Now that Thanksgiving is over, it’s time to bring back that holiday spirit. Christmas, the time for giving. Now, there is no doubt that most of us will be invited to a couple different holiday parties, and with holiday parties come gift exchanging. What better way than the classic White Elephant exchange? You know, everyone comes in with a present that is bought under a certain price limit and then randomly picks a present hoping they get something they want.

I don’t know about you, but this always stressed me out. I was that person that always brought the really good present. I never liked giving someone something they couldn’t use or appreciate. However, there’s always that one person that decides to buy that absurdly stupid thing that no one wants. Here are some thoughts that you might have while participating at one of your White Elephant exchanges this holiday season.

1. What should I bring?

Now this is the deciding factor for the whole experience. I can either buy something nice and make someone’s day, or buy something hilarious that everyone can get a joke out of afterward. However, I never want to be that one person stuck with the present they can’t really use, so do I really want to bring that onto someone else? Hm, maybe.

2. How should I wrap it?

Alright, now because I bought this really great present, maybe I should make it look really ugly so no one wants to choose it. Or maybe I should wrap it nice so someone knows it’s a great present? How about I wrap it 20 times so someone has to (hilariously) unwrap each layer. The options are endless.

3. Which present should I grab?

The moment of truth. I’m finally at the party and it is time to choose a present. Now, remember your thought process when you were wrapping. The good present would be in the badly wrapped package. But what if they knew what I was going to predict and actually decided to wrap the present in the pretty package? OH NO. WHAT DO I DO.

4. Do I want to keep it?

A lot of people play White Elephant in different ways, and sometimes after everyone picks a present people get to decide if they want to steal someone else’s instead. So what do I want to do? Do I want to steal the giant box over there? Or maybe the envelope someone brought (hopefully there’s cash or movie tickets in there).

5. The Moment of Truth.

I finally get to open the present and, wow, some fuzzy socks. You know, that isn’t too bad at all. I can be all warm and cozy on the holidays. At least I didn’t get the avocado someone decided it would be funny to bring.