The Perfect Gift

Our family has many traditions. In recent years, due to an every expanding family, we have adopted a new one-our own version of secret or dirty santa. We still get gifts for the "children" as long as they are babies or in school/college or single if they choose to be left out of the "santa" present game. Well, sometimes it can be a challenge to find gifts that are good gifts and fit within our set price range. We don't do "dirty" gifts and we don't do "silly" gifts. We give good/useful gifts. This year we scaled the price down to $10.00 per gift. Now, if you can find a $20.00 gift on sale for $10.00 that's a good deal too, all the way around. This year I purchased 4 gifts for the game as I do each year so that everyone can play. There are 13 or 14 of us that play. Well, I had no problem finding the first 3 gifts but the 4th one was giving me problems. It's just hard to find something exciting and useful and something anyone would like to have...for $10.00. While I was out doing my final day of shopping, and feeling the pressure of that last santa gift looming over me, well, I walked into Bass Pro Shop and there it was on a big display! The perfect gift for our Santa game. It was unique. It was $10.00. It was glass and not plastic! And who wouldn't want one? Maybe you've seen them...the Guzzler tea mason? It's a glass to drink out of made from a mason jar with a straw. Now, it wasn't the moonshine one. We don't tend to drink too much in our family or the ones who do may just be closet drinkers. Anyway, this one was for tea. I was so proud. I wished I had gone to Bass Pro first and then I could have bought two and maybe it would have worked out where a husband and a wife could have each gotten a guzzler and had a matched pair. Well, the big night came and we drew our numbers and the game began. My niece picked the present I had so skillfully wrapped that held the mason sipper and I could hardly wait to see how excited she would be to get it. Well, I was shocked when what I expected to be a look of delight ended up being a look of something a little less than thrilling. I mean, it was PERFECT! Huh, well, maybe she was just too young to understand how this was a real conversation piece and such a novel way to sip a nice cold glass of sweet tea!!! I was the lucky player in the game and I had the final number. Well, when it got my turn I stole that mason jar sipper from my niece since it was evident that she just plain didn't appreciate it. Why, she didn't even seem upset that I snatched it away! And of all things, I heard my brother who is only 6 years younger than me remark, "I would have never seen that coming" when I took the gift from her. I don't know what was wrong with any of them but I couldn't really blame it on age now that he went and blabbered something like that and him being so close to my age and all!!! My niece decided to take the remaining gift which was, of all things, a sack of lightbulbs! Lightbulbs! Who buys lightbulbs for a Christmas santa gift game? And I heard her say, "well, at least they are useful". I guess she was implying that my mason jar drink glass wasn't. After nearly a week, I still don't understand why anyone wouldn't want that mason jar glass and I am glad it is at home here with me where somebody appreciates it. My husband was the only one who seemed to understand except he was a little confused. He thought I got it back so I could give it to him!!! Hum. I guess the value of such a unique gift just went right over the rest of their heads!!! Why, we used to drink from jelly jars!!! I am still quite happy with my Mason Jar Sweet Tea Guzzler...and I'll still be sipping from it long after those ole lighbulbs have burned out and been discarded! My Grandma always said beauty was in the eye of the beholder. We just don't all like the same things. What I thought was perfect, unique, and fun...well, didn't hold a candle to a bag of (gulp)lightbulbs! I think maybe my dad would have also liked the sipper. Wonder if Bass Pro has any left?