Taking One for theTeam

So how many parties are you/have you gone to so far this season? And at how many of these parties did you do a White Elephant Gift Exchange? I think it's a required game at all Independent Baptist Church Christmas parties.

In case you're unfamiliar with the game, everyone brings a gift to the party. Mostly new gifts, but sometimes used. The crazier the gift the better, usually. Everyone draws a number and when it's your turn, you can choose a gift from under the tree, or "steal" a gift from someone who went before you. Needless to say, the game can get quite boring if no one steals.

One year we had a party at our house and we did the gift exchange. NO ONE was stealing, so it was a very polite, boring game. As the hostess, I felt like it was my duty to stir things up and make them more interesting. So when my turn came, I stole a gift from someone else. I stole a Christmas cookie jar, filled with homemade Christmas cookies. It was the perfect move to inspire everyone. Except that, unfortunately, I was the only one to steal a present. Ah well. I felt like I was acting in everyone's best interest. It was a my duty as the hostess to liven things up.

Apparently my husband didn't see it that way.

Fast forward a year. We were preparing for a Christmas party at our house again. A White Elephant Gift Exchange was on the schedule again. The night of the party my husband reminded me in advance not to take the nicest gift at the party that night. Like it was my fault no one else would play the game like they were supposed to. Or like it's my fault I ended up with the best present of the night. My husband can't remember something I've told him two minutes after I said it, but for an entire year he remembered that I took the cookie jar. There's something so wrong about that.

In the interest of being the obedient wife, I agreed not to take the nicest present that year. But just before the party started, I took out my Christmas cookie jar and made sure it was shined up and displayed prominently in my kitchen. Sometimes the wordless gesture says it all.

Ho Ho Ho!