My troupe right before a past black Friday experience.

There may be a slight grumble from the shopping enthusiasts, but they know they have a big day ahead. So 30 minutes of getting ready chaos, including throwing on clothes for comfort and not style and making peanut-butter sandwiches for strength…we are off. Hopefully we won’t see any one we know.

The garage door opens to a black canvas, and off we go with Christmas music blaring. It’s 5:15am and we only have 45 minutes to make it to the mall in time for the coupons to be passed out. The kids all have their lists of what to buy and they need those coupons. We strategically position ourselves at each entrance and as the doors open hope that our hands will receive one money saving coupon. Bingo! We are in and ready to shop. There is so much energy and good cheer at the beginning, but after hours of waiting in line, being pushed and bumped around, and the disappointment of not finding the perfect gift we are ready to put up the white flag.

Coffee in hand and not looking our best at the crack of dawn.

It’s time for a break and to pull out the pb&j sandwiches as some of my shoppers are hungry and complaining. You might ask why do we do this to ourselves? Is it worth the dizziness, sleepiness and the shivering from waiting out in the freezing cold temperatures? The answer is we do it for the experience of the season and to keep the Bell family tradition alive.

My girls and I happily awoke super early this past Friday for just that reason. My girls will happily pass this tradition down to their daughters.

Mama Bell is our mother of 5 & weekly Monday columnist