifts all year long. If I see something that someone would like, I grab it and stash it away until Christmas. This has been very helpful in the budget area, because come December I don't need to dish out a ton of cash that we don't have. A little bit all year long doesn't get noticed as much as one huge chunk all at the same time.

The other day when Camryn and I were out shopping for Fall clothes, something caught my eye. In order to distract her from what I was going to look at, I grabbed a stuffed animal and handed it to her in the stroller. I pushed her far enough past the item so she couldn't see it. It was essentially a paper doll set, except it was wooden and magnetic. She could dress and undress her doll as many times as she wanted. It was perfect and better yet 30% off. Gotta love Melissa and Doug toys!

I made it to the cash register with the item slyly hidden atop the stroller and handed it to the cashier upside-down for extra assurance. Camryn was happily playing with the stuffed animal and hadn't taken notice to what was going on. The cashier rang it up, I paid and as I was putting my change in my wallet, she turned to Camryn and said:

"Here honey, you can take this home to play with." Handing her the Christmas item in exchange for the stuffed animal that apparently she thought I was going to steal.

I know I could have said nothing because really there was no turning back. Camryn had the toy in her hands and would definitely want to play with it when we got home. I realize the cashier was probably trying to make giving up the stuffed animal easier for Camryn, because she was in fact getting a new toy. But I was disappointed that an item I had already placed under the tree in my head, would be old news by the time December rolled around. So instead of holding back I said:

"Actually that was going to be for Christmas...but I guess now it's not."

She was immediately apologetic and now I was regretting my snide remark. So I left the store without a Christmas present or my previously happy demeanor. Maybe this year I'll change up my game and give Black Friday a try...everyone knows those are Christmas presents!