Giving Versus Receiving!
Okay, so it’s my birthday on the 1st of July (3 weeks or so away). This made me think of something that quite a few people probably thing about:
The one thing that amazes me about birthdays is the need for presents. I love being given something that I’ve been wanting and whining about to my family, but when a prezzie comes from a friend, I always feel Selfish because it’s not a give and receive situation*.
Being a girl in a group of friends, there’s always another birthday round the corner. I always try to get my friends to group up in the present with me and we can all spend around £2. Does this ever happen?? I guess not. So every time a birthday comes it’s the same:
1. I gain pocket money
2. A birthday comes around the corner.
3. I spend as little as possible whilst trying to make it still a nice present.
4. I ALWAYS spend at least £6 + and get a £1 card.
5. I have to wait for pocket money.
(And so on)
For my Family, however, I always end up spending around £16. In my extremely large family, spring is the birthday season.
April 29th, YS – Spring
May 6th, Daddy – Spring
May 12th, Mummy – Spring
May 16th, SS – Spring
July 1st , Moi – Summer
July 17th, ES – Summer
September 18th, OB – Autumn
After SS’s birthday, I can relax my spending basis until ES’s birthday in July.
When it isn’t my birthday I love shopping for someone's prezzie because I feel generous and that I’m doing something good. We all know the look a friend has when we give them a prezzie. I love the happy smile and the warm hug they give me and it always feels worth it, even if I then have to wait 2 more weeks for pocket money.
To conclude, when I balance out money over happiness, I have a slightly larger preference over giving, but whoever thought giving presents was good may have had a big heart, but they also had a large bank balance.
*Example. At Christmas, I don’t feel bad receiving a present because if someone’s going to give me a present it’s most likely that I have, in return, bought one for them too. Last Christmas, it was optional in my form to do a Secret Santa and loads of people did it. The limit was £5 (which everyone spent) but even though I opted in, the girl who was supposed to be getting me one couldn’t be bothered and so I was down a fiver :(.
