christmas present from parents. Stocking from santa. AIBU to not get it?

[BazilGin]

Help me out here please. DH and I are having a disagreement about Christmas traditions. We always try to compromise, as I come from Poland and our traditions are very different, but there is one I just don't get. St Nick always used to 'bring us' all the presents under the tree when I was a child. The anticipation, the magic of it I still remember to this day.
In DH's family, santa always brings stocking presents (i.e. Chocolate, socks and other cheap tat. The main presents are from your parents, aunts etc AIBU not to get this one at all? What's the point of actually telling the kids all about Santa if all he brings are a few chocolate buttons and some pants?
Please explain to me how it works in this country, thanks!

I wonder how much difference santa actually makes. I think we can be fairly confident that the kids would all be bouncing off the walls and throwing up with excitement if there was no santa, they knew where the gifts were coming from but they were still counting down the days until they got a shedload of new toys and to eat their bodyweight in selection boxes

Sometimes I think the whole santa thing is actually to make it more fun for us! and the kids would be just as excited no matter where the gifts come from.

Mine are teens now. I am unable to sleep on christmas eve, wake up about 5 am and pace about for an hour until I am allowed to begin coughing loudly outside their bedroom door.

gosh if Santa put pants and toothbrush into DC's stockings they would be gutted - what a tight old git he must be1

My two are too old to believe now but we've always dibecrhecstickings from Santa , presents from people thing

Santa is just a delivery man. Thatcwayvthe school always knew we were paying for everything & so presents has to be budgeted for.

Cheers guys, I think it's difficult because the idea of 'how it works' is usually what you grew up and clearly different for all. i already had to compromise on a lot, (which I don't mind that much), like giving up the main celebration AND giving presents on Christmas Eve. i think we need to compromise here. if santa brings stocking presents, I am getting a bigger stocking!!

Can't you split the difference. People buy the gifts, send them to Santa to bring on Christmas Eve. If you've been naughty, Santa will know!

Therefore, family get the credit for the presents, but Santa the delivery guy still features as a very important part of things!

When my kids were little it all came from us, tree presents, sticking the lot. I wasn't having some scary old gent getting the credit for my generosity! Bah humbug ;)

PS my kids were genuinely scared about the notion of a stranger coming down the chimney into their room at night. Fair enough.

The way we do it is presents from relatives are from them and all the presents DH and I put out for Christmas morning are from Santa.

We also give them a small gift to open on Christmas Eve from the both of us.

There are no rules.

I intend on doing stockings and generic jigsaws DVDs etc from Santa and things specifically asked for from parents. Relatives will be from relatives.

I was also one of the children who were terrified of Santa coming into the house when we all slept so I was put out of my misery pretty quickly and was told Santa had bought a stocking for me with a big comedy wink from dad

Growing up, Father Christmas was mostly just a delivery man - in that main presents, which were delivered in sacks after we went to bed on Christmas Eve not sat under the tree for weeks, were mostly addressed to us from the relevant family member. However some would be signed from the big man, and I vividly remember asking why Father Christmas had Grandma's handwriting. Now I have a DD of my own I wish I remembered the response quite so clearly!

We do stocking (chocolate and small tat) & selection box from santa.

Santa also does main present and a selection of other presents (usually about 5 or 6 presents total).

All other presents are from whoever bought them, usually from us the kids get pyjamas, slippers, pants, socks etc and about 3 or 4 bigger presents (toys, books etc).

The result is that we get no kudos for getting them their main present, but it makes me smile when santa 'overrides my rules' about what presents they are allowed (eg when santa got my eldest got a tv for his room and I had explicitly said that he was not allowed one until he was 12).

According to my parents, we had presents from relatives and presents from Santa. Nothing was from them. I started querying this age 4. They made up some gobbledygook about buying us things at other times of year so not needing to get us anything at Christmas. I stopped believing in Santa by age 6.

It really confused me that my parents were supposed to love us more than anyone, and tried to instil the whole "the joy is in the giving" message with presents yet didn't buy us anything for Christmas, while buying for each other and receiving presents from us.

