Anyone forgot to 'do' Xmas for their dc ?

[hollywoodhills]

Quite random, but it has me worried and I've had nightmares about it

I'm concerned that I will mess up the magic of Xmas morning.

Last year Santa forgot to take the card that dd had made for him. Dd was a bit confused about that.

Then dd had a present which was actually for ds.

Im worried about staying awake to sort it all. My dc will not sleep on Xmas eve if they hear me walking about.

Last year was horrendous and I went to bed at 2am in the end.

The thought of the stockings are giving me a headache as any noise and they will be wide awake.

This is all based on the last 2 years on Xmas eve. I try to tire them out but the excitement just takes over and my eldest will not sleep until I am in bed and all is quiet in the house.

Has anyone fell asleep on Xmas eve and Santa has forgot to leave the presents?

[Joistlooking]

Not a stocking story but a child one. Our 2 eldest never got up early on Christmas day- probably because they didn't sleep much the night before but the youngest was up and at it early doors. When she was 3 she woke DH and I at silly o clock so overexcited with her presents including a pair of ice skates. She had opened every present under the tree with her name on - both to and from. The ice skates were for her sister from us all

[pollymere]

Wrap presents in different paper and do at least the week before. Make a list and check you have all the gifts. Take stockings out of room to fill. We had stocking and Santa sack. Only stocking got put out by child and small items went in. Everything else was predone in the sack.

[shinynewapple2020]

@Iamaweirdone

Father Christmas will be observing social distancing this year so all presents will be left downstairs - solved!

Ha ha that's just what I was thinking we always did this anyway but a good reason to start if you previously put them in your DC room .

[Middersweekly]

DD4 is/was the youngest and only child left to worry about keeping the secret of Xmas alive. Last year however she was extremely doubting Santa’s existence after we took her to Santa’s grotto and then she saw another man dressed as Santa in the street (this was mere coincidence). She put 2 and 2 together and worked out that Santa couldn’t be in 2 places at once. She was 8 last year and she basically laughed at me this year when I suggested going to see Santa. I then asked her straight up if she still believed and she said no and laughed. She’s 9! She said she’s known he wasn’t real for a couple of years but didn’t admit it because she thought she wouldn’t get any presents 🎁🤣 bless her! Anyway so this year we can just relax and be normal without mentioning Santa coming much to the relief of my older DD’s who’ve been going along with charade for years!

[Rose789]

We store the presents in a wardrobe upstairs but on Christmas Eve one of us will bath the kids and the other will be in charge of smuggling the presents downstairs and stashing them in the utility room.
Then once they are bathed and in jammies we will do the reindeer dust and leaving out a mince pie and carrot. One of us will do stories and bed time when the other lays out the presents and stockings and has a mince pie and glass of milk. And take a bite out of the carrot. Then even if they are up for hours we’re not waiting to get everything sorted.
I make sure everything is wrapped and built (if necessary) before Christmas Eve so it’s a quick and simple job.

[DrMadelineMaxwell]

dd2 went from one extreme to the other.
Up to her being about 8 she was stressed about the thought of Father Christmas setting foot into her room while she was asleep and the stocking had to be left on the landing instead. That was easy.

The following year she declared she wanted themed bedding and curtains for Christmas - and he was going to fit it all in her room WHILE SHE WAS SLEEPING overnight.
Cue me clambering over a sleeping child to replace curtains, duvet cover and lampshade to fulfill FC's responsibilities.

[Darkrainbowsquid]

Presents in Santa sacks with their names on (I have 4 ds) I. The living room next to the tree with their filled stockings on top so no mistaking who’s is whose

[FelicisNox]

Go with duplicate stocking which are stored downstairs the night before and get DH to take them to bed and read them a story whilst mum "tidies up and turns the lights off" then you can quickly put the stockings under the tree whilst they're distracted.

Personally I think they need a bit more discipline..... excited or not my kids all went to bed at 9pm and they stayed in their bed, end of, and certainly no staying awake until all hours.

Kids will only behave like this if you allow it so nip it on the bud.

[bemusedmoose]

Oh god another worry I hadn't thought of!

I have a reoccurring nightmare that it's Christmas eve and I suddenly realise I have nothing for anyone and nothing for the kids stockings and I'm in a blind panic and crying. I wake up sweating in a complete panic that it's Christmas and I have to explain why there's no presents, food or decorations... Ive had it for the last 4 years.

[Angrywife]

I haven't, but I did have repeated dreams during lockdown where I would wake up on Christmas morning and suddenly realise I'd completely forgotten Christmas was coming and I'd not bought a tree or any presents.
First time in my life I've ever had repeated dreams! No idea why I've been dreaming that 🙁

[JeezLouisePlease]

Top tips:

Stockings hung on outside of bedroom door. NEVER in the room. Same applies to tooth fairy (or bedside cabinet is as close to pillow as permitted). Much easier for access.

Find storage downstairs to keep hidden gifts. Or move them to somewhere downstairs a couple of days before Xmas. Much easier to put the gifts out without rustling upstairs and dealing with creaking floorboards.

If leaving food for Santa, always set a cryptic phone reminder to fake eat it.

Ensure early on that kids know Santa can’t come until after they’re asleep and that coming downstairs after bed is strictly forbidden. They can call you up if they need you.

Overall keep it simple and enjoy it. And set phone reminders for the essentials

[Callingallskeletons]

@Pascha

We manage stockings by getting them to hang it on the doorknob, then we have two identical stockings each, one empty, one full, and we just switch at the door.

The trouble generally is getting the buggers to go to sleep in the first place .

This is bloody brilliant!!!!
Why on Earth have I never thought of that? Thank you!

