Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think Christmas Eve boxes are absolutely ridiculous and unnecessary?

999 replies

dressinggownwearer · 19/10/2020 07:14

Just that really. Do children not get enough at Christmas without giving them even more the day before?! What are Christmas Eve boxes even for/full of that can't wait until Christmas Day?! Am I being mean and a grinch or do people agree?

OP posts:
Waxonwaxoff0 · 20/10/2020 07:39

@notfromstepford that's literally what most people put in the boxes, so you are doing it just without the box.

myhobbyisouting · 20/10/2020 07:40

Wow @DillonPanthersTexas, that's really impressive that you don't wrap presents, or indeed buy excessive packaged goods to prevent landfill.

Me getting out the same old cup and books out will have a real damaging effect though Grin

MadameBlobby · 20/10/2020 07:41

I agree, same as advent boxes, Christmas PJs, and that bastard elf. Still if people want to waste their money on that guff it’s no skin off my nose.

Amanduh · 20/10/2020 07:49

We love them. Pj’s, Christmas book to read on Christmas Eve, plate for Santa (same one reused every year) and some activity stuff to do on Christmas Eve (colouring or craft related) and something sweet. What’s the problem with that? You could argue about anything being ‘unnecessary’ at Christmas.

TheEmpressOfUtterBastardry · 20/10/2020 07:54

Agree OP. It's always a surprise how far people allow themselves to be swallowed up by competitive materialism and meaningless tat.

And will people PLEASE stop writing ' Xmas ' and use the correct word. Hmm

ShebaShimmyShake · 20/10/2020 08:04

@TheKeatingFive

I guess those landfill holes are not going to fill themselves

Have you even read the thread and figured out what people are putting in the boxes?

Of course she has. Sweet milky FILTH! Pyjamas that are nothing but senseless waste because kids outgrow them and wear something else in July! (But only if you put them in a box for opening the night before. They're fine if you give them in wrapping paper on the day.) A DVD that literally RUINS CHRISTMAS because KIDS THESE DAYS will never know the MAGIC of not watching a film and having a drink the night before! Mindless consumerism, but only if you put the stuff in a box on Christmas Eve! And there's TOTALLY NO CLASS JUDGEMENT!!!!

And an OP who kicked this particular one off in OCTOBER and swears she didn't know what she was doing!

If you liked this one, by the way, you'll also enjoy the ones about Louis Vuitton bags and how to look rich.

Hurtandupset2 · 20/10/2020 08:22

We don't do them as such, but for the last 20yrs on Christmas Eve, my DC received a new set of PJs (not specifically Christmassy) and a new, smart outfit for Christmas day.

This was mainly because they grew out of things more quickly when they were small, so it was something they needed anyway. The PJs would be one of only 2 or 3 sets and would be used until outgrown.

I also make a special homemade, decadent hot chocolate for them to drink on Christmas Eve, which they only have once a year on this day as it's highly calorific.

We stopped buying PJs for Christmas Eve once the DC weren't growing out of them so quickly, and therefore didn't need them anymore. It feels very much like Christmas is now about proving to others how much you care by posting it all on SM and buying things just for the sake of it.
Elf on the shelf wasn't a thing when mine were younger and isn't something I'd do anyway.

lazylinguist · 20/10/2020 08:27

Agree OP. It's always a surprise how far people allow themselves to be swallowed up by competitive materialism and meaningless tat.

It's always a surprise how some people are happy to regard the things they like to buy as perfectly reasonable purchases, but the things that other people buy as meaningless tat.

TheKeatingFive · 20/10/2020 08:30

Sweet milky FILTH! Pyjamas that are nothing but senseless waste because kids outgrow them and wear something else in July! (But only if you put them in a box for opening the night before. They're fine if you give them in wrapping paper on the day.) A DVD that literally RUINS CHRISTMAS because KIDS THESE DAYS will never know the MAGIC of not watching a film and having a drink the night before! Mindless consumerism, but only if you put the stuff in a box on Christmas Eve! And there's TOTALLY NO CLASS JUDGEMENT!!!!

Great summary Grin

TheKeatingFive · 20/10/2020 08:33

If people were actually concerned with minimising meaningless tat (rather than dissing traditions that are ‘beneath’ them), there’s a lot more scope in attacking Christmas tree decorations and crackers than hot chocolate, PJs and a DVD.

But somehow those equally unimaginative traditions get Carte Blanche (comparatively).

It’s very interesting.

ShebaShimmyShake · 20/10/2020 08:33

@TheKeatingFive

Sweet milky FILTH! Pyjamas that are nothing but senseless waste because kids outgrow them and wear something else in July! (But only if you put them in a box for opening the night before. They're fine if you give them in wrapping paper on the day.) A DVD that literally RUINS CHRISTMAS because KIDS THESE DAYS will never know the MAGIC of not watching a film and having a drink the night before! Mindless consumerism, but only if you put the stuff in a box on Christmas Eve! And there's TOTALLY NO CLASS JUDGEMENT!!!!

Great summary Grin

I forgot the poster for whom Christmas Eve boxes warranted not one but two disapproving emojis, including the angry red-faced one, and a desire to shout at people. She even called them "bastards".

And peace to men on earth!

Rezega · 20/10/2020 08:34

Loved my Xmas Eve box as a kid, new pyjamas, chocolate coins, Clementine a new book.

