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Original poster

What on earth is a Christmas Eve box??

642 replies

Xmasevewhat · 04/12/2023 14:58

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?

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sunglassesonthetable · 04/12/2023 18:32

These are cosy pyjamas though, wouldn't they be hot in the summer

When my kids were growing up they would have summer pjs and cosy winter ones. There were hand me downs and new ones involved. More to do with growing than capitalist excesses tbh.

Puffinshop · 04/12/2023 18:33

enchantedsquirrelwood · 04/12/2023 18:10

That sounds really nice. You have the book event too don't you?

Show quote history

No, that's an internet meme. There's a word in Icelandic that means the phenomenon where loads of books are published and bought in the run up to Christmas. It's not an event as such.

I just found out this year that some people think the word means giving people books and chilling out on Christmas Eve, but that's not what it means. It doesn't even really make sense in an Icelandic context where the 24th is the main meal and present giving and everything.

I think people are just retconnning something that's obviously a well established UK tradition, trying to make it sound more exotic or legit or something 😄

HardHeartedHarbingerofHaggis · 04/12/2023 18:33

Do you not have different pyjamas for different seasons? I have strappy vests and 3/4 or shorts bottoms in the summer and long leg long sleeve in the winter. Long leg and short sleeve for in between temperatures.

sunglassesonthetable · 04/12/2023 18:34

They're boys and they don't wear any now. 🤷‍♀️

No Christmas Eve boxes for them.

Kath85 · 04/12/2023 18:34

I used to get one from my parents and I’m 39 so definitely not a new idea!

2dogsandabudgie · 04/12/2023 18:36

Never had Christmas Eve boxes but when we were children we had a "tree present" which we were allowed to open on Christmas Eve. It had to be small enough to be hidden in the branches of the Christmas tree

Riapia · 04/12/2023 18:36

Picture a box that once contained a fridge.
That is the size of an MN Christmas Eve box.

paradoxicalfrog · 04/12/2023 18:40

2dogsandabudgie · 04/12/2023 18:36

Never had Christmas Eve boxes but when we were children we had a "tree present" which we were allowed to open on Christmas Eve. It had to be small enough to be hidden in the branches of the Christmas tree

As children in the 50s and 60s, our "tree presents" were opened on Boxing Day afternoon.

sunglassesonthetable · 04/12/2023 18:43

In the 70s /80s we had more little presents from 'The Snowhouse' . This was Christmas Day tea time. This was a box covered in tin foil and cotton wool which my Granny had made. This was a tradition from her childhood.

sunglassesonthetable · 04/12/2023 18:44

If I ever get DGC I might revive that one. 😄👌🏼

Nonoatchristmas · 04/12/2023 18:46

Riapia · 04/12/2023 18:36

Picture a box that once contained a fridge.
That is the size of an MN Christmas Eve box.

This is hilarious (and sadly true in their minds).

But this is the same MN who thinks that parents should only give (if I remember correctly) ‘something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read’. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it to be fair so may be misquoting, but middle class Christmas and birthdays always sounded so miserable.

I can’t wait for my kids to open their new iPhone 15, air pods, air books, Nike airs, air from Mars… the good old fashioned poor people Christmas with a pile higher than the tree 🥹. Hopefully they’ll have energy to open it all, it will take a few hours to get through their Xmas eve box after all…

Nowherenew · 04/12/2023 18:50

I thought this was quite an old thing.

I’ve always given presents to my DD on Xmas eve.

Its usually PJs, slippers and a dvd, which we put on as our Christmas Eve tradition.

They are something I need to buy anyway, so it’s just a good excuse to have them as part of our Xmas tradition.

SnapBang · 04/12/2023 18:56

I like spreading the joy out a bit through the whole season. We have a lot of fun treating the DC throughout December, with gifts as well as days out, activities, crafts, family cooking and just good quality extra time spent together.

We have wooden Christmas Eve boxes that were gifted on their first Christmas by a family member (who made them). They sit under the tree and are given to the DC on Christmas Eve, filled with new pyjamas and a nice bath treat. It’s just a little something from us to the DC and something they enjoy on a special night of the year. I could give them new pyjamas on Christmas Day but they’re enjoyed more the night before and they like going to bed ready for Santa in special pyjamas. It’s really not something to get worked up over.

