1st Dec box

[SweetPeaPods]

I’m thinking of making the dc a 1st Dec box. With their advent calendars in, Christmas pjs (so they get more wear than putting in Christmas Eve box), Elf on shelf, Christmas reward chart, but can’t think what else. Anyone else do this, what do you put in?
Will probably still do a Christmas Eve box with Christmas Eve, popcorn, Santa key, reindeer food.

Bah Humbug to the grumps on here! I'm doing Xmas pjs and slipper socks etc on the 1st so they can wear them all month. I don't want them to be a Christmas Eve gift that they only wear once.

WagtailRobin

You have gone overboard it’s true, but your nieces and nephews are going to be delighted with those boxes!

We don’t do Dec 1st boxes or Christmas Eve boxes. We have different traditions on those days but everyone is different. I can’t get worked up about it 🤷‍♀️

Are you flogging them on Facebook too Hun?😏 I think these boxes are just ridiculous tbf

On Dec 1st I am giving mine an advent calendar, christmas jumper, puzzle book, christmas deeley boppers, and a blanket. Blanket was bought for xmas eve box but decided it would be nice earlier.

Christmas eve box has christmas plate for santa, a new decoration each, mince pie, carrot, reindeer dust, hot choc, new cup each, jammies, some treats to eat with movie on Christmas eve.

I've got a couple of hampers that come out over the Christmas period. I've got the Christmas movie hamper which comes with popcorn and hot chocolate, ds gets to pick a film he wants from it and we have family movie time. We also have the Christmas book hamper which is filled with Christmas books I've collected over the years. And I have a Christmas crafts hamper full. My ds loves all off these and they are things we would do anyway just packaged up and spread out over December. You could add a movie, craft or book to your hamper op.

Why? Just give them the bloody advent calendar and be done with it. Christmas is just one day - kids don't need boxes on extraneous other days.

This. Christmas isn't a season. It's a day.
It's sometimes difficult to believe that the people of the U.K. are hard up. If you have money to burn buy some actual Christmas presents for kids who's parents can't afford them.

Sweet how old are your DC?

I bought a musical Advent tree fro QVC years ago. It has a resin tree with hooks (about 15" high) and there's a 'cupboard' with hand painted doors and 24 boxes . Each contains an ornament , I used to put in a couple of chocolate coins .
It still goes up on the 1st. (DD has called dibs on this 'Family Heirloom' when she has DC )

We don't decorate till after DS Birthday .

The winter bedding has already gone on (it has turned cold now) usually that's Dec 1st .

We used to do a Christmas Eve Hamper (PJs , bath bomb, jar of sweets , annual) to get them settled and wind them down.
But now they're teens and don't need winding down (DS needs gee-ing up) they have Dec 1st . They use their PJs all winter , so no Christmas ones , but maybe plaid or polar bear type .
Mine had new robes last year so they're fine .

I'll give him socks, underwear , bath stuff . (Things he needs anyway but they;re not a present )

Ignore the nay sayers . It''s better (IMO) to space things out and not over whelm them.
Maybe if you plan a trip out , give them new hats and gloves .
Take them for tea after . (My DC liked a busy McDonalds in London with their Christmas cups and Matchmakers McFlurries )

One year we went to WinterWonderland . There was a massive blizzard . London in snow is lovely . We went into Garfunkles for dinner , watched the snow falling .
We had new gloves and snoods .
A lot of the rides were shut but we'd pre-booked (and pre paid) for the wheel, which would've been lovely if we were able to see anything

My DC still remember it all these years later.

Wow. The marketing people have really worked their magic. So we now have Christmas Eve boxes and 1st December boxes. Do the depths of tacky commercialism know no bounds?

If you have money to burn buy some actual Christmas presents for kids who's parents can't afford them

What makes you think that people don't do both?

My first priority is to my own DC . It is entirely my business and no-one elses what and when I choose to buy and give them presents .

A lot of what I do (and have done over their lifetime) doesn't cost £ and its things they would've had anyway . I don't want to look back and think "Well that was a rush" it is nice to space things out .

I donate to charities .
I put food items in FoodBank collections including petfood .

There are loads of Buy an extra present collections going on.

You don't get to tell people how to spend their money MrsJoshi and try to guilt trip them. And from what I've read on MN over the years , there will be people on these threads who don't have money to spare and are looking for ideas . Or who have had utterly shit Christmases as children and want to make it different for their DC.

These threads always go Tits Up don't they .