I feel your pain OP our DC are incredibly light sleepers too

[Violinist64]

We always said that Father Christmas brought the stockings and the main presents were from us and other people. We used men's long socks as the stockings (different colours) which meant that they could put an empty one on the bed and we could switch them with the full ones. This worked really well until the year that DD, aged about six at the time, woke up just as l was about to take the stocking into her room. I had to think very quickly. "Look who's been," l thrilled. "He's very magical" came the sleepy reply as she closed her eyes again. Fortunately she didn't notice me quickly taking the empty stocking.
On another note, it seems as if a number of parents are prolonging their children's belief in Father Christmas. I think this is not a good idea. It is a very special time when children are young enough to believe the fairy story but it is natural for them to realise the truth by the time they are eight or so and l think this should be encouraged. Christmas is still a special time but in a slightly different way.

[BlackeyedSusan]

Whatever you do, don't start any traditions outside that will need to be repeated in a howling gale or 10 degrees of frost.

[anothergloriusmorning]

I've always wrapped their presents in different paper rather than using labels. Can't believe I didn't think of getting duplicate stockings though, what a good idea!

[inappropriateraspberry]

@aToadOnTheWhole

FC is the delivery man in our house. As it was when I was a child. Parents send money to FC. FC chooses some presents, parents choose some and then send them to FC. And then FC delivers them all. Same for ones from family (which you then write a thank you letter for).

We take DS to choose some presents to send to FC for other children who have parents who may not be able to send any money. We take them to church and the FC comes and collects them from there.

Stockings on bedroom door.

I think that sounds very complicated and a lot of work for FC!

[ilovemygirls]

I never enjoy Christmas for this reason! I’m a single parent, so find it so stressful. Thankfully, I’ve always taken presents in large bags to my mums & hidden them in her garage a couple of days before, then keep the garage locked. I now go to bed nice & early (at parents house) with the children! My parents move the presents into living room just before bed.... but bloody hell it’s stressful!!! They fell asleep one year, children wouldn’t go to bed one year, then tried sneaking downstairs. Last year, they wanted ice from the freezer in the garage, so I think they have guessed the routine. Probably the last year they’ll believe this year - sob!

[DreamTheMoors]

@Lazysundayafternoons

Always do this with the tooth fairy- fall asleep and forget about it. Luckily we manage to work around it/I sneak it in in the early morning.

I had a dream in September that it was the morning of xmas eve, and I was driving to my nearest shopping centre to start my Christmas shopping and the shelves were nearly empty of stock. I hadn't one bit of Santa shopping done. It frightened the life out of me so I picked up as much as I could then in September.

I have a week off work at the end of November so will get it all wrapped then. At the minute DC's presents are in a massive box in the kitchen so would be easy to get out on xmas eve. I'll have the stockings filled and ready to lift out on xmas eve.

I'll have DC in bed by 7.30, hopefully asleep by 8 and I'll get everything ready then and be in bed myself by 9.30.

When we were little our parents told us the Tooth Fairy was terribly worried we’d wake up and lose valuable sleep and instructed them to have us leave our recently lost teeth in a small glass of water on the kitchen sink.

Sure enough, in the morning, there would be the empty glass with coins in it, in exchange for the tooth.
Worked like a charm for three very gullible children.

[Mamanyt]

Here in the US, we grew up on "A Visit From St. Nicholas" ("The Night Before Christmas"), so generations of kids expect stockings to be hung "by the chimney with care," or at least in the living room, and presents to be under the tree. It saves a world of anxiety! When mine were young enough to expect Santa, they were told that should they wake in the night, they could go no farther than the loo, then right back to bed, because Fred the Elf (family tradition) would be watching, and attempts to spy on Santa would have their gifts flying by magic back to the North Pole. They may or may not have been wide awake in their beds, but they did NOT roam around, and gifts could be safely arranged in the living room.

[happymummy12345]

No, tbh I'm not sure how anyone can 'forget my to 'do Christmas'.
We have both notes written and everything ready. Christmas Eve we put the sign in the window and hang the stocking on the front room door handle (never upstairs). We leave cookies, a fruit shoot (can not do milk at all), napkin and a note for Father Christmas.
Then when ds is in bed we bring down all the presents and put them under the tree and fill up the stocking (father Christmas does the stocking and one big present). And we swap the note, the fruit shoot bottle for an empty one of the same flavour (saved from during the day), crumble one cookie so there's crumbs on the plate and scrunch up the napkin so it looks used.
Honestly doesn't take long at all and not hard. I'd never ever forget or get confused

[Minxmumma]

We prepacked the Stockings a week before, put them in a carrier bag and hide them so they are easy to put out.

Make it as easy as you can for yourself

[CloudyVanilla]

Gosh I've had these nightmares but it's always Christmas day not Christmas eve and it's a dreadful feeling I've actually done most of their shopping but it's a very realistic dream isn't it! I've woken up in wild relief realising Christmas is still about a month away

The idea of a duplicate stocking is a good one; I wish I could do this but DCs stockings this year are huge hand knitted ones and I don't think it's feasible to ask for replicas

[Smileyk]

We also do stocking on beds and as dh is so noisy it's always fallen to me to me to do it. Santa brings the stocking AND the presents under the tree - although the presents under the tree are just delivered as we send them off to him. Thankfully my children are grown now (youngest is 17) but the routine is still the same (they insist on it not changing) but now I dump the stocking on their bed while they are awake with a whispered "shh be asleep, I'm santa!". Lol

[Imissmoominmama]

@FourTeaFallOut- I am the mum of a 22 year old (with LD) who made that mistake . I’ve been trying to tell her for the past few years that it’s actually me, but she won’t have it!

[Mitzimccormack]

We have 3 sons. All of each sons stuff wrapped in a different paper each. Presents under the tree downstairs, also a stocking each also downstairs. We still panic every year but over different stuff.