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Original poster

To think if you want to take part in office secret Santa

150 replies

lastqueenofscotland · 07/12/2016 23:32

You have to get into the spirit of it....

Not gladly accept the well thought out £10 gift from another colleague while handing the person you got (who you happen not to like) a bottle of that £1 Alberto balsam shampoo and a normal sized galaxy bar.

We are all on fairly senior roles in the city so money is NOT an issue.

She'd spend more than the budget on lunch a day

I'm not even the reciever of the gift, but I organised it within the team and am annoyed at the lack of effort when everyone else tried Angry

OP posts:
FitbitAddict · 10/12/2016 14:10

At my school there's a mixture of joke 'naughty' gifts and tat and something you might actually want or be able to use. We do names in a hat but never reveal who you bought for. I've been the recipient of gifts the last two years that never even made it home - some light up clip on things that you put on your fingertips (WTF) and a candy thong. I'm 48 and assistant headteacher.

I try to buy something the recipient will appreciate but another year like the last two and I'm going to resort to buying random shite like the rest of them.

JoeyJoeJoeJuniorShabadu · 10/12/2016 14:31

Only got caught up in secret santa once.
bought mine a lovely set of smellies from the body shop, which she loved.
i got some shit plasticy chocs from someone else in our dept, which i promptly returned to boots and exchanged for something much nicer.

daisypond · 10/12/2016 15:45

I don't understand some of these responses. How is a box of chocolates, whether it's Lindt or Milk Tray, a crap present? I'd be pleased if I got that. Anything to eat or use is fine by me - bath/ shower stuff is fine, too. I wouldn't be too keen on anything that was an ornament, no matter how carefully chosen, because I see things like that as tat.

mangoparfait · 10/12/2016 15:54

I'm not a fan of secret Santa due to getting a 'stress willy' one year (ugh).

In our team this year we've set a £1 limit and are trying to buy the most unusual thing we can for £1. Colleague has bought an inflatable fruit bowl which seems set to win! (I've just gone for a mini manicure set and mirror which I thought might at least be of some use Grin)

HarrietVane99 · 10/12/2016 15:57

Some of the things mentioned here as rubbish gifts I think are just fine - chocolate, shampoo, shower stuff - this is what I would expect from a Secret Santa

In my group, we excluded chocolates because one person is diabetic and couldn't have had them. I'd be quite pleased to get some nice chocs. Nothing wrong with toiletries, but when six out of eight people bring a gift set from Boots or Bodyshop, as happened in my group once, the whole thing becomes a bit pointless.

JoeyJoeJoeJuniorShabadu · 10/12/2016 16:10

well, if you saw the chocs i got that time, you honestly would not put them in your mouth.

AwkwardSquad · 10/12/2016 16:43

I hate Secret Santa but our team has decided to do it this year so I am participating with good grace. I have got something for my recipient that I think she will like and is 'her', so I hope she does like it!

I went off Secret Santa because in previous years, I'd put some effort in and get something shitty in return. A cd of cover versions sung by randoms, obviously from a garage. A mug with a cutesy picture and a lousy pun on it that inspired my then-manager to say 'oh, that's from someone who really knows you!'. Um, no. Really not.

Trills · 10/12/2016 17:04

inspired my then-manager to say 'oh, that's from someone who really knows you!'

If the buyer and your manager both thought that the pun was well-suited to you in some way then
a - the manager bought it
or
b - you are giving off a vibe that says you'd like it

WipsGlitter · 10/12/2016 17:34

I once got a joke present that went straight in the bin!!

But I agree what do you expect for £5.

myfavouritecolourispurple · 10/12/2016 17:41

My 14 year old got a second hand 15-rated DVD as his lucky dip secret santa today. The 15 rating on its own might not have been too much of an issue but the film is not something he wants to watch.

He would have greatly preferred chocolate.

TroysMammy · 10/12/2016 17:43

My first job, aged 18 and first secret Santa I got a black g-string. Although I am small, it was tiny. It was called Troys eye patch and did the rounds at the office for months. Turning up hanging from all manner of things.

AwkwardSquad · 10/12/2016 18:26

Trills - if it was b, I was seriously misjudging my personal presentation! Hmmmm ... thinks back... starts to feel a bit worried.... Xmas Hmm Grin

Trills · 10/12/2016 18:36

:o

I'd want to find out.

