To think it’s weird that we try and keep the ‘magic’ alive for teen and adult children.

My eldest is a teenager. Youngest is probably coming to the end of the Santa years.

I have no intention of stopping doing a stocking for them and will probably continue until they leave home or ask me to stop.

My DS is 22. He gets a stocking with little bits and bobs, and a main present from us.

But he knows, obviously, that the stocking is from us.

There are other traditions that we do each year that started with Father Christmas but, again, obviously not related to Father Christmas now, they just got incorporated.

I think it's perfectly reasonable to keep doing the mince pie thing, but over the coming years you could change it to DC take a mince pie and a hot chocolate to bed with them on Xmas Eve, or whatever else you can come up with.

Traditions have to evolve.

No bloody elves in this house (I told the kids that I'd set the mouse traps for them if they came) But, even now they're teens/tweens I do the stockings and we all pretend it's Father Christmas, because it's fun.

My youngest was determined to catch me this year, but he underestimated how lightly I can step, and how deeply he sleeps (and how sneaky I am - I have a spare stocking, so I just have to fill that one and swap them, not go into the room twice). I feel like this will be a running challenge so I will have to stay on my toes :)

Okay I’m not sure why that offended you so much but sorry it did. That sounds like good fun!

Definitely no food left out, elf on the shelf etc.

I do a stocking for my kids, it's where I put a few treats like chocolates etc, but from us.

I don't stay up to do stockings and/or presents. I throw out anyone in that room when it suits me (they can sit on the other sitting room/kitchen depending on whether we are at house or extended families) and I set up the presents and stockings.

I do spend a fair bit of money on them, but they are all in school/college and in fairness it tends to be clothes, shoes etc that are useful.

Exactly! It becomes a shared joke.

In this house the elf on the shelf has been caught in a precarious position with an old Barbie, flat out with a tiny glass of vodka and snorting lines (flour) with a fiver. He makes the odd appearance doing something terrible but it amuses us so sorry some of us occasionally do elf on the shelf for our adult kids.

While I still lived at home, into early adulthood, my brother and I would leave something out for Santa that we knew our parents would enjoy! We'd stick a carrot there for fun and it was always nibbled in the morning!

Shocking! How dare you celebrate Christmas in the way that is meaningful for your family, if it isn't meaningful for random strangers on the Internet? 😂

Genuinely agog that people who know Santa isn’t real are still leaving mince pies out. Mince pies for who?!!

We do stockings in our family at all ages but they’re not something anyone thinks or pretends is from Santa, they’re just a fun vehicle to gift some smaller bits.

In our family all the presents from parents are from "Santa" (and grown ups get stockings too....) is this sacrilege??

Our daughters are in their twenties, living in their own house and running their own lives. They're back here for Christmas, and we still do Santa stockings at the end of the bed. They like it. We like doing it. Also, I read them The Night Before Christmas before they go to sleep. At about two in the morning.

It's a tradition, and, yes, absolutely absurd, and very easy to ridicule.

But it makes everyone involved happy. So why not?

having said that (we now include DC1s boyfriend in the stockings) we never ever pretended the gifts were from anyone other than the gift giver and Father Christmas only stored and delivered them. Kind of like a benevolent jolly Jef Bezos

Same in my family growing up and with my DD.

Recipients are left in no doubt who paid for the gifts that Santa brought!

Because it’s nostalgic and gives people a sense of togetherness.

And maybe your parents do things for you that other people find 'weird and condescending', but for your family is just a way your parents express love.

It seems fairly harmless, in itself.

This is so lovely! 🥰

YANBU. The only time teenagers and adults in my family talked about Santa and Christmas magic was for the benefit of children young enough to still believe in it - and part of the Santa story is that he brings presents for children, not everyone! The teenagers naturally aged out of it.

As an adult I'd find it really weird and condescending if one of my parents spoke to me as if Santa were real. We still enjoy Christmas and buy each other presents.

I don't know anybody who still does that kind of stuff once their kids know Santa isn't real.

I have the youngest adult children in that they are 19 and 18. Elf on the shelf American wasn't a thing here unless you were stupid enough to do it! In which case they will be the type to keep doing it forever.

Replace 'magic' with 'lies' and ask yourself that.

for some people family traditions are very important. We left out a mince pie and a cup with a teabag in for DH who left at 5am to go to work. He appreciated that, and in return left stockings outside our bedroom doors.

Each family/person is different. So why, as they say in internet land, yuk someone's yum?

ETA: having said that (we now include DC1s boyfriend in the stockings) we never ever pretended the gifts were from anyone other than the gift giver and Father Christmas only stored and delivered them. Kind of like a benevolent jolly Jef Bezos. I have also left my mum a stocking and she will be delighted at the silly contents. Including the by now traditional Freddo that we all get instead of an overpriced Lindt thing.

My DC now adults stopped believing in Santa at 7 and 8
We have just developed new traditions involving escape room or board games on Xmas Eve with cocktails
Lego in the lead up to Xmas
Karaoke and house party at DDs Xmas day night etc

We've never really done that because we didn't ever do santa either. I do feel each to their own, but also think it's a tad odd to leave food out for no reason.

I didn't do all the Santa stuff when they were teens. Who expected you to keep it alive?

I spent last night stuffing oddly named beer and snacks in 6ft 4 23 year old built like a brick shit house DS stocking and will continue to do so till I slip off this mortal coil. Last year when he had a GF I did one for her and she was delighted as her family didn’t ever do them.