I overextended myself at work. First of all, back before Thanksgiving an email came out asking the staff if we wanted to participate in Secret Santa, which would involve drawing names and then leaving small ($5 and under) gifts and treats for the person Monday through Thursday of the week before winter break. Then on Friday, you'd do one last (slightly bigger) gift. I thought, "That might be fun." So I signed up.
Then a week or so later the guidance counselor sent out an email asking for volunteers to adopt a student whose family was struggling and provide some gifts. Well, I like to be charitable at Christmas, so I told her to sign me up. I didn't realize I would have a child all to myself to provide gifts for.
THEN, the principal sent out an email just to the office and administrative staff, asking if we wanted to draw names for a gift exchange. Everyone else said yes, so I didn't want to be the odd one out.
So of course I signed up for that too.
To summarize, I volunteered myself to be responsible for:
- Buying five gifts for my "Secret Santa" person, four totaling $20 and then the fifth being "bigger". (It's a third grade teacher that I've barely ever spoken to).
- Buying all the gifts a child is likely to get this Christmas. For privacy reasons, all I know about said child is that it's a boy in the second grade who likes "action figures and WWE wrestling". Oh, and his shoe and clothing sizes. *
- Buying a gift for our school librarian, a nice enough lady that I know nothing about. I heard that the minimum to spend is $15 and that there's no maximum. Jesus!
All this, and I haven't done one single thing for my family or friends yet.
*I actually don't mind spending money on the child, it was just very difficult for me to shop for him. I know nothing about buying kids' toys and clothing, especially with the scant information I had. And I wish I'd spent all the money on him, and not on bullshit trinkets for coworkers. Sigh.
46 comments:
I stopped participating in “ secret Santa” at work a few years before I retired. Like you, I do not love shopping and I am a terrible gift buyer. I am lacking the gene. It is still pretty much left up to me to buy for everyone in the family ( poor kids and hubby!). It is a nice thing to do, buying for a student but difficult if you don’t really know them all that well. But I’m sure just having some things to open and not feeling left out will be special for him! - Jenn
I recall overextending myself at Christmas so I sympathize, and you sure did good doing all your shopping in one trip. I think everyone will feel festive and enjoy their gifts, especially the little boy.
I haven't done anything in years. I'd have probably did the adopt a child since that's beneficial.
In "A Christmas Carol", Scrooge said "Bah humbug!" about Christmas. Maybe you should have said that yourself. I had no idea that Tiny Tim was into action figures and WWE wrestling. Dickens was ahead of his time.
We had a gift exchange at my workplace -- one gift, maximum $10, with a "no mugs" rule, "no regifting" rule, and an understanding that the gifts would pretty much always be stupid crap. The gifts would be exchanged at the office party, with the ability to steal other's gifts. It would turn out that one (usually stupid) gift would be "the" hot gift that year and everyone would want to steal it. It was a lot of goofy fun for 10 bucks.
I hate shopping too! I'm not a good gift giver at all. For a few years in the past we adopted a Salvation Army family--food and gifts for the holiday. It was a TON of work and expense.
Yeah. Gifts for children who may not have any other Christmas presents is one thing. All the rest? No thank you.
At least you're done with it for this year.
Work secret Santas are a big scam anyway but five days worth of it PLUS a separate gift exchange is really bogus. I got used to saying no thanks to all that nonsense years ago. Bless you for struggling through with the child's presents.
Too bad you didn't know about all of these gift exchanges at the same time. Then you could have just picked the child and bought the things for him; Christmas is, after all, for the kids, and the adults should be buying for them, not one another.
PS I hate shopping, too!
You're a kind heart Jennifer. I know how you feel. I give and donate to several charities and animals sanctuaries year-round. But come Christmas every one and their mother comes out of the woodwork to ask for money. I have to really pick and choose who to give some extra too, otherwise I could go broke giving money every month.
I'd choose the 'child in need' and forget the avalanche of other crap. There should be rules set up that gift giving should be for needy kids only. I only give to the Humane Society where I volunteer. My choice. It's not that I don't care about others, but there's only so much $$$ for a retired person on a fixed income. Make this a learning curve and maybe next year make some different choices now you know how it goes down there. Happy Holidays.
Paranormal John
I really think this office-style 'Secret Santa' is getting out of hand. We should all only buy gifts for those we love. Secret Santa is just an extension of commercialism.
That Secret Santa is a bit much! Five gifts?! Who comes up with such an idea?
The "Rubbish Secret Santa" my girlfriends and I play is much more fun - we wrap stuff we have never wanted or don't want/need anymore, and you never know what you may get in adavance. Nothing is bought extra for it, and our rules are simple: Not broken, not dirty, not been gifted through our Rubbish Secret Santa before. And believe it or not, occasionally someone gets something they really like :-D
Those are a lot of activities and, for someone who hates to shop, not much fun. I've never heard of a Secret Santa with so many gifts and at such expense. Wow. Lots of kind people at your school, including you. Good luck with your own personal shopping!
