Same mistake every year!

[CoffeeChocolateWine]

I’ve done it again. Every bloody year I get carried away with buying stocking fillers and now I’ve finished for all three of them - got the 10 pressies and reached the budget...and haven’t actually asked them what they want yet! So they will write their letters to Santa asking for their random bits and pieces and I’ve got no budget and no space in the stocking to get them anything else! Does anyone else do this? I just love doing stockings and they always ask for crap anyway!

You’re overly organized.

Probably better to stop shopping so early, there will be more popular bits in the shops before Christmas.

You could try and steer them towards asking for what you've bought. Or give what you've already bought as presents from you and get different ones for the stockings.

I'm confused as to why you would buy the presents from Santa before knowing what they want from him. Can you extend the stocking budget?

We also give gifts from us & Santa
Oh and even though you've jumped the gun a bit on the Santa presents, well done for getting ahead! This is the first year I've ever been organised (most of my Christmas shopping is done ) but that's only because it's my little girls 1st birthday a week before!

I’m with the subliminal message gang. Our boys Botha need bigger bikes, so we have been discussing since the summer that they might like to ask for bikes. They are now sure that they want bikes. Our youngest wanted a colour that is quite tricky to get, so we explained that Santa might not be able to get that, and are now showing him lots of pictures of others colours, and he has now decided on three possibilities. We have done similar with games etc., and have always done this to an extent.

No I wouldnt have done that. I wait until November and ask them to write to santa. They get small presents from santa every year, and a bigger one from us.

When I was a child all of the presents came from Santa, even the Stocking gifts; We would write our letter to Santa asking for what we wanted but we would also get a few surprise gifts.

I think part of the magic for my siblings and I as children was the element of surprise, yeah we were over the moon to get what was on our Santa list but equally elated to get surprise items too. Even now with my nieces and nephews, the little ones all believe everything comes from Santa (apart from separate gifts from aunties, uncles, grandparents etc) and the older ones used to believe that too. Each to their own, whatever works for an individual family.

So I don't think there's anything wrong with what you have done OP, I would just say to buy a few of the stocking fillers they will ask for on top of the 10 you have already bought. (It seems from reading there isn't an issue with affordability, so definitely don't worry and instead just buy a few extra small bits, it won't do any harm.)

I think your intended light-heartedness has escaped most!

Thank you @WagtailRobin and yes I would agree with your last sentence! And the rest of it in fact. The element of surprise is always the best bit for us too.

@SantaIsReal, is it really that confusing that I would buy a few small presents for my DC before knowing exactly what they want? Have you never been shopping and without planning it, you’ve seen something and thought ‘Oh DD would absolutely love that’ and popped it in your basket just because you would like to buy it for without her having to ask for it? That is basically what we do for stockings every year...filled with little gifts that you know they will love but don’t have to ask for. And yes, I should have left space for the stuff they actually ask and of course I will make sure I find a way that they get those bits too, but I don’t wait to be told what they want...I know them well enough to know what they will love anyway. And to be honest, my DC have a habit of just writing down things that they want in the moment that they are writing their letter rather than well thought out stuff that they really are longing for. Like last year my son’s wish list was books, chocolate and wind up chattering teeth Yes I got them for him but was it the highlight of his stocking? No. His favourite bits were the stuff I knew he would love but he didn’t think to ask for.

His favourite bits were the stuff I knew he would love but he didn’t think to ask for.

So this is a total non problem then. Isn’t it?

Not everything requires a post on MN.

I'm the same & love buying little bits for stocking fillers. And my kids always have "surprises" on their list which are usually the best bits for them (except maybe the obligatory toothbrush, pants, slipper socks etc which is now a standing joke 😂). As others have said I'd maybe try to steer them into wanting some of the fillers you've already bought or keep some for birthdays, & in future years, if they get 10 gifts & can choose 3, make sure you stop at 7 surprises.

@JoxerGoesToStuttgart, nowhere have Isaid that this is a ‘problem’. This is a thread on the Christmas part of the website where people talk about all things Christmas 🎄. If you look you will see threads like ‘What have bought for Christmas today?’, ‘What are you going to buy for Christmas?’, ‘What should I buy my husband for Christmas?’, ‘When do you start your Christmas shopping?’ etc etc. They are not problems. They are people talking about Christmas.

I posted what was meant to be a light-hearted ‘Oops I’ve spent too much on Christmas presents already’ thread and asking if I was the only person who did this. To which the overwhelming response has been, yes I am the only person who does this and that I am an evil Christmas villain for daring to buy presents that my DC had not specifically asked me to buy. So that’s me told.