Really, this pun is appropriate for me is it, what makes you say that?

woodenmouse · 10/12/2016 18:55

I have a friendship group and all our children are roughly the same age so we decided to do secret Santa for them this year rather than spend a fortune on presents for allof them. All the children (aged 2-3) received lovely thoughtful gifts except ds. The person buying his forgot to buy anything. His heart break at Santa forgetting him will haunt me for years. I had to make up some bullshit excuse as to why Santa hasn't brought him anything and take him to the shops afterward to get him something to cheer him up.

chellem1 · 10/12/2016 19:12

I agree with the comments about managing expectations. However, I couldn't help but be disappointed the year I received a pair of men's walking socks. I don't walk (any more than normal socks would cope with, anyway), and I'm, er, not a man. At least they were M&S, I suppose. Totally confused.

whirlygirly · 10/12/2016 19:38

I'm calling it secret Sandra from now on Grin

We're not doing it in my office this year. I won't be initiating it either. (Still remember the penis hoopla from a few years ago..)

daisypond · 10/12/2016 19:46

I wonder if some workplaces have rules about the sort of things you can't give as Secret Santas. Mine has decided not to do Secret Santa any more, though it has in the past. Some of the gifts on this thread could be deemed as bordering sexual harassment or bullying, even.

Lelloteddy · 10/12/2016 19:59

Our budget is £20 and that's a minimum. Small team though and we all know each other really well. Gifts are always well thought out and personal. I do struggle a little though with the fact that people usually exceed the budget by quite a lot. My gift last year was probably worth about £40 but I worked out that it was from a colleague who is also a close friend.

I've been involved in some shocking S though. Worst ever was an ancient Bayliss and Harding gift set in a battered box with the shower gel congealed and the 'body powder' was one solid lump Xmas Confused

MrsClueless · 10/12/2016 20:17

My workplace SS asks for gift suggestions with a £10 limit. You draw a name with the suggestions so the recipient gets something they would like. I've asked for the new Bodycoach recipe book. I hope the gift
isn't made up to the £10 value with chocolates!

Pipistrelle40 · 10/12/2016 20:43

My best received gift was the year I got someone from another department I didn't know well. I found out they enjoyed cooking so went and brought them a selection of little bags of spices. They loved them and I was really pleased.

The one received I liked best was a pen with a hunky man on that you turned upside down and his underpants disappeared. I knew who gave it to me as they looked disappointed when I laughed, they thought I would be offended. Said pen did the rounds of the table for everyone to play with and i had to demand it back at the end.

FlappysMammyAndPopeInExile · 10/12/2016 20:48

All the children (aged 2-3) received lovely thoughtful gifts except ds. The person buying his forgot to buy anything. His heart break at Santa forgetting him will haunt me for years.

Mouse - this is beyond awful. Your poor DS - how could anyone forget to buy a child's present? The least the culprit could've done was let your child have the gift intended for her own - after all, she didn't contribute to the SS.

The cowbag!

talksensetome · 10/12/2016 21:39

Our limit is 10 and I always make the effort to buy something nice, one year I got the keen cyclist and desk tidy made of wood that made a man on a bike, he loved it and it is still on his desk.
Another year I managed to get hold of a picture from the persons very reasonable entry wedding and had it to put on to a mug for them to use in the office.
This year the person has hinted heavily what they want so I have got them that.

I always receive generic smelling but I am happy with those.

Admiralclingus · 10/12/2016 22:18

I once received a cushion shaped like a jelly bean. Utterly useless at the time but I still have it and dd loves it!

One year i received a selection of flavoured lubes, some sex dice and a mini karma sutra. I was 8 months pregnant with dd at the time and sex was the last thing on my mind!!!!

MoonlightMojitos · 10/12/2016 22:37

In my office we opt in by putting a slip with our name on in to a box with a few suggestions of things we like/dislike so that people can put things like diabetic/lactose intolerance so do not get chocs etc (I'm pregnant and wasn't sure if everyone would know so put no alcohol!)! About 25 of us did it with a budget of £5- £10. We did the gift giving this week and most people's gifts seemed pretty well thought out. The only exception being one colleague who got a mankini..... 😂 everyone found it very funny but he was just miffed and not impressed at all. I'd love to know who got him it. Also another's persons gift is quite clearly very over budget... awkward. It's perfect for them but you could just tell they felt uncomfortable accepting it.

Hobnobbing · 10/12/2016 22:47

I got wine last year.. I was pregnant and trying so hard not to vomit all over the floor as no one knew at that point!
Everyone else got a gift where effort had been put in, whoever mine was obviously wandered round to the corner shop on their lunch break! Grin