Gifts that Keep on Giving

The holiday season is upon us.  More than that, my Birthday season is upon us as well.  In two short months, I get bombarded with unwanted gifts that have no meaning, do not fit in the decor of my house, or do not appeal to me.

To make that point, let me disclose to you what I encountered in a prematurely opened Birthday gift lovingly given to me by a coworker:  A set of Thanksgiving kitchen towels likely bought from last year's clearance bin.  A dollar store frame outlined with the words "meow".  And a cat pin that says, "cats are angels without wings."  OK, not a horrible gift to open had I not opened that exact gift one year prior.  I have received the exact same contents from the exact same person last year for my Birthday. 

Hidden in the depths of my closet sits a bin full of such gifts.  A piece of masking tape written with the name of the gift giver sticks to the bottom of each untreasured trinket.  The tape reminds me who gave me the present so that I don't end up regifting that gift back to the original purchaser. 

There have been Christmases where I have accomplished my entire shopping from that bin in my closet.  Since I have made a "no present" pact with most of my friends, my bin is growing sparse.  At least sparse of meaningful regiftable gifts; I'm not quite sure who would appreciate a cat frame.  More than one resides in that special bin.

The act of regifting is a skilled talent not for the disorganized.  I got in trouble twice by my lack of organizational ability when I gave a friend a regifted candle with the name of the giver still attached to the bottom.  Oops.  Another faux pas was made when I regifted a "New Home" Hallmark Ornament to a friend with the previous year's date on it.  Sure, it makes for a fun memory, but really, it just made me amp up my organizational regifting skillz.  Yo.

There are rules for regifting.  The number one rule is that you must never regift to the person who gave you the gift in the first place.  Unless its your Grandma who has dementia.  Then it might be acceptable.

You must also never regift to people in the same circle of friends.  Say Friend A gave you a present that you in turn gave to Friend B.  Friend A and Friend B are also friends.  When Friend A visits Friend B and sees the regifted present, you are busted. 

Do regift within the same year so you don't have my expired gift faux pax experience. 

Most importantly, give the gift to someone who would appreciate it.

My problem this year is that I have an over abundance of cat frames, Thanksgiving kitchen towels, and cat pins.  Nobody else would appreciate them.  Guess I am stuck with them.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind receiving gifts; however, I don't enjoy getting gifts simply for the sake of getting gifts.  If they have meaning, great!  But a person can only have so many cat frames laying around.

The gift of time is much more cherished and valuable.