Does Santa give all the gifts??

[sauvb]

What do you say in your house as to who has given the gifts? Does Santa bring them all off him, or does he bring them but they're off you?
DS is 5 and DD 3. Can't remember what we said last year, but they know that gifts off friends and relatives are off them. I know some people say that all gifts are off santa, regardless of who bought them. - I remember Dsis being most upset when she realised her lovingly chosen gifts for her god-children were put under the tree, tags removed and were told to be off santa not her for years.

We've told the DCs they can ask santa for 3 things each. But we've also got them a playmobil camper van to share, which I'd like to say this one's off mummy and daddy, as well as a couple of other smaller bits and bobs. Does it get confusing doing that? Am I over thinking this?? or just being selfish wanting some credit?

FC fills the stockings here. Not the most expensive presents but you can bet the Lego minifigure will be the most played with present and he is much more generous with chocolate than parents.

My DS is only 9Mo but I plan on doing what my parents used to do - stockings plus 1-2 bigger gifts from Santa. Then something off Mum & Dad (but this would normally be something a bit more boring like new PJ's/music stand etc.) We never really had a 'big gift' at Christmas so it wasn't really an issue.

Santa brings one gift only. I want credit for everything else!

Santa brings the stocking and one big present, the rest are from us and family/friends.

Santa delivers ours, i have told ds7yo and dd3yo that mummy buys them and sends them to santa and because dd found the wrapping paper i had just bought i had to tell them that i also buy and send it to santa and the elves do the wrapping then santa delivers them. So dcs know there from me.

No, No and No again! Santa does not bring ALL the gifts. Santa brings a stocking at the end of the bed and there are 4 or 5 presents from 'Mum and Dad' under the tree. (Plus from relatives). Otherwise you are a 'mean Mummy'......

Many years ago I said to a friend's little boy, 'Did Santa bring you some lovely gifts then?' and he answered, 'Yes he did - and it's a good job, because my Mum bought me NOTHING! Even my teacher got me something, but my Mum didn't'...... He was really quite upset (but not as upset as his Mother who had worked her backside off to pay for his presents)...

Presents under the tree have tags saying who they are from and are put there as soon as the tree is up/ they are wrapped whichever comes first.

Santa fills the stockings.

I didn't realise anyone said Santa brought the tree presents until the hooha about some TV ad ruining everything by revealing that people bought presents from shops!

In our house:

FC brings DD one main gift. We would send him ideas, and a budget. It is never wrapped, it is often left set out and ready to see/use, and often you can see elf dust still lingering on it or nearby.
Some relatives chose to use FC as a delivery service and he delivers their presents along with his own on Christmas Eve and leaves them under the tree.
Santa has never left stockings here.

FC brings the stocking gifts, which might include the odd expensive present. We give the rest, generally things which are bigger. As the dc generally don't ask for specific produceable things we don't have the issue of asking FC and then us giving them. We are all waiting to see if he will bring immortality to dd1 (though hopefully many years before she finds out either way on that one), dd2 wants a mini plane which can fly her anywhere and ds wants toys. 1 out of 3 will get what they asked for in their stockings.

Santa brings the stockings, and possibly one medium sized present under the tree. We then buy a few presents from ourselves, and friends/relatives get the credit for the presents they give.

As an earlier poster said, in our house it's more about the magic of Santa coming and bringing a stocking, what's actually in it doesn't seem to matter so much! Mind you, DD1 is only 4 so she might feel different as she gets older. At the moment she's very undemanding.

DSs main present is from mammy and daddy and everything else is from Santa, gifts from family are usually given by family on Boxing Day so he know who those presents are from

Craziness i cannot believe so many people want all the credit when it doesnt really matter because the children are really happy with all the magical experience not whos bought them they will know that when they are older so let them enjoy the magic of father christmas the wonders of how he fits all those presents on the sleigh, how he fits them all down the chimney, how the elves make all them toys in time, how the sleigh pulls all that weight and how father christmas got their letters and got just what they wanted...i do exactly how every person i know have done it and the children find it so magical but i guess each to their own and all that!!

We decided to keep it simple
Stocking from FC
Real gifts from real people
None of this Santa as postman stuff, too complicated and easy to balls up
DDs highly skeptical and a bit freaked out about the whole FC concept, so minimising his involvement seems wisest

This whole santa malarky is a minefield. I grew up with santa bringing everything (I think anyway, can't really remember having a firm belief in it all) we didn't have stockings.

We started off with santa bringing everything, but one xmas dd saw all of the presents in the hiding place, so we kind of bodged it, can't remember what we said. I try to avoid technicalities at all costs tbh, ds2 saw a bag of stocking fillers, he was happy though that they were being sent to santa to wrap and deliver he is only 3 mind.

I will be relieved when santa is a distant memory, I have no idea how dd (clever, 9) still believes, the inconsistencies are glaring.

baileys: I agree! I'm surprised too to find that some parents want to be credited with giving presents instead of Santa

As children get older they will realise who bought the presents (so credit can be back-dated) but childhood is so short, and belief in Santa is such a magical part of childhood, that it seems really sad to have it hijacked by a parent's need to take credit for the presents.

No doubt that as children get older and wiser they will start to realise for themselves that Santa doesn't quite "stack up". There are too many technical obstacles to overcome.

I have an answer for every technical Santa question that my DC could possibly throw at me: It goes "I don't know". That's it. No need to try and work out convoluted solutions about money changing hands etc

I've already decided that I am NEVER going to tell my DC that Santa doesn't exist. We will reach a point, I know, whereby I know he knows and he knows that I know that he knows but we will reach an unspoken truce whereby he wont ask anymore because he knows I wont tell.

He will then be well placed to pass the magic on to the next generation!

I don't get my children anything for Christmas. Everything is from Santa

Presents given by family and friends are from them. Occasionally Santa has left a gift at my DMs house, which is something on the list that I didn't or couldn't get.

My DC have never asked why I don't get them anything for Christmas. I assume they think I buy them enough at birthdays and the rest of the year.

FC brings what they have asked for on their wish list. They realise it is only a wish list but he always seems to bring it all along with a few other gifts and their stockings.

There are already presents from DH and I under the tree and they know presents under the tree are from us, family and friends. We also send FC the money.