What on earth is a Christmas Eve box??

[Xmasevewhat]

I've suddenly seen 'Christmas Eve boxes' popping up everywhere. In shops, on Etsy, social feeds. Never even heard of the concept and now all of a sudden it's everywhere.

Can someone explain the point? Seems like they are filled with same kind of things you'd put in a stocking. Be honest, is it just another Instagram fad/ excuse to spend money?

Someone even said cosy pyjamas upthread, not just pyjamas, cosy pyjamas

"Cosiness " especially a "middle class" type is a scourge ! @User136921

As if you don't know what a Christmas Eve box is. The name alone is pretty self explanatory.

Why can't people just enjoy things anymore? If it isn't your thing then fine, but let others have a little bit of enjoyment in this shit world.

@Bleakmidwinter1977 true.... I will give you that one 😂😂😂

Someone even said cosy pyjamas upthread, not just pyjamas, cosy pyjamas

Good alive! Report!

Shame my reply was deleted! I thought this was a forum. Apparently it's just a hate fest fir the uneducated.

I always gave my DS either a new hot water bottle or pjs whichever was needed, a “special tea”
(picky bits on a tray) a new bubble bath, usually Matey did a Santa Matey or Rudolph Matey and we always read from the same book, think it was Babar the Elephants first Christmas. Didn’t realise it was a “thing”, I just wanted him to have nicer Christmas memories than I had. Haven’t even got photos, but we enjoyed it!

Appalling!😱

Or the UK? These have been on the go for about 10 years now.

Personally I don’t get the wrath they incur on MN. I’ve bought my kids and I a new pair of Christmas pjs and woolly socks to open on Christmas Eve each year for about 7 years. We love it and yes I have an excess of tartan pjs but I do wear them all.

Ha! I did think Ohhh if only there was a way to find out . Like Google
But the OP used the internet to find MN so , meh . Job Done .

They seem to be a way of turning generally normal items you'd give to your children, without ceremony, into a special event.

Yep, you said it @Bleakmidwinter1977

It's the 'little ceremonies " that are fun and are remembered.

Ours is very different to stocking presents.

We do a global Christmas card exchange, so we send and receive cards from all over the world so the DC can see different languages, stamps, cultures etc. All the cards go in the Christmas Eve box and we open that afternoon all together.

There is a pop up Robert Sabuda Night Before Christmas, which eldest DC had from tiny and we read this every year all together as we all go to bed.

Each year in stockings, all DC get a traditional wind up toy, and after Christmas, these go into the box for next year, so these all come out and we play with the 15 or so that have accumulated and set them all off racing.

Whichever PJ's we're all wearing, are folded and in there. Our box is actually a large wooden chest so plenty of room.

Finally theres the Lanka Kade wooden Father Christmas, reindeer, snowmen etc that DTwins got for their first Christmas, that come out and DC set them up along the fireplace, with mince pie and carrot.

No tat. Nothing extra bought in. Just something lovely on Christmas Eve.

Your saviour, not mine.

You have surely not failed to see them in recent years. Hated by all on mumsnet.
I do one for my children. It has absolutely no tat in and i fill it with things we would use anyway. It started as an innocuous activity that me and my ex husband could.do with the children. Christmas can.be hard when divorced. I make no apologies for it. I do however judge the miserable people who choose to bother themselves with a non compulsory activity that they do not involve themselves in. I also judge those to declare they are full of tat. Stop being mean. We all have family traditions that don't appeal to others. If you don't like them, move on and take your judge pants off.

Yes, it's called making moments of connection, happiness and family ritual. A good thing.

Not really for you this thread about Christmas then, is it?

Why always pyjamas? How many pairs of PJs does everyone need?! I have visions of houses full of pairs of pyjamas.

Well the heathens have robbed Christmas and give children unscheduled pyjamas and ill advised evening hot chocolate. What a world.

Haha! Imagine giving someone a sachet of instant coffee and saying "merry Christmas! Treat yoself" 😂

Two. One on, one in the wash, changed on Saturday night. If your children are cheeky enough to grow, let them never expect a warm leg, stomach or arm again.

@SwordToFlamethrower Christmas is actually when I buy a bunch of fancy/novelty flavours of hot chocolate/coffee/tea.
I don't tend to buy them the rest of the year.

Ah finally we’re ‘on trend’ after doing Christmas Eve boxes for the last 28 years! When they were small it was things like a Christmas book or colouring book and crayons or a chocolate Santa etc. But since they’re grown it’s sort of got out of hand over the years… there’s been stupid hats, utterly useless gifts, cleaning stuff, booze, fags, lottery tickets, scratch cards, condoms etc etc and our newest one is to put in the box one really shit item from a charity shop that has to cost less than a fiver and then over the holidays they have to secretly place that gift at a friend’s or other family member’s house and take a picture of it in situ as proof. Totally stupid and childish but we love it!

Excuse to buy more tat! The only thing I think I may give my kids when they’re old enough is some new pyjamas so they can wake up in them and feel all fresh and new. But all the other stuff I just see as more stuff that you don’t really need.

Yes, but there seem to be lots of adults always getting new Christmas PJs too. I dunno, my kids are in the same PJs they were in last winter and they'll last through this winter (and the younger one's in hand me down ones anyway). I'm not saying I never buy new pyjamas, it just seems like any mention of a Christmas Eve box always, always has pyjamas, which makes me think there must be a massive market in pyjamas!

Not for Christians either - Christmas was invented to stop pagans from celebrating Winter Solstice in their naughty pagan ways. If there was such a person as Jesus, he wasn’t born on the 25th of December. He certainly didn’t care for stockings or hot chocolate (with a drop of Baileys for the grown ups). Pagans however, wouldnt mind a tipple and going a bit mad this time of year, whatever kept us warm and entertained during the darkest days…