12 Days of Christmas Cheer

Are you looking for something new to do this Christmas? Maybe start a new tradition? How about spreading some Christmas Cheer, secretly? Well, here’s an idea…..How about being a Secret Santa? And how about doing it for 12 days?
There’s a story about this in a Chicken Soup for the Soul book. The story is about a lady that had a neighbor family that was going through a rough time. She decided she wanted to bring a little Christmas cheer to their life, so she developed a plan to incorporate the secret Santa idea into the 12 days of Christmas. Each day for twelve days, she delivered a different gift to her neighbor, representing each of the 12 days. For example, the gift for day one had 1 item, day 2’s gift had 2 items, day 3 had three items, and so on. Each gift was delivered in secret. I can see the joy this would bring to the receiver. The excitement of anticipating the next gift and the excitement of trying to guess who it was from. I can also see the joy and the excitement it would bring to the giver, as they look for new ways to secretly deliver the next gift….without being caught! (well, also the joy of shopping for the gift items and wrapping them up. But that’s a given) This ends up being an activity that brings Christmas cheer to both parties.
Instead of doing the 12 gifts for just one family, how about picking 12 houses and delivering the gift to a different house each day (or night). You know, spread the cheer around. Think of the excitement. Trying to deliver 12 gifts to homes without them knowing who did it. How fun and challenging would that be!!!!
A person can do this without spending to much money. (or lots of money if they really want to) The gifts for the first few days could be something like a simple ornament for day one, two oranges for day two. When you get up in the days, I’m thinking something like six candles for day 6, day 7 could be 7 individual wrapped chocolate candies, and day 12 could be 12 candy canes. Those gifts wouldn’t cost to much yet they would spread some wonderful Christmas cheer. I think a card should be attached. Saying something about the 12 days of Christmas, stating which day the gift is representing, and Merry Christmas. If 12 different houses where picked, the card could say something like “You have been picked to receive the day 5 gift in our 12 days of Christmas gift giving, Merry Christmas”.
The delivering part could be a bit challenging, yet the funnest part of all. Day time delivering would be easiest yet there is a chance of being seen. Night time delivering would be the more challenging yet less of a chance of being seen. Or you could always get someone else to deliver the gift and swear them to secrecy. Sneaking up to a house these days, could be a bit dangerous. It would be best to at least know the person you have picked to receive the gifts. It would also be wise to know if they have a dog that would alert the home owner that someone is sneaking around outside. It may also be good to know if they have a gun handy, as that could possibly not turn out good. (i’m trying to be funny here, but it is a legit concern) I also suggest doing this as a team effort. Especially, if your neighbors live a distance away, like mine do, and you have to drive. One person delivers the gift and the other is the get away driver. The gift deliverer will have to be very sneaky and at times may have to stay hidden, out of sight, without moving, for what seems like forever. While the get away driver may have to stay calm and not worry when the deliverer does not make it back to the car for what seems like forever.
So have my Farmer and I done this before? Maybe. Maybe not. If we had, we will never admit to it. That’s part of the fun of it. Being SECRET! I will say that we have been on the receiving end of a secret Santa gift before. So I do know, that it does bring an unexpected Christmas joy to those on the receiving end, no matter how big or small the gift is. It is the action that is appreciated.
So rather then sitting in the house on these long, winter nights, why not get out and spread some Christmas cheer. For 12 days. It’s fun, gives you something to look forward to for 12 days, makes you be creative, and it gives you a happy heart. Truly it does.
If you decide to do this fun activity, I would love to hear about it. Come back after the holiday and let me know how it went. I, on the other hand, will not be reporting my experience. If we do it or if we ever did it. After all, it is a secret right!?

I am Livin’ the Life, the Farm Life that is and my Farmer and I are wishing all of you a wonderful holiday season.

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