The Tradition of Secret Santa in a Large Family

One of my favorite gift-giving traditions in my family is Secret Santa with my siblings. I grew up in a large family of 7 kids (I’m the oldest). I don’t remember when we started doing Secret Santa, probably when a few of us were old enough to purchase gifts with our allowance and the help of our parents. Starting at young age is a great way to teach your kids about being selfless and giving. It made us be creative and thoughtful.

My mom was so organized that it was a flawless process. She would put our names in a hat and have us draw, or draw for us if we couldn’t be there. She would then let everyone know what their person wanted from the “master” gift list we had submitted to her previously. Sometimes, a sibling would go above and beyond and get something that was not on the list, but that they thought was a good gift.

One year it turned out that my brother Danny was my Secret Santa. He was not old enough to go buy his own present, so he went shopping with my Dad. When we were opening presents on Christmas Day, my dad handed me the present with a “disclaimer.” I remember very distinctly him telling me I might not like it, he wasn’t too sure about it, and that Danny picked it out himself. I have no idea why I wouldn’t like it, because it turned out to be this beautiful heart and cross necklace! I was so touched that my brother, who was probably only 9 or 10 years old at the time, picked this out all by himself for his older sister. I’m still wearing it 10 years later. 🙂

We are all older now, but we still do Secret Santa! And now we have added a couple nieces to the mix, so I really hope I get one of them this year! Shopping for kids is so fun. I can’t wait to check out the Walmart Toyland event going on this month. There will be in-store demonstrations of really cool toys! Click HERE for participating stores and dates.