gift giving anxiety

Some of you read the title of this post and you know just what I am going to say. Maybe it's because you have known me for some time or maybe it's because you have the same issues I do. Either way, hear me out.

I love the holidays. I love getting together with family and all the cheesy made for tv movies that are on during this time of year. (Side note: I watched "Christmas with Holly" last night on ABC -- so great) This year we decorated our house the Saturday after Thanksgiving and I'm already planning to leave everything up well into January -- I just love the way it all looks. I am even loving the snow right now -- everything looks so beautiful outside.

Gifts are another thing. Don't get me wrong - I really do love to give gifts. Finding something that someone will love and wrapping it up to give to them is great. But it all comes at a price.

Maybe to better understand my dilema I should tell you about my morning. Vera and I went Christmas shopping and we were gone for about two hours. We went to two stores. The two stores were located approximately two miles from our house and there was no more than 150 between the two stores. You're probably assuming I got gifts for everyone and that's why we were gone for so long. Nope, we got three gifts. I did make about four trips around one store though. I saw things that I thought people might like but I wasn't sure if they would like it for sure so I decided not to get them. Then at one time I had four items in my cart and put them all back because I decided those really weren't the right gifts. I texted Derek numerous times with questions and even a few times with pictures of potential gifts. Luckily I was able to find a few things I knew would work and so I made the purchase.

But the anxiety doesn't stop there. While driving home from the store I questioned one thing I got and wondered if maybe I should have gotten something else instead. Don't worry, I still haven't made up my mind on that one.

And then there comes the time when the gift is actually opened. Will they like it? What will their expression be? I am the person who will say "I hope you like it" before just about every gift that I have given gets opened. I even get gift giving anxiety for gifts that aren't my own. If someone has a less than excited response to a gift that was opened I end up feeling bad for the person who gave it. Call it what you will, I feel like that's probably a little unnecessary on my part.

So how do I cure this ridiculous problem? Someone might suggest to everyone I give gifts to that they should just be super excited about whatever they get from me. But here's the kicker, I can't remember ever having a bad experience when giving a gift. So now what?

Suggestions welcome ;)