Just before Christmas it was #nzsecretsanta time again – one of my most favourite times of the year!
If you’re not familiar with the concept, please read about our experience in previous years: 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012 & 2011.
This year 1979 awesome New Zealanders signed up to spread a little joy up and down the country. The supported charity who received the bad santa presents was Canteen. Players could also choose to add a Canteen card to their gift, which raised a little bit of extra money for this worthy course. And those who felt even more generous could send extra gifts directly to Canteen. From what I see on Twitter it looks like they got many great presents that will help them support children with cancer and their families/whānau, yay!
Our giftees
This year we were pretty lucky. No moaning teenagers that wanted to kill their siblings, no entitled kids crying for a specific present well above the recommended price range, and no One Direction/Something of Summer/Insert-flavour-of-the-month-boy-band-here fans we couldn’t relate to at all. Instead we all got people that were fun to buy for. Some were a bit more challenging than others, but in general they were superb human beings, and our gifts were much appreciated. Success!
Our gifts
I was coming back from Rarotonga on the day the presents arrived, so rather than unwrapping them in a tired late night session, we decided to leave it until the next day. Once Jennifer (our virtual resident who uses our address to receive her present because she lives in Australia) had arrived at work and was ready to facetime, we got started. I must say that we were absolutely blown away by our gifts, but more on that below.
The virtual resident (aka @Ilaeria)
Jennifer loves, loves, loves The Princess Bride. She read the book ages ago, and apparently there’s something different about newer editions. People even tweeted questions about the publishing date to compare with their own copies. I know nothing about this movie (other than that there’s a large rat in it somewhere, I think), so I have no idea what everyone’s talking about. Fact is that Jennifer was super happy with her gift and the Canteen card filled with nice words that came with it. Success.
The husband (aka @agentK)
Kai really likes fancy stationery, and one of his favourite things are mechanical pencils. His Santa gave him a vintage Parker pencil, that Kai is quite excited about. Success.
The cat (aka @karoricat)
First of all Max received the biggest box. It’s the perfect cat sized box, so we’re pretty sure it was intended to be an extra present. He loves the box dearly (as he does every box), it’s his preferred sleeping spot at the moment. But what was in the box? LOTS of presents! Not only for Max, but also for Ingrid (the chicken), Kai and myself! Wowsers! We didn’t expect that and were totally mind blown by such generosity.
Initially we were a bit confused, because Ingrids gift was the first one we saw. It’s a cute little jar filled with chicken pellets, and the conversation went like this:
Me: “Did you open Ingrid’s gift?”
Kai: “No, this is addressed to Max..?”
Me: “Why would he get chicken pellets?”
Jennifer: “It’s kitty litter, isn’t it…?”
Only then we saw the name tag and thought that it was really nice to include a little something for Ingrid. We then looked at all name tags, saw the ones for us as well, and opened the gifts intended for Max first. We laughed a lot when we opened the packet of food tins – Max loves chicken flavoured wet food! We never buy it for him, because we have our own chickens and just can’t get ourselves to buy a canned bird. We’re also trying to keep Max’s arthritis under control; and part of that means feeding him lots of fish. He’s ok with that, but I know he’ll go crazy for Christmas treats of different flavour. Very well played, his Secret Santa!
Max also got a fancy new collar. There are 2 types of cat collars, ones that have a little flexible insert that allows the cat pull the head out if it gets stuck with the collar somewhere. The other type opens completely when the cat gets stuck. We’ve tried both types and so far Max has lost every single one of the second type. Since he also wears a QR code with vet and medication details on his collar, as well as a bioflow magnet, we’re very happy that his Santa chose the first type of collar for Max! Does that mean his Santa is also a cat owner and knows of the pros and cons of different collar types…? Who knows…
Max also got a Christmas coloured/themed set of new toys. Initially he ignored most of them and only played with the furry red and green ball, but since unwrapping day he’s played with all of them. The mouse and the ball are definitely his new favourites.
