To think this is a really weird thing to do with presents?

Yes, I think it's a really strange thing to do. A PP said they ask the giver if it's ok if they do this when they receive presents for their dc. I would say ok, but secretly be pissed off. I also wouldn't make as much effort the following year. I just don't think every single present needs to be from santa. I think it's good to teach children to say thank you, and understand about giving as.well.as receiveing. What happens when they go back to school and say how much they had from santa, when others wont have. My children know who presents are from and they say thank you!!!

Are you sure people are just saying yes because they feel they can’t say no?

This is very accurate IMO. I wouldn't say no if asked but I would feel a bit off about it. For some people, gifting is their 'love language' and it feels really rude to take something someone may have taken a lot of time and effort over as a way to show their love and strip the label off for no real purpose anyway. What benefit does it actually give the child?

If I didn't get some form of "thank you" , I wouldn't be giving again.
And I'd tell the parent why.

Why though?

All our presents when DCs were little came from Santa, as they have gotten older they know some come from us and some from Santa. However I’d never dream of telling my children the gift their grandparents or someone else got them was from Santa. If the gifter wanted to say Santa left at their house, which MIL did a couple of times, that’s up to them, but I’d find it rude if I bought someone’s child a present to be asked if it could be from Santa. I’m absolutely not about taking credit for my own DCs gifts but if I bought another child a gift I’m wanting credit, or at least wanting my DCs to get credit.

Are you sure people are just saying yes because they feel they can’t say no?

I don’t agree with it , but she is the parent and that’s how she’s chosen to parent .

in the same vein , you don’t have to give a gift to the parent beforehand hand to indulge her, simply say your giving gifts the next time you see them (the child ) and hand it directly.

if mum dislikes this , maybe money in a bank account for a while is the way forward.

I actually don’t like the idea of writing in sharpie , it directly undermines mum ( and what kid is reading that on Christmas morning anyway, it will get ripped off quicker then they can blink )

I love Christmas and it’s magic , but magical Santa only ever brought one gift a year to our house, the rest were from mummy and daddy . I hate that Santa brings Xbox’s and iPads to some kids , first thing they talk about at school the next week , then other children are left sad that Santa doesn’t like them or they haven’t been good .

The whole Santa saga has got out of hand, along with reindeer breakfasts, elves and Christmas Eve boxes. Stockings and one main present were from Father Christmas (like a previous poster, we always preferred that name). Everything else was acknowledged from the giver.
I also find it odd the lengths some parents go to to continue the story so their children believe for longer.

I'd do this.

It's insanity pretending everything comes from Santa.

Well obviously, I just made the birthday fairy up to make a point which was... There is nothing "miserable" about receiving gifts from family and friends. Many of us manage to create some Christmas magic AND thank those kind enough to give gifts to our kids.

So if I bought a family friend a gift,
instead of getting a thank you I’d be told it was secretly from Santa 😳 parents do that from their own present stash thanks.

It is weird but I do think you're unreasonable to go down the sharpie route. It's petty.

I give gifts to give the receiver "joy" I don't do it for thanks.

I’m finding it strange how people buy presents for people that aren’t close relatives. I only buy for my nephew and son and parents and husband. Nobody else. I find Xmas really commercial so being honest I don’t want anyone that goes above and beyond to get a present that my son has t requested and that it’s going to end up in the charity shop or bin.

This! 👏

My husbands family has been a bit complicated with some estrangement in latter years between his Mum and her sister. His brother was involved in liaison when the grandparents (parents of Mum and Aunt) died. One of the things he noted when we were musing about such things was that his Aunt always made the effort to send birthday and Christmas cards and gifts. I'd never really thought much about it but in the absence of a free and easy relationship, the gifts symbolised the unconditional positive regard that the Aunt had for her nephews. She isn't close with any of them, as they don't want to betray their Mum but there is a degree of respect and communication can be made when needed. Those childhood gifts made her more approachable at a critical time in adulthood.
He's a lovely Uncle to my kids too (although his very organised wife buys the presents a month in advance I'm sure he'd step up if she didn't!)

I bet she wraps them again! Yes it's weird. Mine were all laid out together but I knew if it didn't have a label it was from Santa and I knew what my family had bought me and said thank you. That's awful, I hope she at least thanks u!

@Onlyvisiting Yes, it is a somewhat terrifying concept really! DD1 was similarly freaked out by the tooth fairy - 'She takes children's TEETH? And there was no explanation I could think on the fly that didn't sound like some sort of serial killer calling card.

I owuld have hated to find out that I hadn't thanked people for presents because my parents had lied about Father Christmas bringing them. I don't generally see Father Christmas as a lie, but for some reason this I really do.

Also, part of the 'magic' of christmas was to see all the presents from relatives/friends under the tree if they popped around before Christmas. It was part of the excitement. What a shame that the children who think it all comes from Father Christmas miss out on that.

Their kids, they can do what they want. Once the kids grow out of Santa they’ll soon realise and it’s fine. As long as they’re thanking for birthdays and people know this is how they do Christmas (ie the parents can thank the sender) I don’t see the issue.

When I was little (1960s) we didn't call him Santa. He was Father Christmas. Is this a generational thing or is it because my mother wasn't English?

She sounds a grade A arse

I had a friend that did this, I think it is weird and maybe a bit ungrateful to let Santa take the credit for some of the lovely things I bought!

For our kids, all the present from us were from Santa and then all the rest were clearly from whoeever sent them so that they could be thanked. Its also surely nice for the kids to know that other people are thinking of them. I always used to appreciate my gifts from aunties and uncles at Christmas time.

I'd love to know how they tackle the throne question when the kids are 5ish and realise not all children get lots of presents from santa (cos their parents are broke)

I think you’re overthinking it

Santa was glorified delivery driver in our house. All presents were from someone. Then they had to write out their thank you cards on boxing day.

We did stocking and one gift from Santa.

My DC definitely always knew who gave them all the other presents. They also knew that a thank you, within a week or so, mentioning the specific gift was expected of them (in person, note, text - didn't matter but the thank you had to happen) as soon as they were old enough to do at least part of that themselves.

Poor kids if their parents are too lazy to teach and model basic social skills as opportunities arise.

My older sibling apparently knew from aged 3, as when they suggested a strange man would creep into their room at night when they were sleeping they had hysterics and nightmares until told the truth......
Reasonable response I think!