Devaluing Xmas

[mouldycheesefan]

we have Xmas presents on Xmas day. That's it.
I have done Xmas pjs on Xmas eve before and found my children wee not really bothered about them.
Do people find that elf presents, Xmas eve presents, books every day of advent etc devalue the magic of Xmas in reality?
We love Xmas and the run up and do lots of fun things but for us it's not about constant gifts.

My children are 5 and 3 so are just understanding Xmas.

We do;
Stockings - I grew up with one, so it's something I d always looked forward to doing. I bargain hunt, so I only spend about £20 on the stockings.

Pjs - again, growing up, I've always had new pjs and was always going to do them. I've added a new toothbrush, hot chocolate and reindeer food. They always need new pjs and they are worn throughout the year.

I may attempt elf on the shelf, but it will be limited to tricks and fun. I'm really tempted to do advent gifts, but I don't want it to become a 'thing'.

I don't regard my approach as devaluing Xmas as I don't spend much money and the focus is on fun.

I do elf on the shelf but its tricks and nonsense rather than bringing gifts. I have always given new pjs (non christmas) on Christmas eve since my eldest was a baby shes 19 now. They do not get hampers. Bath, new pjs and chinese for dinner, christmas film then bed.
The wee ones get xmas themed pjs along with their advent calender that they wear all December.
Everyone gets a stocking.
I am quite shocked by the amount of presents peoples elves seem to bring, but then I get shocked by what people buy their kida for xmas so I just do my own thing and let others do theirs.

I find 24 books overkill too. Our bookshelves are overflowing and the youngest stays on one book for ages before moving on so wouldn't like a new story every night. This year i have bought her the Rod Campbell nativity book and i usually read the night before xmas every night in December and stickman 😂

Elf on the shelf doesn't have to be £££ though - my elf cost a couple of quid and I just like to make it do silly things rather than bring presents. Like hang off the mantelpiece or swing on a ceiling light. And of course to act as Santa's 'spy'!

I'm not quite sure how us having an elf means we have been lured into spending loads of money. I bought the elf for less than £10 three maybe four years ago. We use the same one each year. She arrives, plays some tricks and games and goes back with Father Christmas on Christmas eve. So if we use her for 5 years (it's likely to be more though) that's £2 per year. Her tricks cost me maybe a toilet roll, some cereal, maybe a bag of crisps but no more than a couple of pounds for the whole time she is here. Quite a frugal tradition I reckon.

I don't get the whole thing about christmas hampers and new pjs, but I haven't got enough energy to worry about it. If others do have enough energy, im happy for them to get on with it.

Our elf brings one gift - sometimes a chocolate Santa, this year a book. Just once in the 24 days. He incidentally cost nothing, a friend made him for me years ago. No Xmas Eve PJs or hampers.

We do have advent calendars though.

Triptrap, I have never heard of a hot chocolate station but I think it sounds like a great idea! We have a mix of older and younger teenagers here. I am going to set up a station (some where convenient!) and am going to add brandy, Baileys, maybe a nice single malt to the tray.

I am with you on all the other nonsense

I'm doing an elf this year but he won't be bringing much, maybe he will have a colouring book or something one day but it will be stuff I'd have been buying anyway just presented in a more fun way.
Advent calendar I'm getting a paper one for DS. Christmas Eve he gets pj's so he looks nice in the photos the next day and is excited about putting them on and going to bed.
The build up is more activities for me so santa Train, a tea with Santa thing, some local fairs.

A lot of the stuff mentioned, are things I've grown up with. (I'm a 30 something...) Perhaps because my parents lived in the US before I was born, or maybe because they are both huge Christmas fans anyway, we've always had Christmas that lasts for most of December. Elves didn't bring anything though there was a lot of talk about Christmas Fairies watching us. 😉 For me, this stuff is Christmas. It doesn't devalue it, though I think social media is making it competitive, which takes the shine off.

This year I will be giving my boys a Christmas top, a themed Christmas toy / book, new pj's and an advent calendar on 1st December. I haven't spent excessively and I like to add to the build up. Also I agree with pp about doing activities. I have arranged a few festive days out to enjoy it. In my experience, our children get overwhelmed by too many presents at once, so this approach works best for us. I don't spend more than I would if they were getting everything on Christmas day.

I do loads of stuff (elf, books, hamper etc, but apart from the initial cost of the elf, it's stuff we either have already or (in the case of pyjamas) stuff that we would have bought anyway.

The elf arrives with a box containing the same advent calendar we've had since DC1 was a baby, the Christmassy books we already have and anything else we already have for advent. There aren't any "new" presents. She generally leaves notes suggesting fun/kind activities, and around half way through December she asks them to give their room an extra good clean and decorates it in the night once they've done that.

We are pretty frugal about Christmas - a lot of the fun activities involve foraging for stuff and making cheap-ass decorations, or making this things to share with other people, or reflecting on the meaning of Christmas.

Elves and boxes and candles just make it all a bit more fun.

DD is only small, but I'll be doing Christmassy pyjamas (bought in last year's baby gap sale) along with the advent calendar and a couple of Christmassy books - I aim to add a couple each year. I'd rather give her the pyjamas then so she can wear them during advent! Otherwise when would they wear Christmas-themed pyjamas, only for a few days?

I refuse to do Elf on a Shelf (I reckon it would very quickly lead to DD sussing out that the "magic", including Father Christmas, is not real - too much of a giveaway!) We'll do a few chocolate treats on Christmas Eve and maybe a Christmassy DVD, but they will definitely come from us, and not from any magical source.

There are so many lovely things to do during advent, I don't think more magical events are needed - and I'd worry about creating a precedent that would be hard to keep up (and exhausting for me! I often have a surge in workload and work-related stress in early/mid December, and the last thing I would be able to cope with is thinking up amusing elfish activities as well.... )

I think social media is making it competitive, which takes the shine off

Yes I agree with that.