Opinions on Elf on the Shelf and Christmas eve boxes

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All opinions

@daisypond

OK with the reindeer food. But everything else is absolutely Christmas present stuff. Eg, Why have new PJs on Xmas Eve? They are presents for Xmas Day and you wear them Xmas Day night.

I do new pjs on Christmas Eve so that DD doesn't look scruffy and homeless in photos the next morning 😂

She'd get them anyway, I just hold off until Christmas Eve rather than getting her new ones in Sept onwards.

It's just a different way of splitting up presents, I suppose.

I don't do 1st Dec/Xmas Eve boxes or Elf on the shelf.

But my DC put their boots out for St Nicholas on the evening of Dec 5th (chocolate, sweets, fruit, nuts, hot chocolate, and a small gift), and we do Christmas stockings on Christmas Eve too - again a lot of the same things that people put in a Christmas Eve box or whatever - books, bath bombs, more chocolate etc.

I usually give the DC pyjamas, but as one of their presents under the tree.

I doubt many people do every single thing, or perhaps those that do end up giving fewer presents on Christmas Day itself.

I’m all about the 1st December box here. Get some wear out the new Christmas pjs before they are grown out of! Plan to stick in the same bits every year - books, Santa cup, small decorations for DS bedroom, just add in craft kits to make presents or whatever suits as he gets older (he will be 18 months this Christmas but I’ve got it all planned out )
We do elf on the shelf when DSD is with us, it’s a bit of a pain but good fun if you’re not having to do it every bloody night! Will avoid for DS if I can manage it I think.

We do both. The CEH serves a practical purpose for us as it has an activity to keep the dc busy while we clean and prep food on Christmas eve, and then has things to tempt them into the bath and pjs and a film to settle them down before bed. We reused stuff from year to year, and then only real expense is some sweets and a bath bomb. I dont get new pj's each year, only if the dc need them.

We didn't used to do the elf but we do now because it is such a universal thing at the dc's school and they felt left out. I actually don't hate it, because the dc are so delighted by finding it each day. We reuse a lot of thr things it does each year and I don't general do anything over ambitious with it.

Elf - too much hassle.

Christmas Eve boxes - can't see the point. I think it's nice to have a tradition of something you do on Xmas Eve but I don't see why it has to be "stuff" when there's generally so many presents the next day.

I also don't see the need for new pyjamas to look nice for the Christmas morning photos. When you look back at those, you notice the joy on the kids faces, not what pyjamas they are wearing. My kids don't look scruffy and homeless in their ordinary pyjamas .

I'm probably a try-hard martyr but we do…

Book advent - 24 Christmas stories in December (books are all from charity shops, my childhood books or freebies and come out every year). Basically replace the bookshelf with Christmas books.

Advent calendar- 24 little toys like Lego, Peppa pig characters etc in a Lidl reusable cloth calendar, then their main Christmas present is the house or set to go with them. Toys are collected throughout the year and mainly secondhand. I save Christmas cracker jokes and pop one in there too.

Elf on the shelf - YES I KNOW. But I love it. Ours is female and only really hides round the house or molests other toys.

December 1 breakfast- normal breakfast foods made to look festive. Eg. Toast cut with cookie cutters.

Christmas Eve box - hot chocolate, new pjs, bubble bath, toothbrush, book and snacks for a movie. DH and I have a joint one too with fancy Christmas booze from m&s and a book each. I also put in a Christmas ornament each to represent our year to hang on the tree. The idea is, we'll build up a lovely collection of meaningful Christmas ornaments this way gradually over time.

Bethlehem dinner - ok, so this is wanky… we eat what we think people would have eaten during Jesus' day for Christmas Eve dinner. So, flat bread, hummus, lamb chops etc. It's basically a cold mezze that's all dh's fave foods. So it's easy to cook, eat and clear up.

Toy clear out for Father Christmas- we sort out all our old toys for FC to take back to North Pole with him for children next year. Hence why sometimes dc get secondhand bits in their stockings.

