To hate the idea of Christmas Eve hampers?

[leobear]

I know, I know.....Scrooge! But surely the magic of Christmas Eve is the simplicity of it, and the anticipation of what is to come. A hamper is really a big box of presents, and feels to me like overkill. But maybe I'm just a misery guts!

We just have new pyjamas and usually a new tree decoration for them to hang on the tree before bed. Gets them to bed nicely :o

Charity gifts are fine if you ask for them in replacement for a present you would have received. Not so great to forfeit someone else's present though.

rag marks always have nice pj's, also tesco's do some nice non character ones.

i feel the need to buy new pjs now.. i havnt brought any since january.

I'm working class with pride then.

I'd rather that than have my head up my arse because i can't deal with people being different.

On a different note, this thread has given me the great idea of adding a bottle of fizz for me and dh to the hamper.

My Christmas preparations consist of streamlining and minimising the effort, not thinking of more stuff to buy. If my kids need new pyjamas then they'll need them at the start of winter, not half way through.
Are the people who do hampers and some business with an elf and a shelf and homemade crackers etc the same ones who buy the mountain of chocolates and biscuits in every shop?

I always did Christmas Eve Gift bags, my eldest is 28, that was before Sky and I still only buy a DVD if there isn't a film we want to watch scheduled.

I do Christmas, Easter etc pj's. My middle DD's Birthday is in the 1st so a Christmas Themed gift, usually a soft toy was given to my other girls.

My DH and I and now my eldest DD are lucky to have time off, but used to book, Christmas Eve and part of Christmas day off. The same with Easter ,if you work in around the clock services, then it is nice to make an occasion and reason to ignore what is happening or needs doing and spend time together.

I don't celebrate "Christmas" though, I celebrate the solstice and the whole Winter Festival, which is spread out over more than one day, as should Christmas be, it is a period of celebration. So I have no interest in what is happening in my local Churches and we walk the dog daily.

Pj's need buying, whether you do that routinely, or on occasions is your business and waiting for key points in the year to give gifts doesn't mean that you are materialistic, or that the celebration is just about the gifts given.

I do Christmas Eve sacks, mainly what goes in them is things we do/own anyway. Christmas stocking ready to be hung up, Father Christmas magic key and The Night Before Christmas book.

The things in them that are new each are a book, pyjamas and a pair of slippers. Slippers they need, pyjamas they need so the book is the only extra.

When I was a child my Mum made choosing new outfit's for Christmas Day a fun special thing and gave us one present on Christmas Eve. It was fun, it didn't spoil Christmas or make us spoiled. This is my own variant for my children.

I don't really care what other people thing about it, I am not doing it to please other people I do what works for my family as I am sure other people do what works for them and their own family.

I did feel the urge to weigh in on the defense of the Christmas Eve hamper side though, so I suppose I must care a little!

Yeah, that whole new pyjamas on Christmas Eve is a new one to me.
I figure that as long as I can keep wrestling my 9 year old into his age 5 astronaut set, we're good with what we have, thanks.
Which leaves more money to spend on good vino for me and the old fella.

Good Heavens, it's nothing to do with class, I really don't care what other people do so long as they don't make me feel mean or unfestive for not doing it. Each to their own.

We don't do a hamper as St Nicholas brings our new Pjs and Xmas DVDs on Dec 6th but we do have that special pre Xmas treat and it's in the same vein as the hamper.
I think the point that so many posters are missing is that it isn't MORE stuff. It is stuff that probably would have gone under the tree and wouldn't have felt so special next to the new bike or doll or Xbox but on its own, on another day, a new pair of Pjs is a wonderful treat.
If you don't want to do it, fine but why bitch about others doing it? We celebrate advent all month long with treats and foods and gifts and special rituals. My older kids are nearly adults, the eldest is in the eyes of the law and they love re-creating these rituals every year especially now they can watch their little sister enjoy it.
Far from being materialistic I think it is far more in the spirit of Christmas than chucking the kids in front of the tv so the parents can get drunk or just putting all the gifts in a pile under the tree because the 25th is allegedly designated as the only day that gifts can be given over the festive period.
Special isn't in the buying it's in the presentation, the familiarity, the excitement and leading up to not just the 25th but to other days too.
And just to piss the naysayers off massively I usually keep a board game back and give it to the family on Boxing Day as it's the only day DH is off work. Again, not spending extra, just not giving the gift that is within my budget on the 25th because it more exciting for the kids to open it with both parents there and ready to play it.

Who has time to swan around in festive flannel PJs drinking hot chocolate and having family film time on Xmas eve? Surely it's the peak night for manic wrapping, food prep, arguing and gin swigging?

A much better tradition is cheesy festive knitted jumpers, as per colin firth!

"Are the people who do hampers and some business with an elf and a shelf and homemade crackers etc the same ones who buy the mountain of chocolates and biscuits in every shop?"

They are probably bought more for gifts, for relatives, Lollypop people ( my mum was one) and school staff/friends. As well as people having friends/ family round, don't understand why you would think that they would be bought for Christmas Eve gifts, although snacks are a part of having a DVD night, obviously.

