The dreaded gift swap

Old 11-15-2012, 03:31 AM
  #21  
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I enjoy the holidays. I think one reason that i dislike Ths game is that it takes up over an hour to play and once it is over...people start to bolt for the door. My DH being one of those people. I just feel like that soe god family time is taken up. Thanks for the great input.

I really like the idea of collecting money for a charity vs wasting $$ on this game.
Sandy
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Old 11-15-2012, 04:31 AM
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Our family used to do the exchange ... and it got into so many rules that it spoiled it!

My "adopted" family has done it for years and it was always a hoot. Gifts varied and always created lots of excitement during the time it took. Yes, sometimes one ended up with something they didn't really want. But for the better part they were all reasonably good things.

When it started to get boring ... or annoying re some of the gifts ... so then a theme was created for all the gifts. One year it was "liquid" ... perhaps a water hose, drinking glasses, bubble bath. I used a "maple syrup theme" with the liquid giving maple syrup, with homemade maple salad dressing and maple BBQ sauce. Another year, the theme was "blue". The host/hostess determined the theme and we knew in the summer what it would be.

Last year they switched it up ... still a price limit, the exchange, numbers drawn etc. but your gift had to be "something I made". What a range!! What surprises of talents that many of us didn't know about the other person. It sure created a lot of discussion for the rest of the day (and year!!). And WOW what a LOT of sought after gifts in the stealing part.

Needless to say, this was a hit ... and it was unanimously decided to do it again.

Yes, no surprise, I did something quilty. And haven't decided yet what this year's offering will be!
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Old 11-15-2012, 05:44 AM
  #23  
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My family has done this a few times and we keep the price low and make it simple. It about the laughs and fun....not the "haul". Each has fun his own way....
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Old 11-15-2012, 06:09 AM
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Originally Posted by tncorrente View Post
My family has done this a few times and we keep the price low and make it simple. It about the laughs and fun....not the "haul". Each has fun his own way....
I agree! I love the game because of the laughs it brings. It feels so good to laugh with family and friends!
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Old 11-15-2012, 06:30 AM
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Although our family isn't very big several years ago DIL#1 suggested at Thanksgiving we pull names out of a hat and instead of buying gifts for all family members we just buy one gift for the name we pull. DH was all for it as he usually only buys one gift, mine. When I told him one Christmas gift was all he would get from all of his family he quickly changed his mind. He likes to put his Santa hat on and pass out gifts for all of the family. I would have given individual gifts to all our sons, their wives and our grandkids anyway so it didn't make any difference to me. DIL#2 wasn't for it as she's stopped giving gifts to all of the family, her DH, our son, buys our gift. She has all holidays with her family so pulling names at Thanksgiving would be a problem and then when and where would we exchange Christmas gifts as we are rarely all together at anytime during Christmas. Sort of takes the whole good feeling out of sharing at Christmas.

Last edited by May in Jersey; 11-15-2012 at 06:43 AM.
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Old 11-15-2012, 07:15 AM
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My family plays Bingo at our Christmas gathering. We bring gag gifts and one nice gift, all wrapped. Bingo winners pick a gift. We do the rob neighbor thing too. Sometimes it is a voluntary swap. Lots of fun.
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Old 11-15-2012, 02:57 PM
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Our family is very small and we have a rule that we give gifts to the children who have not yet graduated high school...once graduated they are considered an adult. LOL However, now that we all have grands, it is getting tedious. We have also done the Dirty Santa where we picked an anonymous wrapped gift and then each take a turn either taking "away" an opened gift or choosing an unopened gift. One a gift has been "taken' 3 times it is frozen!

There are only 4 siblings and since our parents passed, 2 of the sisters would buy my brother and I small gifts even though we had agreed beforehand to only do the Dirty Santa. It always made my brother and I feel badly even though the gifts were very inexpensive. So, of course, it developed that each sibling started buying for each other and then the $ of the gift went up. Since half of the "children" did not want to participate in the Dirty Santa, it ends up being us four with just a couple of the children involved. Last year we weren't all able to get together but the siblings still bought gifts for each other and the grands.

This year with the economy, it's going to be very hard. There is no such thing as a $5.00 toy anymore except junk that breaks before they get home with it. Urggggg. Since we have several pre-teens and teens, they want gift cards so it's really not any fun to "shop" for them. I think we will agree this year to just buy for our immediate family. Although my brother is single and has no children so we always feel he gets "left out" of the gift giving.

Oh well, we will all get thru Christmas this year, too!! Hopefully....
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Old 11-15-2012, 05:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Nanamoms View Post
Our family is very small and we have a rule that we give gifts to the children who have not yet graduated high school...once graduated they are considered an adult. LOL However, now that we all have grands, it is getting tedious. We have also done the Dirty Santa where we picked an anonymous wrapped gift and then each take a turn either taking "away" an opened gift or choosing an unopened gift. One a gift has been "taken' 3 times it is frozen!

There are only 4 siblings and since our parents passed, 2 of the sisters would buy my brother and I small gifts even though we had agreed beforehand to only do the Dirty Santa. It always made my brother and I feel badly even though the gifts were very inexpensive. So, of course, it developed that each sibling started buying for each other and then the $ of the gift went up. Since half of the "children" did not want to participate in the Dirty Santa, it ends up being us four with just a couple of the children involved. Last year we weren't all able to get together but the siblings still bought gifts for each other and the grands.

This year with the economy, it's going to be very hard. There is no such thing as a $5.00 toy anymore except junk that breaks before they get home with it. Urggggg. Since we have several pre-teens and teens, they want gift cards so it's really not any fun to "shop" for them. I think we will agree this year to just buy for our immediate family. Although my brother is single and has no children so we always feel he gets "left out" of the gift giving.

Oh well, we will all get thru Christmas this year, too!! Hopefully....
Originally Posted by Sandygirl View Post
My DH family Christmas get together is large. 40 people plus. Thankfully we do an adult gift exchange. One male gift and one female gift. We play that gift swap game...rob your neighbor. I, frankly, hate bothering with this. I prefer to hang out and visit with everyone vs wasting time on this. It is voluntary to participate but i really don't care if we pay this game. Am i a scrooge?? It is not a budget concern....i am bored with it.

Sandy
No, you're not a Scrooge. I think those games are a waste of time and money. And I don't like making words out of the names of people who are getting married, or trying to remember the baby items on a tray, but that's just me!
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Old 11-15-2012, 09:29 PM
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Some of my children are fans of this game, but I am not. Last year I wanted to get out my many boxes of photographs and have the children start taking home the ones that pertain to them. This would turn into a day of "Remember when?", I'm sure. I lost, but this year I won't. It's my house and we'll do it my way. If the bossy one wants to play the game, she can host the dinner. I will have the scanner and lots of ink ready because I think there will requests for duplicates.
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Old 11-15-2012, 09:47 PM
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Originally Posted by irishrose View Post
Some of my children are fans of this game, but I am not. Last year I wanted to get out my many boxes of photographs and have the children start taking home the ones that pertain to them. This would turn into a day of "Remember when?", I'm sure. I lost, but this year I won't. It's my house and we'll do it my way. If the bossy one wants to play the game, she can host the dinner. I will have the scanner and lots of ink ready because I think there will requests for duplicates.

What a wonderful idea!! We still have not divided our parents' photos which are stored in boxes at my "single" brother's home which was my parents' home. I think I will suggest this to my siblings. We have several of the "adult" children who are "sentimental" and would love to see all the photos!

I also have my family photos divided into each person's name with wife, children. I am going to tell my DS/DDILs that it's their time to be the caretaker of the photos so I can use the space for more sewing goodies!!! HeHe
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