I love this idea but we do the Xmas eve boxes when the elf leaves he leaves the box.
Dec 1st is lovely though maybe
Pjs
Advent calenders
Baul baul
Activity sheets
Maybe some little paintable ornaments
Slippers
Print out a letter to Santa they can send off
Christmas jumper
Christmas socks
I would do bits I would usually buy them anyway but pop it all in the box at once .
Pop a pic up if you do it 🙌🏼

Bartlet it's not necessarily a new thing. My parents speak of an old tradition of getting a small present on xmas eve, book etc. It has just now changed to a box but these can be so cheap if you make them on your own. We give 1st boxes rather than xmas eve so the kids get the wear out of their xmas pjs, which aren't expensive

Sounds brilliant and I wish we had these things when I was a child.

It just seems to emphasize the commercialism of Christmas. There are plenty of ways of starting the season that doesn't involve giving kids yet more stuff. Get the decs out, bake some Christmas cookies, collect food for food bank donations (explaining to your kids why), start writing Christmas cards (kids can do this too)...

I do a December 1st hamper every year instead of a Christmas Eve box. I’m not into tat and trying to avoid too much plastic so mostly it’s stuff we use over and over - Christmas books and toys we already have, any Christmas clothes that still fit from last year etc.

Then I add:
Father Christmas letter writing kit
New pyjamas and jumpers (if needed)
A couple of new Christmas books
Advent calendars
Some Christmas crafty stuff and activity books
Tickets to various events
Gingerbread house kit or cookie cutters
Christmas cards for children’s friends and teachers
Stuff to make reindeer food
No elf on the shelf for us!

I love doing it and it makes the first day of the Christmas season so exciting. Couldn’t give a toss if these joyless misery guts’ think it’s OTT!

To wait until Christmas and 'Christmas is just a day and not a season' seems to be like a ration on enjoyment remembering my childhood.

I am much more of an experience type person and having something like this would be more enjoyable than waiting for a glut of presents on one day.

I do one rather than Christmas Eve box. We’re too busy on Christmas Eve.
Advent calendar, Christmas t shirt, PJs, book and chocolate tree decorations.

@MrsJoshNavidi we don't have "money to burn" by wanting to do a December 1st box - the money used on items in the box is from our Christmas gift budget.

And, apparently because it justifies it... we also donate money to our local soup kitchen for Christmas lunches, we do shoe boxes (not Operation Christmas Child or Salvation Army related) we do a money collection within our family to donate a food shop to our local food bank & donate gifts to local children in need. I do hope that's ok with you?!

I like this idea, I bet your kids will love it. The only reason I wouldn't do it is all the things you've suggested are my easy elf on the shelf ideas! So one day the elf brings activity books, one day he wears the pjs etc.

I dont do a box, I use a recycled Christmas gift bag with all their festive books in from previous years, their new festive pjs as I want them to wear them all of december, some christmas colouring/activity books and a few little festive bits and pieces like santa hats and elf teddies but the only brand new things are the colouring books and pjs.
Loving the ideas on this thread though!

I don't do a christmas eve box or the elf but I have got a 1st december 'bag' (re-used from last year) which is containing a xmas puzzle search book that was too old last year, make/colour your own decorations bought in sale last year, a few christmas books I picked up in the charity shop last week, the advent calendar and possibly pjs but I haven't seen any I like yet. I think it's a way to make the day more fun. I'll be putting the tree up and I don't want all my breakable baubles smashing so if he's making his own that'll be a good distraction.

I'm not normally one for all this but I have to say this year I have sorted a 1st December box. I have put in stuff we already have.
Santa bowls for breakfast
I bought matching pjs (red and bought big enough that they will get next year out of them)
Matching t shirts and jumpers
All the Christmas dvds (already had)
Christmas duvet covers will be on the beds then too

I also made a Christmas library and have plenty of Christmas storybook to work through I am delighted with them.

It's a great time if year and the magic will only last so long.

Lots of the Xmas stuff can get used tear after year- like bedding or plates and cups etc. We also have a big book box that appears each year full of all the Christmassy books and a new one is added each year. I don’t do a box but we usually do a xmassy breakfast On the 1st when the calendars get given and the elf or angel gets hidden with the other bits and bobs over advent so they get used well before Christmas Eve. Never seen the point of a Xmas eve box really.

We do 1st Dec box instead of Xmas eve. Pyjamas, all the Christmas books, advent calendars, annuals, a box full of slips of paper with good deeds on them for the kids to pick one each day of December and lots of Christmas crafts. All stuff we do on the lead up to Christmas.
The kids don't ever get presents in between Christmas and their birthdays and we don't actually spend much for those either as I'm not big on lots of toys (and neither are they luckily) but we do stretch the Christmas activities out through the month.

Following

I do 1st December boxes and Christmas Eve boxes. In my 1st of December boxes this year are: advents, a chocolate one and a Lego one, reward charts, letter packs so they can write to Father Christmas, ginger bread mix and cutters to make biscuits and tickets for a weekend away to see Father Christmas at Chessington.