My dh and dc refuse to make Christmas cards, forage for pinecones, bake Christmas cookies or help me do anything else remotely wanky so this is all we do.

It seems like a lot of hassle during a really busy time. These things didn’t exist when my girls were little yet we still had a great time at Christmas.

@MinnieMousse

I also don't see the need for new pyjamas to look nice for the Christmas morning photos. When you look back at those, you notice the joy on the kids faces, not what pyjamas they are wearing. My kids don't look scruffy and homeless in their ordinary pyjamas .

Your child is better than mine then.

She looks like a ragamuffin 90% of the time, regardless of what I do.

Apart from one day a year, as a special treat to myself, where she looks vaguely groomed and like something from the Next catalogue, rather than an NSPCV advert.

Mine usually look untidy on Christmas morning because of their just out of bed hair, which would look just the same regardless of what PJs they were wearing. Highly unlikely they would put off running to the tree while I brush it!

She looks like a ragamuffin 90% of the time, regardless of what I do.

Apart from one day a year, as a special treat to myself, where she looks vaguely groomed and like something from the Next catalogue, rather than an NSPCV advert.

Now, I'm imagining you getting up at 5am to style your kids for their Christmas morning photos.

Surely pyjamas are just pyjamas?

My DS will be 14 months this Christmas. I've already started planning how we're going to "do" Christmas.

My DP is adamant that our house will be an elf free zone . I do agree for the first few years because I feel like elves running around somehow takes away from the Santa magic. However, I'm conscious that one day he is likely to ask why all the other kids have an elf and he doesn't. I imagine I'll cave at that point!

I'm going to start a Christmas eve box this year. I think they're a lovely idea and I'm very excited! Ours will be a family box and will be from us, not from elves/Santa. So far, I've got a gorgeous personalised wooden box, a personalised Santa sack for DS and a personalised wooden Santa plate. So no plastic and stuff that will hopefully last throughout his childhood. I already have an extensive Christmas DVD collection so will put a different one in every year until we find a family favourite.
The only new stuff will be Pj's, a book and a bottle of something for the grown ups. Hardly endless amounts of stuff and as for "more work", I enjoy planning it, so that's not a problem.

Let people do Christmas their own way

We have a reusable wooden box for our Xmas eve box, with reindeer food, hot chocolate, Xmas pj’s and a bath bomb. Plus a homemade cinema ticket to watch a Christmas film and our night before Christmas book. No EOTA

I do both. Same lovely wooden box with jammies, slipper socks, the same night before Christmas book to read, a yearly questionnaire, reindeer food, same magic key and a wee bag of sweeties.
Elf on the shelf brings the advent calendar and maybe a cheap colouring book later in the month, that’s it.

Far too commercialised I'm afraid and too much pressure to 'do' all for SM and photos.
Mine had a Christmas Eve book, with a Christmas theme. We keep each one and put them all out each year when we decorate the house. Now DC's are near adult they love looking back at their Christmas books, sharing the stories. As they got older this became a
Christmas joke book, Christmas cocktail making, Christmas cupcake making, all great to use year on year.

The Christmas book was wrapped and left on each DC's pillow as a way of encouraging -bribing- them to go to bed. Our fondest memories are of sitting calmly together, all on one bed to read the new books. Great way to get them off to sleep.
I always buy a bauble too for before Christmas. They have a box to keep them in and now have a really lovely collection of baubles, some which reflect an interest or trip out. Something to take with them when they move out!

If I was going to do 'Elf' or Christmas Eve boxes I think I would hand that task to someone else. DH's job or something special the GP's could do. Christmas is stressful enough without adding more to be responsible for.

@Nikori

She looks like a ragamuffin 90% of the time, regardless of what I do.

Apart from one day a year, as a special treat to myself, where she looks vaguely groomed and like something from the Next catalogue, rather than an NSPCV advert.

Now, I'm imagining you getting up at 5am to style your kids for their Christmas morning photos.

