My friend Sharon knitted this beautiful scarf and hat for me. Sharon has written many of the comments on this blog and she sometimes posts them anonymously, which I think is really funny because it’s always obvious when she writes. She said this is a Hanukah present – I think because she didn’t want to make me feel obligated to match it, which one would naturally try to do if it were a Christmas present.
I absolutely love to give and receive presents, but the Christmastime pressure can take the fun out of it because everyone is expecting to get gifts. That immediately makes it stressful. It’s so much easier to delight someone with a gift when it comes as a complete surprise. Then there’s no awkwardness about reciprocation. If someone gives me a present out of the blue I can just enjoy it, knowing they weren’t expecting anything. I can take all the time I want deciding what to give them some other time.
My family started holding an auction last year to resolve the gift problem. Everyone brings several wrapped presents. There are no rules about what these presents are, how much they cost, how many there are, or whether they are new. Each family member gets $10,000 of play money for bidding. It makes everyone feel better when the present they brought goes for thousands of dollars when it might have only cost $7 at Walgreens. The auctioneer opens one present and starts the bidding. They can bid too. Whoever wins the item draws a card that gives them an additional instruction, like, collect an extra $500, or give this gift to the second highest bidder. That person is the auctioneer for the next round.
The auction is great because no one ends up with gifts they don’t want. And it’s much more fun to shop for presents generally rather than with specific people in mind. If someone brings a gift that no one bids on they are fined. There was much debate about how much the fine would be, and I can’t remember what it was. It had to be an amount that’s higher than the opening bid, or else you would just bid on the bad present yourself to avoid a fine. Obviously, this whole rule is designed to discourage people from bringing terrible gifts, which isn’t generally a problem in my family (unless I’m the one who keeps bringing them and I still haven’t figured it out).
2 comments:
Hi! I love the auction idea! Every year my family tries to figure out something fun and different to do, but none of our ideas ever end up working out very well. I just have one question for you... is the present unwrapped before the bidding begins? Thanks!
Yes, one present is unwrapped and auctioned off each round. If people didn't know what they were bidding on, they might still go home with a bunch of stuff they don't want. It's also really important that the gifts are wrapped before they come up for auction so that no one knows what's left. You have to be strategic about hoarding your money for the possibly great gifts on the bottom of the pile - or bidding high early on one thing you love.
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