So DH and I do it differently. We do stockings from Santa, bigger presents from us. It's a vain attempt to have the kids believing for longer, plus I think it's mean to pretend there are no presents from parents.

In our house, Father Christmas gives the stocking and a small pile of pressies (books, games things and things that don't actually fit in the stocking).

We used to say all of the pressies came from FC but since the children are older and probably don't believe but are keeping their options open and are sharing an expensive present this year, the main pressie comes from us and has done for a while.

My problem with saying all the presents that arrived on Christmas morning were from FC is that the DC could wonder why everybody else gives them presents but not their parents! That wouldn't have occurred to them as very small children but I am pretty sure they would be wondering now!

We have never said that presents from outside the family come from FC. That would be just weird when the children will have seen them delivered by whoever gave them or the postie. Plus it would be rude not to acknowledge presents from other people and it means that children don't get that Christmas is about giving as well as receiving because they miss out that some presents are part of an exchange of gifts.

Cross post with Evertonmint there! That is exactly my point - why don't your parents give you anything if all the pressies are from FC?

All main presents are delivered by Santa and from him.
Presents from aunts and uncles etc are 'sent' to Santa for him to deliver.
Mummy and daddy always send a book to Santa so child doesn't think you got them nothing.
Kids don't know what poor children get for Christmas so they can't compare.
Children only generally believe in Santa until they are about 6/7/8/9 at the most so does it matter if Santa gets the credit for the money you send, they will know the truth one day and surely be grateful for the memories and the magic yo created for them.

Bit rude burberree

Obviously that's not all that goes in. Anyway, tis a family tradition, and as the thread shows everybody has their own Christmas traditions.

nobody does it the same OP most families have their own traditions about who brings what to who

We tell dd she doesn't need a big present form us because Santa brings her so much!

In our house Santa brings things that keeps DD quiet and amused for a couple of hours, book, DVD, chocolate buttons, a small piece of Playmobil and a satsuma and some nuts. The last two will be ignored but I always got them as a child so its part of the tradition.

We have never done stockings - never did as a child; neither did DH.

Here FC brings one special gift. It is never wrapped, always set up ready to play with/use and often traces of magic santa dust is visible too.
Started when she was 20mo - FC brough Baby Annabel. Over years has included doll's pram, Happy Land, Sylvanian Famiies building/accessories. etc.
This year FC is bringing a remote control helicopter - something 11y DD has hankered after for a while but never had one.

Other gifts are under the tree with name labels on, so people can be thanked for their gifts. As we collect them from people they usually go under the tree. However, the ones from us wait until Christmas Eve so DD gets the "wow" moment.

When she was little almost all were kept til Christmas Eve as FC is more of the delivery man here. That was his role when me and DH were little too.

interesting about the satsuma and nuts - they always go in our stockings too as my mother did in mine - i suspect that when she was a child during the war, her santa stocking ONLY had satsuma and nuts in it.

FC only delivers to children here too. Not to grown ups.

father Christmas (fuck off with your Santa ) brings all the gifts at ours. Though family tell him what they might like so they can still say thanks to relatives. Always the way we did it as kids and the "magic" wasn't disbelieved until about age 6 8.

I don't like the stocking from santa idea or the "we sent the money" thing. It smacks of making Christmas even more commercial, like Father Christmas is some kind of payment plan and adults giving to children young enough to believe should prize their happy faces and joy of giving more than the "credit" of I have you that.

*gave

In our house we do Christam eve package from the elves (PJ's, slippers, Cheapo Xmas DVD, Santa key - to hang outside as we have no chimney).
Stocking from Santa - lots of small tat but including the one actual present she has written to Santa and asked nicely for (limits Santa expectation)
Everything under the tree from whoever bought it and the cats

Santa gives the stocking, everything else is from the person that bought it.

I don't think it's on to expect parents and relatives to trek round the shops spending their hard earned cash on presents, never to get a thank you or acknowledgement as 'Santa' gets all the credit for the gift?

Seems odd to me and not in the spirit of giving and receiving.