90s child here, never had one!
Niece and nephew don’t either (5 and 3) but lots of my friends have started to do them and at a recent gathering, some were saying it’s become a thing talked about at school and they don’t want their child to miss out.
I think they cause controversy because they’ve grown to something so big that too many people feel like their child is missing out if they don’t have one. SM puts a lot of pressure on all these aspects of life and the pressure is to make sure your child has the same “memories” and “experiences”. Pumpkin picking was never a thing when I was a child. Seeing Christmas lights meant walking round the neighbourhood looking at other peoples houses. You saw Santa at the Christmas fair at school or possibly at the local village hall. Nowadays, families are paying a fortune for light trails, lots of children are meeting Santa multiple times each year. Advent calendars - My niece and nephew have 5 each - it’s insane! Chocolate ones, Lego ones, toy sets…..the children in my class without an elf don’t understand why they’re not being visited. My class do talk about their Christmas Eve boxes.
As someone said above, people need to stop giving in to the pressure of society to do all these things. I think children are completely overwhelmed and it becomes expected.
I don’t actually hate the idea of a Christmas Eve box but it’s clearly spiralling out of control to a point where parents feel like they’re depriving their child if it’s not overflowing. I always had hot choccy on Christmas Eve (Cadbury instead of Tescos own as a special treat) so the concept of maybe having a box with a nice treat drink and treats to eat and maybe a Christmas story is quite sweet.
But peeking back at posted photos on SM last year, looking at one now which contained two stories, a sticker book, Christmas colouring book, a new pack of felt tips, cuddly toy, chocolate, sweets, slippers, Christmas socks, new PJs and a reindeer shaped popper toy (those things where you press the circles down, not sure of their name)……I just remember thinking blimey, what’s left to put in their stocking when they’ve had all that already? Followed by all the Comments “you’re such a good mum” “what a lucky child!” “you make it so special for them!” And of course, fellow parents reading it suddenly feel like they’ve not lived up to what they should be doing.
I think as someone said above, you’ve got to have the spine to not take everything seen on SM seriously and just do what you want to do, don’t give in to the pressure of amazing boxes and elves doing amazing things daily and hundreds of outings to prove you’re a great parent. That’s my feeling on Christmas Eve boxes - a nice idea that has become another thing that puts unnecessary pressure and doubt in parent’s minds.
I do like the new PJ idea though (not Christmas ones, just nice new ones) and totally get the whole issue of photos the next day! I mean I think twice about what I wear to bed Christmas Eve night now because I know I’m going to get caught by a camera when with DNs opening stockings, and my oh so charming sis will put them on SM for everyone to see…or at least into the photo album for life! I can see myself doing the PJ thing with my children in the future but I do just love a good pyjama set….