Christmas Eve Boxes

[DBN1]

Since when did they become a thing? I'd never heard of them before this year but they seem to be mentioned as if it's a normal part of the Christmas traditions.
Do you have these and if so, how long have they been part of your Christmas?

Not knocking at all, just genuinely curious.

It was a lovely idea that some people did, some people didn't. But shops have now made it A Thing implying that everyone should do it and encouraging you to buy more stuff.

I have never had a Christmas Eve Box tradition, but a few years back we started an idea of a Christmas Eve present as I sometimes work on christmas Day. Usually a shared family game or DVD, so it's something to watch or play the next day whilst I work and DH prepares dinner (three's a good reason to volunteer for the Christmas shift...). A friend of mine always had the new pyjamas tradition (kids outgrow them anyway so why not make Christmas an excuse to get nice new ones).
I hate the fact that the supermarkets and social media have turned the idea into a competitive box-giving.

As someone who didn't celebrate Christmas growing up (different religion), I need to create traditions as my 9 month old grows up (hubby celebrates Christmas and I don't want son to feel left out at school as I did growing up - another story! )

Anyway, to me it seems like so much consumerism and cost. I know everyone says it doesn't cost much but it adds up and even if it's affordable, I don't like the idea of my son being bombarded with 'stuff'. So far I have bought him an advent calendar with pockets that would need to be filled and he will have a stocking but am at a loss as he grows older as to what to put in them.

To then add a Christmas Eve box, 1st December box would mean basically tat is being purchased. Also isn't December stressful enough without elves on a blimming shelf?

As an outsider those are just my observations!

M3lon yes I intend to buy my DC pgs and hot drinks. These are not way out purchases. I do not expect my family only to drink cold water or sleep naked. Not least because we live in a very cold area.
Single use plastic is a massive issue, this includes straw use, I am surprised you don't realise this.
If we want to make serious change, every change however small should be encouraged and supported.
Getting people to look at the material their boxes are made from, getting them to store them from year to year, use the same books and key, put things in them that they would usually use rather than extra plastic bits is all helpful.
Swearing at people may make you feel better but it isn't going to create change, just encourage people to swear back.

North Pole breakfast (decorated table, lots of sugar and baked items in seasonal shapes): www.goodtoknow.co.uk/family/north-pole-christmas-breakfast-97015

I think it is a fairly normal thing but the labelling of it is newer. Like other people I have done this since the kids were little but there is no 'box'.

In our house Dec 1 is advents calendars started (we have a felt one and a wooden one which I put chocs in), I get the various Christmas themed books out that I have collected over the years and we start watching Christmas movies/cartoons that I have downloaded over the years.

Christmas eve, they get new PJs most years (I try to get wintery ones rather than Christmas themed so the can get use out of them longer), we do popcorn and a movie (off netflix), maybe hotchoc which I already have, I don't do new games or toys etc they are for Christmas day, Christmas Eve is all about the anticipation. We follow Santa on Norad and leave out their sacks etc.

I think the nature of tradition is to reuse and redo the same things every year, you certainly don't need to buy lots of stuff to make a magical Christmas tradition for your family.

I personally hate clutter so no desire to buy christmas themed tat just for the sake of it.

I heard about them on here and this will be the third year of doing one.

We have in it:

New pj's
New cosy socks
Posh hot chocolate
Christmas mugs (reused each year)
Bath bombs/fancy bubble bath
Books (night before Christmas as preschoolers bedtime story and a book of choice for the older one to read in bed)
Fake snowballs (bought them at home bargains last year)
Reindeer dust
Santa's plate and cup
Key for Santa to get in
The Christmas DVDs (just the same ones each year)
Christmas-y activities for kids to keep them occupied (gingerbread house, sticker books, colouring book - those sorts of things)

To be honest most of this is stuff we have/had before we did it as Christmas Eve box - it just seems to make it a bit more special to have a big box for them to open.

I shan't ever do the elf on the shelf though, that is one Christmas tradition I will not be adopting!

I heard about them a few years ago, did one the first time last year as DD asked me to. She'd just stopped 'believing' so it seemed a nice thing to do. I just put a few things I'd have given her as gifts in it any, pair of pj's a book, a DVD and some sweets.
Growing up my Mum and I had our own little Christmas Eve tradition, where we gave each other a small gift from those we'd bought each other, so I guessing I've always done something similar.

