to refuse to buy into the "Christmas Eve Box" fad?

[HearMeSnore]

I mean, when did this shit start? I never heard of it until this year but now I keep hearing about it in every shop as if it's as essential a part of Christmas as trees and turkeys.

Fortunately it doesn't seem to have made it into DD's hearing yet but I'm dreading being asked "will I get a Christmas Eve box this year?" as if I wasn't already spending most of the Christmas budget on her actual presents.

I'm not a "bah! humbug!" person. I love Christmas. But this is just unashamed capitalist exploitation. Like when the greeting cards industry tries to introduce "secretary's day" and shit like that.

Seriously. Can we make some kind of pact to not do it? Make it die a death before it catches on and we're all pressured into buying even more crap that nobody needs?

Why anything? Why have a birthday party? Why eat chocolate? Why wear earrings?

Is it that difficult to see other people might enjoy something you don't?

We just have our own traditions and enjoy them. Everyone else can do whatever they like. We don't have Xmas Eve boxes, but have massive stockings for the kids. Tree goes up 2 weeks before the big day, no earlier and the kids get a new bauble every year. We have fairy lights round mirrors and pictures all over the house. Holly gets 'acquired' from the local park on Xmas Eve. There is no elf on a shelf or anywhere else. New PJs get left on beds for after bath time on Xmas Eve. We've lots of little food traditions too. I just can't get worked up about other people's traditions.

Knittink it's a way to get small DC to do the bedtime routine, and you look nice in the morning in new PJs. We don't do Christmassy PJs just a new set, so if anyone needs /wants new PJs from October onwards I make them manage until Christmas Eve It's not the law to join in but it costs us around £35 (5 lots of pyjamas and a box of Maltesers) as we already have The Snowman DVD and The Night Before Christmas book.

Personally this is a tradition that my family has done for over 29 years.

We literally have had this since I was around 5, we’d always get a pair of pjs, and a bar of chocolate plus the tickets to a cinema film the morning of Christmas Eve. And that morning we’d go and watch the film, have a McDonald’s lunch and then come home around 1.30pm and out our new pjs on, eat chocolate, watch Christmas films and snuggle until bedtime.

It’s a tradition I’ve kept going with my own children, although I often include a homemade colouring pack and a bath bomb.

20* years

Knittink, what Sweetheartneckline said and as an Adult, I like new Pj's for special occasions. So I've carried on with the tradition.

My 21 year old DD, who lives with me has got the full Grinch PJ/dressing gown set from Primark.

Sorry - haven't RTFT.

I do a Xmas Eve box (well, it's a bag usually - like a pillowcase) for my 3 hoofing great teens.

We started it when they were tiny - new pyjamas, a DVD to watch together & a small toy.

Then xh turned out to be a cheatin' lyin' twat, so I LTB.

Subsequently I moved overseas (fab job offer) with the dc. Xh understandably is unhappy about this, & part of the deal is that he has the kids for a fortnight every Xmas, which I find incredibly tough but y'know I suck it up (& bugger off for a nice winter holiday).

I pack dc a Xmas Eve bag, which these days is pyjamas, a range of nice small gifts & something jokey like a photo mug filled with sweets from our new country.

Then they get on with Big Family Xmas with his family & no further input or interference from me! There'd be a riot if I stopped; kids love the bags & call me Xmas eve to chat.

Buying a Xmas Eve box off the peg? No, that I don't see the point of tbh.

We are doing a different kind of Xmas box... everything has to be collected free for ours. Like a memory box I suppose... we give them to each other, share nice memories and pretend we have a log fire roaring while we do.

Ours won't include pjs or films- sticks, and pine cones and notes we've scribbled or a sachet of jam we nicked from a meal out together type thing

I wonder if pyjama sales have gone up massively over the last few years must be plenty of scope for pyjama designers judging by the number of mumsnetters buying new pjs each year.

@purplecrowbar totally different situation, your idea sounds so lovely and what a sweet way to stay connected with DC while not physically present with them. Really lovely :')

"Buying new pjs each year" is pretty standard surely, especially for DC? They have 3 or 4 sets a year, one of which happens to be given on 24th Dec. DH and I have one new set a year which also happens to arrive on 24th Dec. For me, traditions aren't always about buying extra stuff but planning ahead and making effort so the mundane becomes slightly more interesting.

New onesies - that's it.

We’re not doing it. A box of pre Christmas gifts would only detract from the specialness of gifts on Christmas morning imo.

If a pair of pyjamas and a book in a box would ruin Christmas, your Christmas must be pretty mundane

It’s not about the material value of what’s in the box. It’s the suspense leading up to getting the Christmas gifts that I think it would ruin for me. But each to their own.

@ProfessorMoody, our Christmas is decidedly mundane nowadays. Thank God. It isn't the 'pair of pyjamas' or 'a book' that's the problem. It's the whole idea of yet another sodding thing to sort out (which will invariably be the mother's job). Who invented this crap? Christmas Day is tolerable, just about. But whose idea was it to have all the extras? And who decreed that pyjamas were Christmassy? I'm losing the will, here.

The main thing I remember enjoying as a child was the anticipation on Christmas Eve of wondering what would be in all the packages. If my parents had asked me did I want to open one of my presents early I’d have said no. If they’d have given me a Christmas Eve box I’d have wanted to save it until the morning.
I also resent buyin stuff because retailers make it and have decided it’s a thing. It’s like the ‘to my dog sitter on Valentine’s Day’ or whatever cards you get in Clinton’s.

For the record, I have very few pictures of my DC at Christmas, I always forgot to take them.

This made me laugh, boasting about not taking photos!

Thank fuck I live in a country that doesn't really get "consumerism" which is ironic given it's proximity to the US and the fact that 80% of the folk that live here have more money than sense.
You can buy ready made xmas eve boxes now? (Shrug)

I've been doing my own for years - nothing much, Santa's key, magic reindeer food, Baileys, chocolate, toothbrushes, PJs. Same box year in, year out.
The kids like hanging the key on the front door and scattering the reindeer food, and I like drinking Baileys so everyone's a winner.

Cant get my ladyballs in a twist about this really. Some people sacrifice a shit ton through the year to go all out at Christmas, bloody let them if it makes them happy.

Don't like it, don't do it. I don't like elf on the shelf cos it looks like way too much work, so I don't do it. Don't care if others do it though, good for them for having the imagination!!

No, I don’t do it either, my 10 year old asking for an elf on the shelf....sod that!!!! 🤣

As I've stated upthread, my DH sorts the pyjamas and gets the 70-year-old-so-nothing-new box down and I buy the book.

Buying pyjamas doesn't have a gender.

There is zero chance of buying into this for me. I dont even buy into the whole Christmas bull sh!t. I am not having my life ruled and dictated by capitalist crap like this. I tell people not to buy me anything and i do the same. Anyone asks me what i want for christmas i say nothing. Thankfully i shall be working Christmas day...

Do people really buy new pyjamas every year (once children have stopped growing?). I wear pyjamas every night but have the same four pairs for years, I certainly don’t want any Christmas themed pyjamas.

I don't think one new pair of Pajsmas in a year is that excessive