We'll do food prep in morning, then walk/carol service, back to find the hampers, early bath for kiddies and then dinner of party type food in front of film. Then send the children to bed and drink wine. I do like to be organized and finish my wrapping before Xmas eve though.

We always had new pjs for Christmas Eve (I'm in my 30's) so it's not new to me, but calling it a hamper is.

So the people who say starting this as a family tradition is forced & too try-hard - how do you think ANY tradition began? Do you bother with decorations or a tree? Isn't that also geared around setting a scene/creating a festive atmosphere with the people you love?

If people you don't even know want to do something special within their families, what on earth does it matter to anyone on here?

So YANBU if you think Christmas Eve Hampers are crap, but YABU to think that everyone else should too.

I did a Christmas Eve hamper last year and will do one this year. Last year it had a nativity book, some nativity stickers, a Minnie Mouse sleepsuit and a couple of decorations for the christmas tree. and some chocolate wise men. Hopefully the fact that we also spent Christmas Eve afternoon doing craft and family service at church and went to church on Christmas morning will satisfy your "ritual" requirement

We are observant CofE and religion plays a big part of our lives. So we make a big deal of christmas

"Who has time to swan around in festive flannel PJs drinking hot chocolate and having family film time on Xmas eve? Surely it's the peak night for manic wrapping, food prep, arguing and gin swigging?"

People who are organised, Christmas falls on the same date every year and as everyone likes to point out, the shops are already stocked.

I have some presents wrapped, already and I don't buy for any other adults except my children, one niece ( who doesn't have parents) and my Mum. I don't do cards because of the environmental impact, except for relatives over 70. I have never over stretched myself, everyone pitches in, my DH used to cook dinner.

We are also making a yearly trip to either Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park (we are in Liverpool) as part of our celebrations, or the Blue Lagoon, Christmas can be however you want it to be.

I also have never heard of Christmas eve hampers before. A bit overkill for me tbh but whatever suits other people I suppose.
Despite having teens the Christmas fairy still pays us a visit early evening on Xmas eve with new pjs. That's our tradition along with nice nibbles nuts anf baileys.

thestringcheesemassacre

What you are getting is a lovely Xmas hamper, not the same thing.

Personally I have never (and probably never will) experienced this but it seems to be about having special things on Xmas eve, like the new PJs

We're far from on the breadline, but my children's main presents this year will be a dvd each that they like, new funky coloured pyjamas, an annual of their favourite characters/shows, a pre loved football strip for ds2 and a pre loved scooter for ds1, a jigsaw and a couple of books for ds1, and a chess set for ds2 The idea of doing nearly half of that list just for Christmas Eve extras makes me realise just how much other families do have available to spend, and makes me a bit sad for us if I'm honest. Yet at the same time I can't help but feel that the rampant consumerism we see in the media fuels these sorts of things and that we're surely missing a trick in teaching our children what Christmas is really about, whether or not you are religious - celebrating and being thankful for family and friends, for being privileged enough to be able to give and receive some carefully chosen thoughtful gifts, no matter how small.

We do have one set of friends who spend over a thousand pounds on their children at Christmas, just on presents, nearly £400 each at a minimum (they have three). Not to mention all the food, drink, decorations, trips (pantomime, ice skating etc) over the period. They're a very wealthy household but it's just so much, so much stuff. And their children are not particularly grateful either, it has to be said, because they're so used to getting it every year.

I don't know where I'm going with this, except feeling a little bit sad and sorry for myself!

Love Christmas, love traditions, old and new.

Just wish I had time to do more in between the spud-bashing, gin swigging and cleaning the house.

I do mix glitter into porridge oats and tell the d
DCs that it's reindeer food, tho. Added food colouring one year, took months for it to fade.

Can someone please explain why a Christmas eve hamper is very working class and why would being working class be something negative?

As I said on the Christmas thread, I thunk hampers for children are OTT. It is new PJS and a hot chocolate in this house, does that make us working class?

It doesn't have to cost a fortune though Sparkle and the comparison with the people who spend £1000 per child is ludicrous.
Primark Pjs £4, Xmas DVD from the HMV Xmas sale £3 so to me that is affordable and I'd buy a big chocolate thing like a chocolate orange or new novelty socks for under the tree to go with the football strip and scooter and give the Pjs on Xmas eve.

There are some very wild assumptions on this thread.
New pj's & slippers on Christmas Eve is absolutely not an MN'ism. Nor, I would add, is it a strictly "working class" concept.

I started giving new nightclothes - 'ready for Santa' - to my DC's , back in the late 1970's long before MN was even imagined.
The idea was passed to me by my godmother for whom it was a family tradition, and which I believe was also passed on to various other families who spent Christmas with them over the years.

I rang her this afternoon to ask where the tradition originated, and she thinks that her mother's nanny introduced the idea - so that takes it back to the 1900's or thereabouts? hardly 'modern'!

I suppose it could be said that the nanny was working class and perhaps that her sewing of new nightdresses was simply an autumn occupation. However, it is a bloody certainty that she wasn't on MN