My Christmas Eve tradition is a bottle of Prosecco all to myself

@allthegoodusernameshavegone now that sounds like a tradition I can get on board with.

Another one who had never heard of it prior to MN a couple of years ago. I agree with those posters who feel it's odd to give more presents the day before giving presents, even if it is just PJs and a few bits.

shatners

Thats probably part of it

I don't consider pjs to be presents as they are needed as the children grow, but i know other people do

So part of it is probably people varying on what they consider to be a present

I don’t do elf on the shelf. I don’t do Christmas Eve boxes. I don’t do a North Pole breakfast. I’m not doing advent calendars with stuff in anymore. I’m not buying tat to fill up a stocking and I’m not doing stockings. I’m not buying bits from Poundland or Ali express or whatever to bulk things out. There is, funnily enough, still the magic of Christmas in my household. And the dc still end up with piles of stuff which will probably include pjs and hot choc because these are the kind of generic presents friends and family buy

No. think its a new thing. Pile of crap.
Hate elf on the shelf and all that kind of shite aswell.

No, both of mine have December birthdays so I don't need to add tot he expense or hype the excitement more. I refuse to have anything to do with elf on the shelf too, mostly again as there's so much excitement for my two this time of year anyway.

plaidlife swearing or not swearing makes no difference. People are fundamentally selfish and unwilling to concede anything but the most minor adjustments to their lifestyle. But yeah you just keep trundling happily along to total destruction.

When your children/grandchildren are suffering the full force of the global warming related refugee crisis, and much of the food growing land in the UK is underwater, I'm sure be very grateful for the gargantuan effort you made in giving up plastic straws whole months before they were banned anyway (predicted from the recent moves to ban single use plastic cutlery).

I suspect they will be less pleased with your decisions to import cocoa and printed pyjamas from the other side fo the planet, regardless of how cute the little christmas elves on them look.

Why not go the whole hog and unnecessarily update your smartphone for christmas too?

Ours started when one new year we got the photos back ( remember when we had to send them away to be printed lol ) and the children were wearing really old tatty pyjamas , I was horrified So when the kids would beg to open a pressie on Christmas Eve, I would let them open 1 present , which would surprise surprise be new pyjamas! This has escalated to a box with pjs chocolate and socks x they are 24 and 27 lol x

@PiperPublickOccurrences wow did you go to the effort and make that yourself, it was a bit passive aggressive, i thought it was an MN acronym as i have never seen it anywhere else but here!

@allthegoodusernameshavegone
My Christmas Eve tradition is a bottle of Prosecco all to myself

now that is a tradition i think most would love to do, only we would all crash out and Santa sacks wouldn't be left.... imagine the tears! DSS is 11 doesn't believe any more so i may adopt your tradition this year!

My issue with the pj's thing is a) they need new warm ones now not in Dec as grown out of last years. B) "if you get xmS themed ones do they just wear them that one time? My kids would be like 'it's not Xmas now so I can't wear them'

We have an advent calendar with fun Xmas stuff to do each day. Xmas eve is usually watch a Xmas film and put out reindeer food and a treat for Santa.

I don't do the box thing but my friend who does the new PJs just gets normal not Christmas so they replace an old pair.

Our Christmas box tradition would probably be that on 1st December we get the box of Christmas DVDs and CDs out. Though Netflix kind of messes that up as I caught DD3 watching Nativity in the summer holidays!

I’m glad it wasn’t a “thing” when I had young DC. Once started it can’t easily be stopped. So many parents bemoan the that Christmas has got out of control and has become so commercialised, especially if circumstances change and finances become tighter.
My advice would be to stay clear of this unless there’s a good reason for it, and it costs only time you an afford.
Alternatively Centre it round your tree like many Germans do , turn the lights on for the first time, play traditional Christmas music and church bells pealing, eat traditional food such as frankfurters and stolen. Or make it a thing to research other cultures’ traditions, you don’t need to go the whole hog.
We were lucky in that we had a standing open invitation to attend an immigrant German family’s Christmas Eve celebrations which truly enhanced our Christmases.

bonbonours whenever we had "themed" PJ's like Christmassy ones we always just wore them until we grew out of then and that was that (if they still had life left in them then they got passed to the next youngesy person in the family, if not, chopped up for rags). DS is nearly 2 so a bit young for too much sartorial input but I'll be the same with him.

We've been doing one for many years.

It is in a cardboard box that stores Christmas decorations most of the year.