I used to do this!

Time for the subliminal messaging. Keep bringing up a few of the things you e brought and suggest that that would be a good thing to ask Santa for. Over sand over again!

nowhere have Isaid that this is a ‘problem’.

True. You’ve just referred to it as a mistake, that you’ve made every year previously, and that you got carried away and now have no room left in the stocking budget, or the stockings themselves, for the things they will actually ask for.

That doesn’t sound like you think it’s a problem at all

"So they will write their letters to Santa asking for their random bits and pieces and I’ve got no budget and no space in the stocking to get them anything else!"

To be fair that does look like you think it's an issue - having no cash and no space is a problem surely?!

Our stocking is just full of random crap surprises that I know the kids will enjoy rather than list things, are yours young enough to switch to that? It sounds like that would maybe suit you more.

We don't really "do" Santa though, anything we do is stuff they've picked up from movies/friends/school rather than us pushing the notion

I've also done this so many times. bought bits put them away then not realised how much I had bought by the time Christmas came!! I also save stuff or sell on. I never pay full price so don't lose money.

luckily dd1's list never really consists of more than a loaf of bread for a midnight snack and a beano annual. dd2 is usually some kind of doll.

we look in toy shops from September time and look in the smyths catalogue snuggled up together when it arrives in the post. so I have a pretty good idea what will end up on the xmas list!!

currently it's sodding lol dolls for dd2 (thanks to cookie swirl on YouTube!)

@JoxerGoesToStuttgart and @SquintEastwood, yes I guess it can be interpreted as such but I think we can safely say none of my OP has been interpreted that way I’d intended

I had meant that, as it stands, I have randomly picked up enough little gifts over the past month or two to fill their stockings and I’ve forgotten to leave space for their requests....does anyone else do this? I didn’t mean ‘Oh well, sod them, they just won’t get anything they want’. It’s October. I’m not intending to keep it that way. Clearly I will have to make some adjustments. DS has his birthday before Christmas so I will give some of it for his birthday. DD has a friend’s party coming up so maybe I will wrap up one of the gifts for her instead. My other DD is too young to say what she wants so I’m just hoping one of the older ones doesn’t write a letter for her!

I am very well-meaning Christmas villain who just got a bit overexcited and bought too much stuff. Not the end of the world. I’ll sort it and all will be well.

Stockings are the magic and surprises bit!. And yet you get them to specify what they want in their stockings, after you’ve already bought random crap. It’s probably a surprise alright, just not in the way they’d like...
Bizarre that you do this every year and never actually realise that you could just, you know, stop doing it??
What’s the actual point of buying stuff they don’t want?

@HeadintheiClouds, I can only assume you are deliberately being belligerent because if you’d read any of my subsequent posts you will see that is not the case at all.

Perhaps you don’t know your DC as well as I know mine if you honestly have no idea what they want for Christmas without them having to write it down. I know exactly what they love and what they want and I’ve bought it for them...I’ve just done it before they’ve written their letters and of course there is always the possibility that some random thing will end up on their list that I hadn’t thought of.

I get where you are coming from because I have a weakness for little bits they would like for stockings. I justify it by a lot of stuff being practical.
I got them scented colouring pencils today.

My eldest told me she wants twelve thousand pounds for Christmas.

Me too kid, me too.

Sometimes they do need a bit of guidance.

*@CoffeeChocolateWine
*
These responses to your OP Goodness!....Haters gotta hate !
There are some very odd people on this site who deliberately misunderstand, are pedantic or goady (and sometimes all three)
I know exactly what you mean and you sound like a lovely thoughtful mum who is excited to make your DC's happy, please ignore the weird responses, they are pitiful .

We have never asked DS what he wants in his stocking - it's for bits and bobs and little surprises and things he doesn't want but must have because they are Traditional (satsuma, basically)

I agree that some of the responses on this thread are strange, btw.

Jesus, so many mumsnetters are just total dicks 😂 What horrible responses to a lighthearted thread!

I get you OP! I love the stockings too - the best bit of Christmas planning and on t day itself.
I think you’ve made the mistake of assuming that the cheerful nature of Resties bargain and referral threads permeate the whole Christmas topic - but obviously not!

I cannot believe some of the responses you are getting.
Yes OP I also do this. Love doing the stockings and often end up with too many things. I start picking up bits in September as I like to spread the cost a bit. My youngest has a birthday just after christmas so I can always save some of his things for that.
You could always buy bigger stockings and just ram it all in!