'Tis Better to Give than Receive

This one is a bit of a belated Christmas post.

One of my least-favourite bits of the run-up to Christmas is dealing with presents. And I do mean specifically the run-up to Christmas - that bit of the day itself is all good, I quite enjoy the giving of presents, and certainly don't mind the receiving (and even moreso the reception by Funsize and Surprise!). But in the run-up to Christmas, dealing with the presents is rather a hassle - there is the list of people who you're obliged to buy presents for, most of whom have so much stuff that you basically have to ask them what they want and then get that (so why bother?). Then there are the people who want to buy you a present, but again you have so much stuff that they ask what you want and you have to rack your brain for a suitable item in a suitable price range (which you could have bought for yourself, so why bother?)

So that's that.

But last year for the first time, I went "off book". In addition to the various obligations I bought two other 'surprise' presents - presents for people who weren't on the list, and who therefore weren't expecting to receive anything.

And that worked really well - the surprise of getting a gift, the surprise of what it was. All in all, it was a no lose proposition. Those two were the presents with which I was most happy last year, either the ones I gave or that I received. I call that a win.

Ultimately, what I'm saying is that it really is true: it's better to give than to receive. I recommend trying it.