Unexpected Lesson in Giving

For the last 6 or 7 years after Christmas, we have hosted a “budget saver” holiday party. The first year I thought it would be fun if we did it white elephant style and it has taken off from there. We decided to do it after Christmas to give everyone the opportunity to either regift or buy a deeply discounted gift hence the budget saver part of the party.

Well each year, our friends became progressively more strategic in their planning prior to the party which lead to us coming up with an unexpected twist each year. Last year, the set of rules stood as this because of year’s prior.

• A gift can only be stolen 3 times, then it is locked.
• You can steal a gift that was just stolen from you.
• No stealing from family members.
• Numbers will be selected using a randomizer (so no one knew the true order).
  

We even threw in a couple of extra gifts to throw people off and randomly chose a number at the end to give those gifts away. I must add in addition to becoming cut throat, the gifts also got progressively better. People really got creative with the $20 limit. We always shop on Black Friday so it was easy for us to get really good gifts cheap.

At the end of last year’s party, my husband’s uncle called to see if the party was a success and he gave us a great idea for the 2017 White Elephant! We were so excited that we were ready to do it right away, yet we had to wait for and entire 365…the worse!

So finally Christmas 2017 rolled around and after a few hurdles the date was schedule for New Year’s Eve. Everyone strolled in with their shiny wrapped packages and after the kid’s game, we were ready to begin. As I went around with the jar of numbers, some of our friends were curious to why I had a second jar. After everyone received their numbers, with the suspense hanging in the air, I explained that in the second jar was each person’s name. This year, they would be choosing gifts for someone else. There was a unified gasp that left me in uncontrollable laughter!

Each person had 30 seconds to introduce themselves and say what they like or the type of gift they were looking for. Yes, I did mention this was a group of friends, however we always have people who don’t know each other that well. Then the game started and surprisingly, it was just as cut throat this year as it has been in year’s prior. Actually, even more so this year because I dropped the no stealing from your spouse rule since it wasn’t going to their household.

At the end of the game, I went through the random numbers in the same order as they were originally drawn, and each person gifted their item to the appropriate person. The best part was how perfect some of these gifts ended up being even though it was unknown. One couple got a complete matching set of serving dishes from two different people. It was awesome.

At the end, I explained how so many times, we go through the motions and we really don’t pay i to each other until we are forced to do so. I challenged each person to pay more attention to those around them, whether friends or people they just come in contact with in life. We should always look for ways to give to others in ways that make a difference to them. In the end, we all win.

As we embark on this new year of 2018, I challenge you to do the same. Use this year to pay attention to those surrounding you. Pay attention to their needs and wants and see where you can make a difference. It will change your life.