Saturday, December 3, 2022

Life with Chronic Conditions: Plan an Exchange for the holidays

In keeping with the season, this is my annual “holiday” coping post.

Regardless of what holidays you celebrate gift giving, parties etc. can be a bit overwhelming. Since I’ve written a lot in the past on this topic, see links below, I thought I’d just focus on something fun that would be affordable.

Invite family/friends/support group for a “exchange” party. Instead of bringing a gift, each person brings an item to exchange.

• Socks-take a pair of new socks-you can get them from the Dollar tree- stuff with various bits and bobs of fun items and tie together with a bow.

• White Elephant: A second hand item from a thrift store that cost less than $5 (or any other dollar amount)

• Pick a theme, such as an item you’ve recycled

How you proceed from their depends on what would be the most fun for you and your guests. Here are two options:

• Everyone sits in a circle while one person is assigned the task of reading a “story.” When directional words are given-such as left, right-the exchange item is passed accordingly. You can write your own story or check out the one from The Left Right Game Note: Count how many people are in your group. There are 17 more rights than lefts in the story, so if you have exactly 17 people playing, everyone will end up with their own gift. If this happens, just say this at the end: “All that’s left now is to open the present you’re holding.” And everyone will pass once more to the left.

• We call them Yankee Swaps here in the North Country. Draw numbers out of a hat to see who gets to pick from the pile first. Player No. 1 chooses and unwraps a gift, then shows it to everyone else. Player No. 2 then either "steals" that present or picks and unwraps another one from the pile. Player No. 3 can then steal either gift, or choose and unwrap another, and so on. Any player whose gift is stolen gets to pick again. The last steal is the person with the number 1.

PAST HOLIDAY POSTS

• The Wisdom of Marcus Aurelius for the Holidays

• Holiday Hacks

• Avoiding Holidays that Suck

• Coping with Loneliness During the Holidays