It reuses the Christmas plate, plastic glass and mug that we've had for years (Child's set that DD still uses most of December and January until we put it away with the decorations again).

It reuses the snowman covered hot water bottle that DD uses all winter, and has done for the past, um, 4 years at least.

It reuses DD's stocking that is now onto it's 13th Christmas.

It reuses the family hardbacked edition of Twas the Night Before Christmas, which is the traditional Christmas Eve story in bed here.

Yes, there are 2 new bath bombs every Christmas - for DD on Christmas Eve and me to enjoy some evening over the holiday period. We occasionally use bath bombs at other times of the year too (non festive ones).

Yes, there is posh hot chocolate to drink. We tend to drink a fair amount of hot chocolate in the winter.

Yes, there is a Christmas beer for DH as he likes craft beers.

And yes, there is a new pair of PJs for all 3 of us - sometimes Christmas themed, sometimes winter themed, sometimes no theme. But these will all get well worn until they either get grown out of, or literally worn out. Not just the Christmas holidays. Any that are grown out of but still usable get passed on to younger DCousins. The same as other clothes and non-seasonal pjs are. And we never care what pjs are being worn, as long as they are comfortable for the wearer for the time of year and conditions at that point (DD often still wears shorts and tshirt style ones until there is literally snow outside!), and that they are clean enough and fit the person.

And apart from it not being loaded with consumerism and waste, as it's all things we want and use anyway regardless of the date, there is a big element of containing excitement and pointing DD in the direction of settling down, getting ready for and going to bed at a reasonable time. So that we all have an enjoyable evening, and enjoyable festive season. Rather than rows, with over-excitement and refusal to go to bed, and putting us all in bad form and stressed.

Other families have their own reasons for doing them, with many I know having an activity for their DCs to do on Christmas Eve in the daytime, while they are trying to get organized for an influx of visitors or to go travelling themselves, later that day or on 25th. The only difference being that it's actually put together as a "hamper" rather than saying " here's a fun activity for you to do together".

Or a way to get a new (or often a family favourite) movie out to enjoy as family time together.

It's not all about "keeping up with the Joneses", "making moments", or other possibly twee notions - sometimes there is a real purpose behind it, and many families just quietly do things that often others don't know about IRL, but they may talk amongst other LM Christmas lovers here to enjoy it and consider how best to do things.

We have done one of sorts for years. As the older kids stopped having stockings we give them on Xmas eve box between them.

New pjs, a family movie and a silly board game, once smallest appeared we added a suitable story for her as well. Makes for a lovely way to pass the time together.

We don't do Elf on the shelf - mainly because DH doesn't trust me not to go over board with it (he's right I would) and it would be for my entertainment really....

And similar to Ngaoi2 above, we centre it around the Lighting of the Christmas Candle (an Irish tradition where a lighted candle in the window shows that, while the Inn at Bethlehem was full, there is space for weary travelers in our "Inn").

The youngest lights the candle, so DD in our house. And we have a family tradition of taking time to remember the good and bad things about the year just finishing, and to remember those family members not with us either physically (they're elsewhere for Christmas) or who have died. We say a family prayer.

Then we get out the box, DD lays out her stocking, and the cookies and carrot and milk on the plate/glass. She goes off for her nice bath, into new PJs, comes back down for her hot chocolate and a snuggle, before being settled into bed with her HWB and bedtime story.

Last year, even though 12 and gone well beyond most of that for some time, she still wanted the whole process on 24/12, as it is a special quiet time for her. And it is a lovely peaceful time for us, in a remarkably hectic life, as a family as a whole.

We don’t do a box but the dc do get new pyjamas. This started because ds has a December birthday, and dd an early summer one, and ds always grew in line with his age, dd 6 months into the age and I was saying to my aunt that it was sods law that they both needed the next size up around Christmas when Christmas was already expensive. I got a lot of clothes as hand me downs but not basics like pants, socks, pyjamas. My aunt suggested that I incorporate the pyjamas into my Christmas budget and give them on Christmas Eve to make the children excited to get ready for bed. As we already put our pyjamas on to watch a film together on Christmas Eve it seemed like a good idea. Now they’re older they don’t grow so prescriptively but really look forwards to their new pyjamas so I’ve carried it on. I’d be buying pyjamas at some point in the year anyway. They’re not Christmassy pyjamas, just pyjamas that they’ll wear all year.