Regifting

There is a phenomenon known as regifting. Myself, until recently, had never actually tried regifting something. It felt tacky. It felt cheap. It felt out and out wrong.

However, I now find myself the proud (and exhausted) mother of a fresh new baby. I don't have the leisurely time for shopping that I used to have. (Nor do I have my dedicated shopping buddy D, who is currently located somewhere in the city of Denver - far far away from Dallas.) So getting out to find gifts for much of anything is a new and terrific challenge that has to be squeezed in between feedings and naps and bath time/bedtime. It's amazingly complicated and I have new and fresh appreciation for all parents out there.

Because of these constraints, I found a need for a gift that was filled perfectly by a gift I recently received. I already had one of these things, which albeit useful, are not needed in multiples. I'll leave the details of the gift out of this, but suffice it to say that this particular gift was still sealed in its original packaging. It had been sitting on our entry bench for maybe five months. It was waiting for a good home. We weren't providing it one. So when I needed a gift for this particular occasion, it was perfect. I marched myself upstairs and pulled out a gift bag (also given as a gift, but more generally accepted for reuse) and put the regift in it. I surrounded it with tissue paper and wrote on a card. All things considered, it was a lovely gift and would be perfect for this occasion.

All this is true, so why do I feel so guilty about it?