Dear Nikki,I need your help!!! My school is doing this Secret Santa thing where they randomly choose people that you’re supposed to give a gift to EVERY WEEK in December until school is out. All the gifts are delivered to the front office and student “elves” hand them out, so nobody knows who they come from. And guess what?! I have to be Secret Santa to my WORST ENEMY!!! I mean, this girl is ALWAYS mean to me! I don’t want to get her anything!! What should I do?
From,
Serious Secret Santa Situation
Hi Serious Secret Santa Situation,
OMG. I can’t imagine what you’re going through!! Wait—actually I can because I have my OWN worst enemy! I can think of a million things that I’d love to get my BFFs, Chloe and Zoey, and I can think of a bunch of things that I’d like to get for my friend Brandon, but if I found out that I had to buy a gift for MacKenzie Hollister?!?!?! I’d probably have a TOTAL MELTDOWN in the girls bathroom ☹!!
I mean, that girl has TORMENTED me since the day I arrived at WCD! And what the heck does she need? She’s stinking RICH (something she reminds me about ALL the time).
What in the world would I get MacKenzie that she doesn’t already have? Seriously! Girl’s got designer clothes! And a maid! And she’s got her fancy therapist to tell all of her problems to when her parents don’t have time to talk to her (you can find out all the deets in my 9th diary, “Tales From A Not-So-Dorky Drama Queen”).
Hmmmmm….if her parents don’t have time for her, why can’t she talk about her problems with her friends? Chloe and Zoey are always there for me. . . can’t MacKenzie talk about her stupid vendettas and lip gloss drama with one of her minions? Maybe not.
WAIT-WAIT-WAIT, I am NOT about to feel sorry for MacKenzie Hollister. If she doesn’t have real BFFs, that’s HER fault! Right? RIGHT?!
(Darn it, Mom’s playing Christmas music super loud and it’s all about peace, love, and coming together—like I need THAT in my head when I’m trying to be mad at my worst enemy! ☹️)
Okay, I just asked my mom about your situation and she did what moms ALWAYS do, which is agree with me that mean people STINK, then tell me that I should be better than mean people by being nice anyway. She was all, “Try to embrace the holiday spirit! And also help Brianna get the gum out of her hair.” EWWWW! ☹!!
Here’s my advice:
- Don’t feel the need to write a really nice note filled with holiday greetings that you don’t mean. If this girl has really been awful to you, you don’t need to waste your time on that kind of thing.
- Suck it up and get your enemy something. Sorry to say it, but my mom is kinda right. Whether it’s a tube of lip gloss or a card, think of it as an assignment. Basically, make like a Nike commercial and JUST DO IT.
- Resist the urge to give her something that plays into personal drama (the way I would LOVE to give MacKenzie a roach hairclip to commemorate the time she had a bug in her hair and totally blamed me).
- Realize that you can’t control how this mean girl will react. She might be slightly nicer to you . . .but she might not be grateful at all when she finds out that you’re her Secret Santa (example: instead of saying ‘THANKS!’ like a normal person, MacKenzie would probably say something nasty about me getting her cheap lip gloss).
- Don’t think too much about it. Get it done, forget about it, and enjoy your holiday. You have better things to do than let some silly random school activity turn you into a Scrooge! BAH HUMBUG!!
Okay, readers, your turn to chime in—have you ever had to get a gift for someone you can’t stand? How did it make you feel? Tell us all about it in the comments!