HazeyJaneII · 20/10/2020 08:53

@TheEmpressOfUtterBastardry

Agree OP. It's always a surprise how far people allow themselves to be swallowed up by competitive materialism and meaningless tat.

And will people PLEASE stop writing ' Xmas ' and use the correct word. Hmm

I am surprised by the overuse of the phrase 'meaningless tat', and I'm not sure some pyjamas and chocolate in a cardboard box really fall into that category. What the blarb is wrong with the word Xmas...is this something else the plans can get wrong?
listsandbudgets · 20/10/2020 08:57

Don't get this thing about pyjamas being g a waste of money. DD and DS are still wearing the ones they got last Christmas and I think DD may even have the ones from year before that though maybe a bit short in the leg now

TheKeatingFive · 20/10/2020 09:01

new pyjamas, chocolate coins, Clementine a new book.

MEANINGLESS TAT.

Grin
Waxonwaxoff0 · 20/10/2020 09:10

Some chocolate and pyjamas, soooooo materialistic. Slaves to consumerism! Hmm

Rezega · 20/10/2020 09:18

@TheKeatingFive

new pyjamas, chocolate coins, Clementine a new book.

MEANINGLESS TAT.

Grin

Ten year old me apologises for causing the destruction of the planet and contributing to tobscene consumerism by receiving my box of tat Grin
ShebaShimmyShake · 20/10/2020 09:19

Why are the anti boxers so determined to believe that it's all about rampant competitive social-media consumerism when that isn't borne out by anything the boxers have said or done?

Or is it the "woman on Facebook whom I haven't seen for 15 years" phenomenon?

speakout · 20/10/2020 09:31

I agree-.

I use the same wicker baskets as boxes every year.
The stuff inside them is things tat get used- socks, bath bombs, or edibles, chocolate, sweets, alcohol.
No plastic tat, very little waste.

I am assuming those complaining don't give gifts on christmas day either- isn't that ramapant consumerism too?

Fluffybutter · 20/10/2020 09:39

Can’t believe this thread has evolved from what we should be giving to our children to WHEN we should be giving things to our children !
I’ll give Christmas /winter pyjamas when I want to ,not when some anal harpy tells me I should because we’ll “get the appropriate amount of wear” out of them.
Hilarious .
Again, dd would happily wear Christmas pyjamas every day of the year ,she doesn’t care so neither should anyone else

BiBabbles · 20/10/2020 09:43

Many traditions look 'absolutely ridiculous' when broken down and pretty much all holiday things would fail if we asked if they were necessary. Most of the points of holidays is coming together to do things that aren't entirely needed but bring a lot of meaning, interest, and pleasure to our lives.

Like Christmas trees - how ridiculous is it to take up space in the house with a tree in the house for a few weeks and store a bunch of items purely for it's decoration, with many trends and traditions that involve getting new things for a tree ever year (if not buying a whole new tree entirely). Many of the decorations increase the risk of fire and the destruction that can happen when they topple over. It's just a unnecessary and wasteful tradition.

So I simply don't do them (I haven't done Christmas since being a teenager) and still think if celebrated that my maternal grandparents with their little old ceramic tree that sat on the wooden box TV as decor then just handed out presents seems a lot more sensible and relaxing than anything my parents or anyone I know with a tree in their house did.

But what I find relaxing and enjoyable doesn't matter in how others celebrate their traditions. I can recognize many others love them, even if I do not understand why (decorating trees outside I mostly get & can appreciate from a distance, inside it just seems like risky clutter) and recognize that for every Elf on Shelf new thing being sold at people, there is something like Christmas Eve boxes which have been a long standing tradition in many communities for quite a long time. They're only considered new because they're being spread more from places where that's been the norm for decades or even longer and some businesses have chosen to co-opt it.

That doesn't change what it matters to people anymore than there now being Día de Muertos merchandice in many places doesn't change what the holiday means to me, it just means we get more options. Pick what you want and leave the rest, that's how traditions have always passed on.

RufustheSniggeringReindeer · 20/10/2020 09:43

Its dds birthday a few days before Christmas and she gets pjs for her birthday AS WELL AS CHRISTMAS EVE 😱

I do hope I’m not doing anything wrong by giving them to her ON HER ACTUAL BIRTHDAY

Two loads of tat...I’m so ashamed

Yesterdayforgotten · 20/10/2020 09:47

'Again, dd would happily wear Christmas pyjamas every day of the year ,she doesn’t care so neither should anyone else'

I don't see how she could in a hot summer for example, you couldn't do that with none Christmas themed winter pjs either. Surely you mean in the cold season only and not all year around! Also I wouldn't want an 'anal harpie' as you put it judging others for not getting Christmas boxes because it is apparently 'the done thing' either. It works both ways. Live and let live. Accept everyone has their own traditions and they may not be yours...

QueenofLean · 20/10/2020 09:48

I’ve got DD some thick wintery pyjamas for her birthday at the end of November. Is this wrong, because she’ll only wear them until next spring when it’s too hot for them? What is she supposed to wear to bed in the winter??

RufustheSniggeringReindeer · 20/10/2020 09:48

And ive just remembered

We do (Family) boxing day presents as well 😱

(Thats my dads fault to be fair...)

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.