A rant about stealing Santa

If you’re not aware, ‘Stealing Santa’ is a version of kris kringle gifting, where you buy a present (it could be for a particular person or not), and then people have the option of stealing / swapping another person’s present for their own. I was first introduced to the concept by The Office (US version), where a thoughtfully gifted teapot almost doesn’t end up in the right hands and everyone else fights over an iPod.

I thought this concept of gifting was cruel and sacrilegious and went against everything that giving presents stands for in the first place. I believe that presents should be thoughtfully chosen and given with the recipient in mind. You can’t just swap it for another person’s gift, as all of the thought and effort would be wasted.

So when this concept was raised as an option for my family Christmas last year, it sent shockwaves through the family. Some people thought it would be great fun, and others thought it would be confusing and inappropriate. You have to consider that the age range for this Christmas event is 5-85 years old, and so finding a gift that would be appropriate for everyone in that age bracket would be pretty difficult (if not impossible).

In the end, there was enough push back that Stealing Santa was rejected in favour of the usual gifting process, to the dismay of the ‘disruptors’ in the family. I think there’s potential for the gift giving process to be shaken up in the future, but I don’t think Stealing Santa is the answer.

How do you give gifts in your family? Have you tried Stealing Santa?