NonPlayerCharacter · 04/12/2023 18:57

They're a completely brand new thing invented so that Mumsnetters could be performatively horrified at how extravagant and working class they clearly must be, and assert how much more tasteful, spiritual and middle class their Christmases are.

TerfTalking · 04/12/2023 19:03

Luxell934 · 04/12/2023 15:13

Nevermind Christmas Eve boxes I've seen lots of people doing 1st of December boxes for their children now. Full of very cool instagram worthy junk.

No way? That’s ridiculous, next year it will be the 12 boxes of Christmas.

superplumb · 04/12/2023 19:05

It's not a trend. My nan was german and gave these to my mum and auntie when they were children 60 years ago. Traditionally its pjs hot chocolate and German biscuits and a book. I also do these for my children but minus the German biscuits because they don't like them

AdobeWanKenobi · 04/12/2023 19:06

Everyone does Christmas differently and their families have different traditions. Who knew?
😂😂

SomethingFun · 04/12/2023 19:09

It’s just so conformist. Pjs and hot choc. Maybe a book, maybe a bath bomb. We have all these traditions we’ve inherited which are a really different to modern life (a giant tree inside, vodka margarine, crackers, panto) and these new ones people are trying to make happen are really middle of the road. I’d say Xmas eve boxes are the epitome of lower middle class conformity and keeping up with the Jones’s regardless of whether the pics are shared on social media or whether the box is full of stuff from Poundland or Fortnums 😛

squeekychicken · 04/12/2023 19:10

Xmas eve boxes are not new. I've been doing them for my dc since they were little. Now dd (12) gets new pj's, slippers, a bath bomb, fancy hot chocolate, some sweets, face mask.

LunaandLily · 04/12/2023 19:11

Doing a Christmas Eve box for the first and only time this year as it’s DD13’s last ever Christmas as an only! Including non-Christmas pyjamas and slippers, hot chocolate, mug, hot water bottle, snow globe and candle from Home Sense and fairy lights. Just want to do something extra this year.

IncompleteSenten · 04/12/2023 19:14

They're not a new thing. I've been doing them since my kids were little. They're in their mid 20s now and I still do them. New pyjamas and a hot chocolate kit.

Play a board game and then off to bed knowing they'll look halfway decent in the Christmas morning photos 😁

TheKeatingFive · 04/12/2023 19:15

We have all these traditions we’ve inherited which are a really different to modern life

But they're absolutely established now as part of Christmas and totally conformist. Everyone had a tree, crackers, a similar Christmas dinner, set of foods. It seems to be a Christmas thing to do similar things to others, so why not this?

YuleDragon · 04/12/2023 19:18

Bleakmidwinter1977 · 04/12/2023 15:23

Winter is the season. Christmas Day is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and saviour.

Show quote history

"our"? No. yours, not mine.

There is NOTHING christian about the celebration of Christmas, its all as Pagan as it gets.

NonPlayerCharacter · 04/12/2023 19:19

SomethingFun · 04/12/2023 19:09

It’s just so conformist. Pjs and hot choc. Maybe a book, maybe a bath bomb. We have all these traditions we’ve inherited which are a really different to modern life (a giant tree inside, vodka margarine, crackers, panto) and these new ones people are trying to make happen are really middle of the road. I’d say Xmas eve boxes are the epitome of lower middle class conformity and keeping up with the Jones’s regardless of whether the pics are shared on social media or whether the box is full of stuff from Poundland or Fortnums 😛

Ok, I confess, you had me initially but halfway through, you completely overdid it.

I swear, kids these days are just so heavy handed about it. I think the art has been lost. They just always have to overdo it nowadays.

YuleDragon · 04/12/2023 19:19

I think the boxes themselves popping up are a fad, but giving small gifts on xmas eve isn't new. I'm in my 40s and my parents gave us new pjs and a book every xmas eve as children, and i still do pj's for my kids.