Jennifer, I feel your pain as I hate shopping myself. In all of the schools I worked at, I never did the Secret Santa thing as it always would get out of hand. The few times that I did it, I found that I was buying crap for someone I didn't even know. The holidays sure can be stressful when it comes to stuff like this. Also, sorry about you having trouble commenting on my wordpress blog. I am not sure what's up with that. I will try and google it today and see if I can find out anything. I always appreciate your comments!
Oh dear - makes me feel tired just reading about your plight - I love the idea of buying for the deprived child but it is so difficult when you have no idea what he likes.
Glad you are done with it.
I would look at resale shops for bargains if you decide to do it next year.
Well, it's good of you to sign up. Your heart's in the right place! I bought gifts for a needy child a couple of years in a row, but I always steer clear of "Secret Santa" activities.
The Secret Santa sounds like too much time and too much money. Hopefully, it will be fun, though, and you'll be getting those gifts, too. Sponsoring a child at Christmas is lovely.
Yes, I'll be getting gifts in return, but I don't really care much about that. I sincerely hope that shopping for my gifts doesn't stress anyone out. I wish I could have spent more on the little boy. In fact, I told the guidance counselor today that I was thinking about adding some additional gifts but she assured me that I'd done enough.
I definitely won't be doing the Secret Santa again next year. Four small gifts and one larger gift is just too much! I don't mind buying gifts for children.
I won't be doing the Secret Santa thing next year. The office gift exchange, maybe. Sponsoring a child? Definitely. But Secret Santa is just too much.
I ended up buying the boy two pairs of pants, a warm hooded sweatshirt, a long sleeved shirt, and two toys. I'd like to do more, but I have to reign in the spending at this point.
I had to change a password, but hopefully I'll be able to comment now. Are you buying Shirley some treats for Christmas? :)
At least my personal shopping is pretty limited at the best of times. Gregg and I try not to do too much for each other at Christmas because we have everything we need, and if we want something, we just buy it for ourselves. I'll do something small for my mom and dad, buy a gift (or a gift card) for Little P., get Carsen some new books, and bake cookies to give out to friends and neighbors. That's enough.
Now that sounds like fun! This is my first year at this school, so I'm learning what to expect (and avoid) next year.
Agreed, Cro. I can't stand the "spend spend spend" mentality at the holidays. Better to buy a few small (preferably consumable) gifts for loved ones and maybe books and small toys for children, and other than that if there's money left in the budget to donate to worthy charities. Most of us don't need more "stuff".
Happy Holidays to you, too! Thank you for stopping by!
It really gets out of hand fast, doesn't it? Happy holidays to you, dear Maddie.
I'll know better next year!
I got him some clothes (probably much needed) and a couple of toys. I wish I could have done more.
Yes, thank goodness it's done. I thought of you yesterday while I struggled in Target. Shopping at this time of year really stresses me out and I start to disassociate right away and just want to get the hell OUT of the store. No fun.
At least you can feel good about shopping for charity and adopting a family. Most of this work gift giving is total BS.
Thank you for stopping by!
I've done those kind of gift exchanges and they're inexpensive and FUN.
I hope Tiny Tim likes the stuff I picked out for him.
Exactly. Giving to children in need (and making them happy) at Christmas is something I'd never begrudge.
I sure hope he likes the toys I bought him. I recall not caring for getting clothes for Christmas as a child, but I felt like he probably needed those more than toys so I spent more on that part.
I sure hope so! I wish I knew who he was, but I respect the fact that they're keeping the names a secret to protect their privacy.
Of course I am! She's spoiled already!
I saw some big plush dog beds on sale at Home Depot, and I texted my husband to ask if I should buy one for George. He responded: "Sure, but you'd better get Poppy one too. You know how jealous she gets!" LOL...Poppy sleeps every night of her life curled up tight against me. Like she's going to sleep on the floor! Of course, she would be jealous regardless if George got something that she didn't!
I work in a thrift store, and lots of donations of never-used scented candles, mugs still in their decorative boxes, and the like were probably from this sort of obligatory gift giving.
But growing kids need clothes—good on ya ❤️ for that!
What did you get the librarian?
A warm hat and matching gloves, along with a small package of Burt's Bees Honey lip balm and hand salve. She often has early morning car line duty and it's cold out there right now!
That’s thoughtful and useful!
You and me both, I hate shopping as well. Especially stress shopping when I have to get the perfect gift and have no idea what to get. Sounds like you got it done though!
I am just getting around to your entry and things given all the Christmas rush.
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