to not know what a christmas eve hamper is?

[gymboywalton]

well? am i?????

would anyone care to explain??

Do you lot really have trouble getting your kids to bed on Xmas eve. DD would go here at 3pm if Id let her. I certainly dont need to incentivise it with new pjs. Although we do have them anyway just for the photos/video in the morning.

Also never had trouble keeping mine occupied/off the ceiling Christmas Eve.

We often decorate the tree on CE.

But then they would just play as normal when young!

WTF i though that i invented this! ds gets new pjs and a book/dvd on christmas eve, but they are from the elves, not me

who stole my idea?

do people wash new clothes before they wear them???

My DC's will get a new pair of PJ's each (washed, ironed - the one time in their life this will ever happen - and NOT christmas themed so they can be used all year), a Christmassy themed book for bedtime a bath bomb and a Christmas DVD (Arthur Christmas this year)

They will be 'delivered by elves' just before Dinner so that we can have our usual pizza-in-front-of-a-DVD Christmas eve, then we'll leave out our mince pies for santa and possibly sprinkle the reindeer food before going up for a lovely bath, getting into snuggly new PJ's and cuddling up to read the new books. It gets them all excited about Christmas day to come and I don't think detracts from the big day at all.

DS is almost 6 this year and has been asking whether we can watch Polar Express just like last year so I'm fairly sure they enjoy it - and so do I!

I never bothered washing anything except bed linen (starchy/smell), towels (absorbency/shedding) and shirts (stiff) before first use. Then I read an article on the nasty chemical residue found in bras - from all sorts of companies. It's a leftover from manufacturing and it's really unpleasant stuff. Now I wash it all first.

why would you wash brand new clothes thats completely bonkers

I'd like one if it was full of booze

I've has Xmas hampers every since I was a little girl and I think most households do, Xmas eve nightwear, hot chocolate, crimbo DVD, rain deer dust, Xmas eve story book, etc... Im doing the same with my kids.

I feel like my children missed out! Although we still do the letter/mince pies etc for Santa it's about midnight because I haven't actually bought everything by Christmas Eve let alone started wrapping. I go to bed about 1 am exhausted.

I get DS2 new pyjamas, so he has something respectable to wear on Christmas morning (as there will be photos). Last year he got buzz light year ones and was both amazed and delighted when they turned up under the tree on Christmas Eve.

DS1 used to get pyjamas until he decided he wasn't going to wear them any more. He just puts on a tshirt so as not to be unwrapping presents in his boxers.

We usually do something Christmassy on Christmas Eve which, ideally, tires the kids out. And then come home and try to persuade the kids to sleep. And then wrap stuff badly!

This year I've already wrapped most things. And we'll at that. How's that for organisation?

Well not we'll.

Autocorrect should not try to correct actual words!

"I've has Xmas hampers every since I was a little girl and I think most households do, Xmas eve nightwear, hot chocolate, crimbo DVD, rain deer dust, Xmas eve story book, etc... Im doing the same with my kids. "

i really don't think most households do at all-i had NEVE heard of it before coming on mumsnet

we do the carrot/mincepie etc for father christmas and a story-same story every year but that's it

My sister & I never had them & we´ve never done them for our kids either.

I hadn´t heard of them until on here.

I remember peeling sprouts as a kid-does that count as a special activity??

It's not too late to pick up some PJs and a DVD gym

The Christmas robins bring ours. They watch you all year (devious red-chested bastards) and report back to Father Christmas on whether you are being good or bad.

On Christmas Eve they leave a parcel with new pj's, a Xmas film, a Xmas book & special hot chocolate to help you be in bed early and sleep very soundly. The hot chocolate is not drugged just special

It's just stuff the DC would get anyway.

The poor robins, having to lug a hamper anywhere! I can't imagine that's easy for them

Christmas Eve. That was the night when DD2 came down at 1am (as we were wrapping presents) to say could I look up her itchy bottom with a torch please? The magic of Santa, eh?

I have NEVER heard of this before this thread, though I quite like the idea of new. DH is the only one in our house who feels the need to open presents the night before the actual day, so this might stave him off a bit.

I'm concerned about the amount of hot chocolate going in these hampers - I have visions of children standing alone with a pan of boiling milk making up their hot chocolate.

No hot choc in ours. The children are too little and don't really like it. I might put in a chocolate orange to share this year though.

'I have visions of children standing alone with a pan of boiling milk making up their hot chocolate.'

I never had anything on Xmas eve and had never heard of it before MN.
I have bought the DDs gorgeous soft fluffy sleepsuits (I hate the word onesie!) from Next at over £20 each and like bums are they getting them on Christmas eve! We might do proper hot choc with squirty cream and a fillum though.

Another one who has never heard of Christmas Eve hampers before Mumsnet, and certainly don't know anyone who does them in RL. I think there are an awful lot of 'Mumsnet customs' that the rest of the world don't engage in .

In defence of the op.
yanbu I had never heard of it until I read this thread.

I've done one for the last few years but mine isn't presents and I don't do PJs. It helps to channel their excitement and give them something constructive to do. They get a bag of choc coins, a Xmas activity book & a thing to do from Poundland or wherever and a Xmas film that I've downloaded or got from eBay. This year I've got one of those gel decoration thingies and a make a Christmas decoration kit for £1 each. It's basically a 'keep quiet and stay out of Mummy's hair' hamper :o