White Elephant, Revealed

Awhile back I posted about a White Elephant party we attended. After getting a bit of response from several people, I must say that I don't feel as out of it as before. I thought I'd 'missed the memo' on the W.E. thing somewhere along the way. At the most recent party before Christmas, we were instructed to bring W.E. gifts for the kids and adults. So I scanned my home for nice but gently used items to 're gift', as I thought that was the point. I even raided my gift box of generic but new stuff and wrapped some up, thinking maybe we'd have the nicest W.E. presents to be had. But I was wrong. Very wrong. Embarrassingly wrong.
There were 32 kids' gifts. Every single one was something new. Ryley wrapped toilet paper. It was, of course, new. But because it was a Boy Scout party I let him choose what to take. Now I wish we'd stuffed a $10 bill in the core because it would've been so perfect. Thankfully I'd coached my kids on W.E. etiquette on the way there and they knew they weren't supposed to tell anyone what they brought. So as everyone was demanding to know who brought the t.p. I held my breath and wondered if my kids were listening and if they'd feel like obeying under pressure. They did awesome for a really long time. At the end, the question of the t.p. was raised again. As the laughter died down and everyone finally gave up on ever knowing, Isaac blurted out, "Ryley brought it!" He even jumped up and pointed his finger at Ryley. Everyone else was sitting. Ryley's face turned bright red and he did just as I was willing him to do: he denied it.
Anna chose to unwrap the gift she brought. Guess she didn't quite get it. Or maybe she did.