‘Would they like this?’
That’s the question that pops into my head when I hold anything in a store during November. Gift-giving for Christmas is around the corner, and I am not prepared.
I never am. I forget about the fact that people are getting me gifts – which, of course, means I must give them gifts, or I will be considered ‘rude’.
I hate gift-giving. Not because I secretly hate all my friends, and family (can’t forget them). But because I can never figure out what to get any of them.
A new problem I have since going to college last year and starting university this year is that I have too many people to get gifts for now. I never thought I would ever complain about having too many people to give gifts to.
Deciding who I should get gifts for and who I shouldn’t get gifts for is like a unique form of torture for me. A combination of not knowing what to get people and then finally finding something to buy them – only to realise that the gift is not in my budget.
I still need to cover rent, groceries, subscriptions, other funds, etc. Buying gifts for Christmas is at the bottom of my list for funding, if I didn’t have savings – I just wouldn’t be buying anyone gifts this year.
It’s an added stress to my already full schedule of working on assignments and studying. I don’t have enough time to go to the stores to find a gift or scroll for hours trying to find the perfect one online – when I could be using that time to work on my assignments.
Gift-giving solutions?
What if we just did Secret Santa?
Not to exaggerate but getting that message from one of my friends in college was my lifeline when I started thinking about gift-giving. I went from having to figure out gift-giving for 20 people to only having to get gifts for maybe 7 people. It also allows me to get bigger gifts since I’m only giving a few people gifts instead of getting small gifts for a large group of people.
They would’ve all got chocolate if that was the case.
It’s a classic, but easy way to solve problems with gift-giving. Secret Santa takes away the anxiety of trying to figure out who to get gifts for and what to get them – and it’s fun. Everyone loves Secret Santa (in my experience, at least!)
Featured Image Credit: Pexels.com
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2nd year - History and Journalism student