Kai and I were well sleuthed too – Kai got a Lego Star Wars set and I got awesome lip scrub. It’s not only produced without harming animals, it’s also vegan and makes perfectly soft lips.
A lovely card – in which Max was called a “handsome puss”, which made him very happy – made the gift perfect. Max’s Santa absolutely nailed it for everyone.
The chicken (aka @karoricat)
Ingrid was super also lucky again this year. It amazes me how people get into the spirit of gifting to an animal, especially when it’s a chook. All of her Santas have been fantastic so far, and this year’s one was no different. Here’s what she got:
- a ball that leaves a little trail of treats when kicked around
- a Poultry Pecker (a block of treats)
- a donation to the SPCA (yay for supporting animals in need)
- a super cute egg cup with salt dispenser that looks like a fox (so she can deliver her eggs in style)
- a box of Cadbury Roses (for us, not for her, we assume!)
- a lovely Canteen card (and yes, her foot is much better now!).
Me (aka @blauerpunto)
I personally think that I got the best #nzsecretsanta presents of all. But I think that every year, and so do lots of others – it simply shows the amazingness of all players. Here’s what I got:
- a very cool gardening quiz book “… for when the gardening is done for the day” – I only had a brief look at it so far and it looks like it’ll give me many hours of fun and brain exercise
- a paper animal set to craft my own cat, dog, bunny and owl – so far I’ve only done the cat’s (her name is Princess Petunia) head, but it’s super fun and the perfect thing to do while listening to podcasts or audio books
- a Parasaurolophus eraser that’s labelled as T-Rex – always cracks me up when I see my Santa’s added “LOL” on the box
- Hawke’s Bay Black Doris Plum and Roasted Almonds chocolate – this is in fact my favourite Whittaker’s chocolate (I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this anywhere online – does that mean my Santa knows me in real life???)
- a Gourmet Treat for birds to attract more little feathery friends to my garden – I’m thinking of putting it inside the chicken run, so that Max and the neighbourhood cats don’t feel tempted
- a lovely Canteen card with a nice message.
A few more thoughts
2016 was the first time since the very first year that I barely saw any negativity in the #nzsecretsanta feed. No players posting long wish lists full of overly expensive presents, no posts by someone ungratefully complaining about gifts they received, no heartless presents that have been put together without consideration for the recipient. This doesn’t mean that those didn’t exist, but as someone who constantly refreshes the #nzsecretsanta hashtag on Twitter (even while I was sitting at the beach in Rarotonga on the first day people started to receive presents) I’m sure there can’t be as many as in previous years, otherwise I would have seen them.
I saw a few people worrying about the value of the presents some people received though. All presents that we received easily sit well above the recommended value of $10, and we spent more on each of our giftees as well. I can see why this might stress someone on a tight budget, but I still think that it should be ok to spend as much as someone can afford or is willing to spend on a stranger. The pictures of gifts received by the community also revealed some clever use of Whitcoulls’ recent 3-for-2 offer and kikki.k’s 20%-off-everything – both were current during the week of choosing gifts for #nzsecretsanta. For me the giving is the more important part of the game anyway, receiving well thought through gifts is a bonus. I can see lots of ways to send me gifts that would cost very little – someone could bake a donkey shaped cookie for example, since I’m totally in love with my neighbour’s new donkeys – and I would still be over the moon because someone read my Twitter feed and thought about how they could put a smile on my face. As long as there is a common understanding within the community that the value really doesn’t matter, we should all be good.
Oh, and one more thing: A big thank you to AJ, Libby and their helper elves at NZ Post. Without their love and passion for the game, their tireless effort to make sure everyone finds joy in playing (including saving the Bad Santa Gift Stash from their earthquake affected headquarters), their superb planning skills (everyone saw the calls for Bad Secret Santa Stash donation in JUNE, right?) and their enthusiasm to make things right if they’ve gone wrong (like tracking misplaced presents and making sure they get to their intended recipient) we wouldn’t be playing #nzsecretsanta like we do. So together with @websam, they are the real heroes of the game. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
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