Opting out...

[Anne Lee]

I'm opting out of the women's Christmas brunch cookie tray exchange. I'll go to the brunch which I will enjoy but don't really want a plate of random cookies around afterwards.

Let's see if I can do this under the radar. I don't want to offend anyone because they are all lovely people. It's just I have very different views on this type of thing.

What are you opting out of?

[treehugger]

Gift exchanges.

I opted out of my company holiday party on Saturday. I wouldn't have minded going, but I worked a catering event instead and earning money trumped going to a party.

I am considering opting out of a baking competition scheduled for the 16th at work. I did/do want to do it, but I am running out of spare time and I think I might need to bow out to save my sanity.

Kara

[Stella]

Our whole family is opting out of the gift exchange thing this year. Everyone. My parents, my sister, my grandparents. It's a nice thing not to have to worry about buying anything.

[flowerseverywhere]

Opted out of Christmas party where everyone just drinks like crazy.

Opted out of house decorating, will put up a tree with an historical ornament collection.

No special baking. nobody needs the calories. We will have friends for Christmas eve and see family for Christmas day but I'll do simple stuff for that. Offered to bring food for Christmas as the family who is hosting has unemployed father, but haven't heard yet. I make a killer French Canadian meat pie and offered to make a few. A simple veggie will round out the meal and someone else offered to make deserts. My guess is they will be in denial and serve wine (we don't drink) and want to make a traditional ham dinner with green bean casserole, jello molds (who eats this stuff?) and mashed potatoes. Whatever.

Only a few gifts that I make, one to childless, single sister I raised. She appreciates it every year. And I always make really super special things for the grandkids. I refuse to buy cheap crap made in China.

Opted out of New Years Eve party. Volunteered to baby-sit at neighbors house so they can go out for dinner with other family and the teenage children- it's a family tradition and getting a babysitter on NY eve is very expensive. The kids know me and are really good, we color and read and they go to bed easily for me if they aren't home in time and the younger ones don't want to go anyway, especially when they heard I would come over. They'll leave me some super yummy Italian food, they can really cook.

[goldensmom]

Extended family Christmas party gift exchange. I don't like buying nor receiving a gift so several years ago I realized that I did not need to participate. I got questioned the first year but now no one says anything (to me anyhow). When I was working out of the home, I was told I had to participate in a cookie thing (note on my desk, 'bring 6 dozen cookies'). I did it grudgingly and wished I'd been like some others who said they would not do it, especially when 'told' and not 'asked'.

[iris lily]

Any event I attend that has an "exchange" of any kind, I opt out from it and have for years.

We have 2 bloody damn holiday parties at work. Since I am required to attend one of them, I will opt out of the other.

[flowerseverywhere]

I have a cookie story that will make everyone opt out.

I used to work in an office and one of our coworkers loved to bake. She was always bringing concoctions in that she was trying recipes out for, always did birthday cakes for everyone etc. Well one day a close relative died that had little money so we took up a collection to help with expenses. Another co-worker and I dropped it off at her house. You know those houses on the TV shows where there are boxes everywhere, clothes in every corner, you can't sit on a couch and the kitchen is a mess with piles of dirty dishes and pots and pans? Not a few days worth, but months or years worth of mess. Well that was her house. She had cats all over, dogs all over, and several cages with big birds that flung seed all over the house and it smelled like a house with dogs and cats all over. My co-worker and I could not even look at each other we were so horrified- and from that day on I never ate anything unless I had been to someones house and knew they were reasonably clean.

[Acorn]

We've opted out of some gift exchanges, which means we get to skip shopping too. Also a Christmas party.

Lol Flowerseverywhere. Well, I won't be sharing your story with my son who already is very finicky about eating food cooked by other people. Yuck!

[goldensmom]

I have a cookie story that will make everyone opt out.

I used to work in an office and one of our coworkers loved to bake. She was always bringing concoctions in that she was trying recipes out for, always did birthday cakes for everyone etc. Well one day a close relative died that had little money so we took up a collection to help with expenses. Another co-worker and I dropped it off at her house. You know those houses on the TV shows where there are boxes everywhere, clothes in every corner, you can't sit on a couch and the kitchen is a mess with piles of dirty dishes and pots and pans? Not a few days worth, but months or years worth of mess. Well that was her house. She had cats all over, dogs all over, and several cages with big birds that flung seed all over the house and it smelled like a house with dogs and cats all over. My co-worker and I could not even look at each other we were so horrified- and from that day on I never ate anything unless I had been to someones house and knew they were reasonably clean.

A similar experience happened to me and as a result I do not eat a potluck dish unless I know who made it (and have been to their house) and I do not ever buy anything at a bake sale. That happened 25 years ago and even now when I see a bake sale I picture that house in my mind.

