Online shopping means that you can send huckleberry products from the shop downtown across the country. Salad dressing or cheese made in the town they grew up in arrives gift wrapped at their door anywhere in the world. Lists of popular toys on the grandkids wish list are available with descriptions. You can bargain hunt and be the expert on every age group.

I purchased home office storage gifts and arranged delivery for my son in the Midwest. I sent baby bath toys to the west coast and an epiphone electric guitar to the Atlantic seaboard. I did it all from the computer in the family room. All of this from a guy that did not have an email address a year ago.

The idea of standing in an endless line at the mall or post office makes me smile now. I wish I could press a button to see how many hours and miles I have saved by shopping on the world wide web. I know I have added countless hours to my holiday enjoyment and the satisfaction of finding the perfect present.

I still do some in person shopping but now I enjoy the display, carolers, and bumping into friends. The majority of my stocking stuffing and ribbon garnished gifts is conducted on my computer. Safe shopping, deep discounts, no cost gift wrapping, along with free delivery has lowered my stress and increased my joy.

This is a terrific way to make sure you are going to score the toy that adults are fighting over in a crowded store. Yes, adults actually get physical and you wonder why that one popular doll was always laughing even when he was not tickled. You will be happily surprised at the wide choice of popular toys and gifts available on the net.

I am more creative too. I sent off all of our old 8mm movies and VHS tapes to a company that put it all on DVD. I had the company send copies of the disc with a Christmas label to family scattered across the country. I found another place that took my nephew’s song lyrics and recorded them to music. Creative and fun.

At the end of the day we can cherish the phone calls, online pictures from family, and knowing that we were able to make difference. We connected in ways as unique and special as each loved one on our list. I am amazed that we can do our shopping, share music, pictures, and videos with the click of a mouse. Even though we are separated by distance greater than over the river and through the woods we still celebrated as a family.