Does your family practice a specific gift giving tradition?

BoomerYearbook.com, December, 2008 - Grab bag? Secret Santa? Dirty Santa? Any one of these are great ways to give gifts during the holidays, especially if you have a large family. For those of you who may have never heard of these traditions, let me explain each of them.
Grab bag: This is pretty simple. A name is put on a small piece of paper, and put into a hat or bowl. Each person in the family picks a name and that is the person they buy a gift for. With a grab bag, there is usually a price limit set so that it makes it more fair. The best time to do the name distributing is perhaps at Thanksgiving when the same members are most likely to be together that will be together for Christmas, plus it gives a month for them to buy the gift. It is ok to know who picked your name, then you can give that person some gift ideas you may like.

Secret Santa: Pretty much the same as a grab bag, except that who is buying your gift, is kept a secret. This is fun, because after getting the gift, you might be very surprised how well the person does or does not know you, based on the gift they bought.

Dirty Santa: This has to be my favorite of all time. Everyone brings a wrapped gift (again this usually has a maximum price limit set) . The gifts are placed on a table, and each person takes a number from a hat or bowl. The person that has number one picks a gift from the table, however when the person with number 2 picks a gift, they can take from the table, or “steal” the gift from #1. Then the first person has to take another from the pile of gifts. You continue to do this to the last person and the last gift is taken. Its fun, to see what gift you would have had, if someone wasn’t “dirty” and taken the gift from you.

What traditions do you have when it’s time to give gifts? What is your favorite? Why not share them over at Boomer Yearbook, and hey who knows, maybe someone will find a new and exciting tradition to try with their family and friends.

www.boomeryearbook.com is a social networking site connecting the Baby Boomer generation. Share your thoughts, rediscover old friends, or expand your mind with brain games provided by clinical psychologist Dr. Karen Turner. Join today to discover the many ways we are helping Boomers connect for fun and profit.