To think it’s weird that we try and keep the ‘magic’ alive for teen and adult children.

[Trimbleton]

I mean they know Santa isn’t real so why do I feel the pressure to still do ‘Santa’ and mince pies for Santa etc. The pressure to have a ‘magical’ Christmas is fine when they are younger but why when DC grow up are we still expected to keep it alive ?

In this house the elf on the shelf has been caught in a precarious position with an old Barbie, flat out with a tiny glass of vodka and snorting lines (flour) with a fiver. He makes the odd appearance doing something terrible but it amuses us so sorry some of us occasionally do elf on the shelf for our adult kids.

Exactly! It becomes a shared joke.

Definitely no food left out, elf on the shelf etc.

I do a stocking for my kids, it's where I put a few treats like chocolates etc, but from us.

I don't stay up to do stockings and/or presents. I throw out anyone in that room when it suits me (they can sit on the other sitting room/kitchen depending on whether we are at house or extended families) and I set up the presents and stockings.

I do spend a fair bit of money on them, but they are all in school/college and in fairness it tends to be clothes, shoes etc that are useful.

Okay I’m not sure why that offended you so much but sorry it did. That sounds like good fun!

No bloody elves in this house (I told the kids that I'd set the mouse traps for them if they came) But, even now they're teens/tweens I do the stockings and we all pretend it's Father Christmas, because it's fun.

My youngest was determined to catch me this year, but he underestimated how lightly I can step, and how deeply he sleeps (and how sneaky I am - I have a spare stocking, so I just have to fill that one and swap them, not go into the room twice). I feel like this will be a running challenge so I will have to stay on my toes :)

My DS is 22. He gets a stocking with little bits and bobs, and a main present from us.

But he knows, obviously, that the stocking is from us.

There are other traditions that we do each year that started with Father Christmas but, again, obviously not related to Father Christmas now, they just got incorporated.

I think it's perfectly reasonable to keep doing the mince pie thing, but over the coming years you could change it to DC take a mince pie and a hot chocolate to bed with them on Xmas Eve, or whatever else you can come up with.

Traditions have to evolve.

My eldest is a teenager. Youngest is probably coming to the end of the Santa years.

I have no intention of stopping doing a stocking for them and will probably continue until they leave home or ask me to stop.