Friday, December 3, 2010

166/365 Secret Santa

(I'm going back to fill in, but only every other day--it'll take me longer than a year but it will still work out).

We do secret santas on the block. Moms stand out on the sidewalk and sit on Gretchen's steps. I write a list of all the participating kids (a few families don't, and babies don't):

Fiona
Daisy
Bree
Noah
Eliza
Sebastian
Auggie
Kendall
Iris
Naomi
Anton
Micah
Lark
Reggie
Mitch
Bonnie Dee
Rickie

And then Valerie picks out one name at a time. Except for a few requests from moms: Zelda really wanted Bree to have a girl this year (she'd had several years of boys); and nobody can give to siblings, it is randomized. I make the list, and send it out via email. We let each other know about preferences (Anton likes white chocolate, Mitch only likes Nestle Crunch), and we try to limit it to $1 a week for three weeks. At the end, a $5 gift exchange.

It makes my kids' December. Totally. More than Advent calendars and wreaths or holiday baking or carols or specials on TV. Secret Santas are the best.

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