There are many fun ways to get into the holiday spirit, the Secret Santa gift exchange being one of them. That’s why it’s usually a cheerful thing to take part in, but for this redditor, it wasn’t, because of her “gift-policing” brother-in-law.

The OP shared with her fellow netizens that her BIL wasn’t happy with her wishlist, which is why she decided to maliciously comply and fix it according to his requests. Scroll down to find the full story below.

Family activities can make the holiday season even more special

Image credits: RDNE Stock project (not the actual photo)

This redditor wanted to enjoy the Secret Santa gift exchange with her boyfriend’s family, but her BIL rained on the parade

Image source: RainbowSh**tingCats

Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)

People are looking to get gifts for quite a few of their loved ones, but children seem to be the most common recipients

Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)

Christmas might not be all about the presents, but it can be an added bonus, and not only to the person on the receiving end; it often makes the gift giver feel good, too. That might be one of the reasons some people want to shower every one of their loved ones with something special.

This year, according to a recent survey, many people are planning to surprise their friends and family with Christmas gifts, with children reportedly being the most common recipients. More than half of surveyed people said they were buying gifts for kids and just short of half said they’re doing it for their significant other. Nearly 40% revealed they are planning to buy something for their parents, roughly a third are doing the same for their friends and siblings, and every fourth person is buying something nice for themselves.

But with so many loved ones people might want to get gifts for, even small ones can add up to quite a substantial amount; needless to say, the holiday season can become a quite costly time of the year. Luckily, there’s a way to make sure everyone gets a little something special during Christmas without the gift giver going bankrupt, either—the Secret Santa gift exchange.

Secret Santa might not be equally appealing to everyone

Image credits: Utopix Pictures Pictures (not the actual photo)

Secret Santa can be a great way to solve the matter of giving gifts among members of a large family or a friend group. The rules are pretty simple. Everyone draws a name—typically anonymously, hence the secret Santa—and agrees upon a certain amount of money they should aim to spend for the gift. That way, everyone receives a present and gets the chance to get something for their loved one, too.

But the same rules might not fit as well in a group with different dynamics; a group of colleagues, for instance. Jobsite’s 2019 survey found that for some employed individuals—millennials in particular—Secret Santa gift exchange puts them in more of an anxious rather than festive state.

The survey revealed that young employees feel pressured to contribute to all sorts of occasions at work to such an extent they dip into their savings or take other detrimental measures to make sure they can pitch in. Numbers show that nearly three-in-four employees aged 23 to 38 regularly contributed more than they could afford. Such financial strain can surely suck out all of the fun from the gift exchange.

“The main thing to bear in mind is that bringing teams together for celebrations should act as a boost to team morale, not be something that individuals avoid as a result of feeling pressured to contribute a particular amount,” marketing director at Jobsite, Alexandra Sydney, told The Independent, pointing out that Secret Santa should be ‘opt-in’ rather than a requirement and suggesting that there should be an agreed budget range to avoid any awkward situations.

There was a budget range at the Secret Santa gift exchange the OP took part in and the amount of money didn’t seem to be the reason things got somewhat awkward; the brother-in-law was. When he demanded that the redditor add more items to her wish list rather than the one hair straightener, she did; and fellow redditors in the comments seemed to be happy they straightened things out…

Fellow redditors shared their views on the matter, the OP replied to some of them

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