Here's a question. Did you warn other co-workers who had not been to her house? I did.

[Float On]

Gifts for anyone other than my two kids.
So far every 'holiday party' we've been invited to attend.
Our own open studio event we've hosted in the past.

[flowerseverywhere]

A similar experience happened to me and as a result I do not eat a potluck dish unless I know who made it (and have been to their house) and I do not ever buy anything at a bake sale. That happened 25 years ago and even now when I see a bake sale I picture that house in my mind.

Here's a question. Did you warn other co-workers who had not been to her house? I did.

yes, we did so very discretely and what we did was ask everyone not to bake or bring in goodies on the premise of weight loss. She still occasionally bought in stuff but no one ate it so she eventually stopped.

[Float On]

yes, we did so very discretely and what we did was ask everyone not to bake or bring in goodies on the premise of weight loss. She still occasionally bought in stuff but no one ate it so she eventually stopped.

You just have to wonder if she ever figured it out. That is one thing that always grossed me out on the hoarder shows was how so many of the women would talk about what a great cook/baker they were and how they liked to bake for others. Visions of cat dander/cat hair muffins were all I could 'see'.

[cdttmm]

We're opting out of decorating -- we have for years. We blame it on the fact that we have cats and dogs and that everything would be in a shambles as a result. :~)

I opted out of the cookie exchange that my friends hosted last weekend.

I will likely opt out of the two parties I've been invited to.

We're opting out of the over-the-top gift giving. I will exchange small gifts with my mom and brothers, but that is it. Ultimately I'll buy something for my partner so that we can have a gift opening "party" of our own after Christmas. But it will be something practical and inexpensive.

[jania]

I don't go to the annual work holiday party (in fact any party that is associated with work I don't attend). I also don't do Secret Santa type gifting.

[Tiam]

I'm opting out of the women's Christmas brunch cookie tray exchange. I'll go to the brunch which I will enjoy but don't really want a plate of random cookies around afterwards.

Let's see if I can do this under the radar. I don't want to offend anyone because they are all lovely people. It's just I have very different views on this type of thing.

What are you opting out of?

We do a white elephant at my work that I don't really enjoy. And it's a potluck. So, I dutifully made the food and brought it, then a very nice, unused, unopened white elephant gift. I stayed for the food, put my gift in the pile and then returned to my desk. I just didn't want to participate in that. I didn't want to be rude either. And I got rid of an unwanted item.

[Anne Lee]

I sorta was successful in opting out of the cookie exchange. A few people brought extra trays so I agreed to take one just so no one's feelings would be hurt. But I passed it off to someone else.

Another woman also boycotted the cookie exchange. I have nothing against cookie exchanges but I do wish they would be advertised as optional.

Other than Christmas day itself, the only other event I have is a potluck lunch at work. Since I like my coworkers this is not a hardship.

[iris lily]

yesterday we had 3 parties and one today. That is four for the weekend. I am opting out of a major manic event next weekend, told DH he is free to attend, but not me. Too much mess and noise and craziness.

But my gifting life is easy: so far the only gift I've done is to put a $20 bill toward the neighborhood gift for our beat cop.

[Anne Lee]

Four parties in a weekend? Oh my. That's too much. If I were in charge, I would have an un-holiday party in March. Everyone get together for coffee and bagels in the morning or wine and nibbles in the late afternoon.

[iris lily]

Four parties in a weekend? Oh my. That's too much. If I were in charge, I would have an un-holiday party in March. Everyone get together for coffee and bagels in the morning or wine and nibbles in the late afternoon.

Well, only 1 of the 4 was entirely obligatory. And as it turns out, I DID skip #4 although DH went. He's a quiet little introvert/social man. He does not like to be left out of gatherings, it's funny and cute.

[artist]

Gift exchanges. My family draws names for the gift that will be purchased and dh and I do no exchange gifts as we feel it takes away from our Christmas celebration and becomes a distraction.

I don't mind cookie exchanges so much. I usually can distribute them again in smaller decorative bags to the mail man, paper boy etc...

[iris lily]

As we are ramping up for The HOliday weekend we've got dinner engagements on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. But those will all be fun because each gathering is just groups of friends getting together, not a big present unwrapping frenzy and far flung relatives.

[Float On]

That sounds fun Iris!

[treehugger]

I did opt out of the company bakeoff, and darnit, I so would have won if I had entered. The entries were kinda sad. Oh well, there's always next year.

A major opt out for me: I worked my last catering job on Saturday. I decided to quit sometime in the 10th hour of a grueling 11.25 hour shift of one catastrophe after another. I don't need that &$%@! Of course, I'm not actually going to quit until I get my last paycheck. But I won't accept any more gigs either. There was a tentative one set for Christmas Eve, but I haven't committed, so I'm not really letting them down.

Kara