... to let all you chancers know that there's no MN Secret Santa this year

[BIWI]

Mumsnet is a very different place now, compared to a few years ago, when the lovely Soapy set up the first secret Santa.

It's become a much bigger site, which obviously benefits MNHQ, but it's made a secret Santa untenable.

There have been a lot of rumblings over the last few years from people about whether we want it or not. But ultimately it's become just too big and unmanageable a job for anyone to handle.

So all you chancers who wait until this time each year to post your sob stories no longer need to bother.

MrsHP you are big trouble!

I do rather love this thread I have to say

took some guts to say it but spot on

I have done SS in the past but you are not wrong and sadly it had it's day

Yes soz Pax, were you after his little grey cells yourself?

I was, but I believed him to be, ahem, a "confirmed bachelor" as we used to say in the 1940s.

I was a recipient of secret Santa a couple of years ago after an horrendous year. It was a Massive boost. First that someone had nominated me, second that someone else bought gifts for me and my dcs. I explained to them where their presents came from and it was a fantastic example of human kindness. I still use my present every Christmas with a smile.

I can understand that it's hard to manage, and yes there have been some suspect posts recently. But for me, and I'm sure others it was just brilliant. And i am a bit sad that future mums won't have the experience that I did.

Ah ha! Zombie has worked it out.

MrsHerculePoirot is Miss Lemon!

In the words of my late, great hubby:

"Pax my friend you are barking up the wrong bush...."

Zombie! Shhhh...... don't tell anyone....

Miss Lemon is indeed Poirot's kind of hot. A wonderful disguise, who'd have spotted the wife in her!

Should have known form the loving "Mees Lemong". And he got her a clock.

He gave her a cock???

Oh, no. Zombie sees. He got her a clock.

Zombie!!!

Much better than the lovely, but outspoken and unruly Ariadne as a match...

Zombie!!!!! Whatever would MrHP say?!?

So the Countess Rossakof was just a decoy?

We've derailed BIWI's thread. Sorry BIWI.

I wonder if MN could do a Reddit like gift exchange, Reddit has systems to spot fraud etc, and also systems in place where you rate the gifts for the administrators and comment on it if need be so that if you get given a vaping kit for example and you've expressed your morally opposed to it, in public they urge you to be thankful but you can rate it and comment in private and if a poster gets too low score they get banned.

I think MN could do that but also have a system where you enter details if you're up for normal secret Santa or if you're being nominated/ sending a gift to those nominated and MN could do a few checks to see if they're just in it for gifts

Probably very difficult to administer though Louisville and I suspect the workload and aggravation the SS caused was part of the problem.

Off topic but are you actually in or from Louisville?

You're probably right Piscivorus they have over 30 exchanges through the year, pretty sure designated staff just for it, as the secret santa has 1-200k a year participants from 100+ countries, but they make money through the redditgift store, and their elves membership system which probably makes it somewhat financially viable.

Unfortunately I'm not from, nor have I been there although when I lived in America I wanted to! I like to have alliteration names fancied being a Llama and Louisville was on TV I feel like such a fraud!

I have been there and it is gorgeous. I was gearing up to be incandescently envious if you lived there