gifts

Regifting

Backstory

At one of our girls’ lunches, someone sheepishly admitted to regifting. That opened an avalanche of confessions from those who did indeed pass along to others something that had been gifted to them. Some justified their transgressions. A few told stories of getting caught in the act.

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Regifting – #122

Have you ever dabbled in regifting? You know – passing along a gift that someone has given to you. Oh, admit it. You receive a gift that’s just not something you would use or enjoy. Or that color just does not do you justice. But you know, for sure, that someone else would just love it. So you pass it along.

Now the trick is to regift with panache. There are some rules to follow, if you want to be a real success at regifting. These were passed along to me by some of the world’s greatest regifters. So here are the key tips to Christmas regifting:

Make sure the gift card TO YOU has been removed before you wrap the regift. It’s not a good idea to leave that in there.
Make sure the gift has not rusted while it sat there in the garage, particularly if it has been there for five years or more. That’s definitely not cool.
Make sure you are not passing the gift along to the person who gave it to you in the first place. Keep a list.
Okay, so regifting can be tricky. But when you’re planning to give fruitcake, know that the recipient will always think it us a regift.

So take heed and be sure to have fun this Christmas. We sure are.

P.S.

Is regifting tacky? Etiquette experts suggest that it is acceptable, as long as the item is nice, is in new, unused condition and is something you would have bought for the person if you were paying for it.

Our family plays a game on Christmas for which every prize is a flagrantly admitted white elephant or regift. It’s brought lots of laughter to our holiday and some pretty neat stuff.

[Show #122]

Gifts to Strangers

Most of us look forward to being with family and friends on Christmas Day. You’ll hear folks talking for weeks ahead of time about how they will spend the day.

But there are those whose Christmas day will be a repeat of a normal work day. They have pulled the holiday shift and they’ll be away from loved ones on that special day.

If you interact with someone on the job on Christmas Eve or Christmas day, you can help make their holiday a little brighter. Share holiday cheer with them – no matter what the circumstance.

My mom used to wrap up a dozen or so gifts of a few homemade cookies and take them with her, if she was traveling on a holiday. She’d pass them on to the toll taker on the highway or the counter clerk at the airport or the taxi driver.

Even if you don’t do presents, you can give the gift of your patience and your smile; especially if you’re in a situation that has others upset – like delays at the airport or cold weather traffic conditions. It’s so easy to become dour when our holiday plans go awry. You want to blame someone or take it out on somebody.

When that moods starts to devour you, remember that you have a choice. It’s not the circumstance that decides your mood; you decide. You can choose to be angry and battered or you can be happy throughout the incident, whatever it is.

So as the holidays rush upon us, don’t give in to becoming the Grinch who stole Christmas. Help bring peace on earth to your little corner of the world, no matter what. Merry Christmas.

[Show #512]

Gifts from the Heart

It was the early 1800s and a young couple newly married had lots of love, but very little money. As they face their first Christmas together, he strokes her beautiful, waist length auburn hair and wonders how he can possibly afford a Christmas gift for her that is worthy of all the happiness she has brought him.

As she watches him dress for work, opening his pocket watch to check the time, she is filled with love and wants desperately to show it by getting him a gift for Christmas that he will treasure.

On Christmas eve, he arrives home and she is still hurrying about preparing a special dinner, a scarf covering her head and an apron protecting her dress.

He pulls her to the couch and hands her the gift he chose for her – a beautiful sterling silver hair ornament that he envisioned holding her lovely hair high on her head. She presents her gift to him – a gold watch fob for the pocket watch that he treasures so.

He sheepishly admits he no longer has the watch. He sold it to buy her hair clip. She slowly removes the scarf from her head, revealing short cropped hair. She cut and sold her flowing locks to buy the watch fob.

The physical gifts were now useless to each of them. But the love with which they were acquired will see them through, whatever lies ahead.

May your Christmas be merry and full of love.

[Show #466]

Books for Christmas

I’ve been thinking about Christmas gifts. Books used to be a favorite gift of mine. The placement of ideas into the mind of another is an awesome gift.

And books become more beautiful with time. The treasured, hundred-year- old family bible, now worn and threadbare, could not be more beautiful. The children’s story book with its finger prints and jelly smears, with stories read so many times that a parent has them memorized; far more beautiful than the leather-bound, gold in-scripted book sitting on a shelf that looks like it has never been opened.

Of course we see the transmittal of words moving to other media now. My Christmas gift list this year might include a Kindle or other electronic reading device. I might bring up a book on my iphone or read it on line. But somehow it’s still captivating to curl up with a good book.

Yes, I think books will remain on my Christmas gift list. That and CDs of books for listening in the car or CDs of, say, this radio show. (Blatant hint.)

Consider This IS now on CD and ready for Christmas gift giving. But only if you too are into sharing wisdom, ideas, humor and mirth.

[Show #391]

Christmas After Katrina And Sandy

After the tragedy of Katrina, we sent a gift to friends who lost everything and wound up living in a 16-foot FEMA trailer. Among the gifts was a garland of tiny wooden Santas for them to hang around the trailer door. There was no room for any other festive stuff.

Turns out the garland was an exact replica of one they had…one that got washed away with the flood waters. It became a tiny reminder that Christmas stuff may get washed away, but happy Christmas memories are with us forever.

Then came Super Storm Sandy, again washing away homes and memories and leaving locals at the mercy of strangers’ generosity for the holidays. Again, Americans from all over the country opened their hearts and their pocket books to help.

Those friends wiped out by Katrina? They finally left the trailer – after getting to know each other REALLY well in those tight quarters. They rebuilt their lives and are doing OK. They are together, they’re happy and they wrote that they hung the Santa garland again this year to remind each other that things could be worse and they do get better.

The folks devastated by Sandy will do the same thing. Life will go on, and before they know it, Christmas will be here, yet again.

Maybe this time, they’ll have the chance to help someone else in need.

It’s what we Americans do.

Show #464

Gifts From The Heart

As she watches him dress for work, opening his pocket watch to check the time, she is filled with love and wants desperately to show it by getting him a gift for Christmas that he will treasure.

On Christmas eve, he arrives home and she is still hurrying about preparing a special dinner, a scarf covering her head and an apron protecting her dress.

The physical gifts were now useless to each of them. But the love with which they were acquired will see them through, whatever lies ahead.

May your Christmas be merry and full of love.

[Based on the short story by O. Henry called “The Gift of the Magi.”]

Photo credit: Dusty Cline via Dollar Photo Club

[Show #466]