Surely pyjamas are just pyjamas?

Most of her regular pjs are hand me downs from a friend who gave me a massive bag, are mismatched, stained or just a bit scruffy. I tend not to buy things like pjs regularly because no one sees them so as long as they fit and are comfy I'm happy. She also wears them to rags.

This is probably the one time of the year that she gets new pjs, thinking about it. They're not Christmas themed - just nice looking ones from a supermarket or wherever.

She also doesn't sleep- would go to bed at 11pm and get up at 5 if she could. So new pjs help winkle her in to bed.

And I'm happy to admit that it's mainly for me, not her! My sister's children are pristine, while mine is a savage, so I like knowing I'll have a photo to send the family chat where she looks fairly tamed and groomed 😂

@MinnieMousse

Mine usually look untidy on Christmas morning because of their just out of bed hair, which would look just the same regardless of what PJs they were wearing. Highly unlikely they would put off running to the tree while I brush it!

We say that DH has to turn off the alarm- and he'll sneak down to put on the kettle and put some breakfast in the oven while we play with stocking toys - and brush everyone's hair quickly 😂

My DD is 4 and we haven't done the elf yet.. I can't be arsed! Bit worried about all her friends talking about it at school though.. I dont want her to be left out. She has a calendar I made when I was on maternity leave with her, it's made out of felt and I put chocolate coins in there :) she also has something I had when I was a child, it's a book of tiny little books and each morning you read another story, and the little books are decorations for the tree! The stories are about mice getting ready for Christmas. I remember loving it on glad my mum held onto it. So I feel like that's enough haha. We started xmas eve boxes last year just for her and it was great, she got some pjs and a book to go to bed with and get her all excited. Its stuff she would of just got on the day so it breaks it up at bit. :)

Elf on the shelf I just learned about a couple years ago. Sounds like a faff to me.
Christmas Eve boxes? Isn't it enough of a present explosion on Christmas day? Maybe xmas pjs, but that's it. Takes away the excitement for the morning.

@Littlescottiedog

As someone who celebrates Christmas because I'm actually a Christian, I prefer the build up of Carol singing and advent, rather than all these commercial "traditions" that mostly just seem like an excuse to buy more stuff, show off with photos on social media and "make memories". I grew up without any of this and fondly remember how magical Christmas felt and the anticipation of presents, rather than constant "surprises" and presents throughout December. So we are an "old-fashioned" household, I suppose we'd be described as now, but I like it.

I am a Christian (my DM is a vicar ) too. I still love our Christmas Eve tradition, which include new PJs and slippers, the night before Christmas book (as well as the Nativity story) stocking and FC plate being delivered by the elves. We do get a bubble bath/bath bomb too. It gets put in a bag or a box.

My DGM sewed new PJs for my DM and DA for Christmas eve in 1959. She then bought them for us as children. She used to get us a bag of sweets and a new book too. You can celebrate Advent and the birth of Jesus with the tinsel and glitter alongside, or at least, we do 🎅

Elf on the shelf can fuck off though. He's not stepping over my threshold

Rainbow queen sums it up ! , i could'nt agree more.

I absolutely cannot bear it when Elf is a spy for Santa.
But then I have never bought into the 'be good or Santa won't bring presents' thing and simply cannot understand why any parent would do that. Small children can't maintain behaviour during a massively hyped up and over tired and over excited time.

But if it is done just for fun, then it is each to their own.
We never did it. We have one December birthday, and Dutch SinterKlaas celebration on 5th, so by Christmas I am on my knees.

We do have Christmas Eve traditions, they just don't involve gifts and boxes.
We always (when little) sit on the sofa together and read the Christmas Story. We also have an advent calendar which has all the characters from the nativity and you add one each day, so we finish the story with adding the last day's person. Then on Christmas morning, before we do presents, we add in baby Jesus.

Oh and all our pjs are hand me downs, and I'm not spending money on new just because it is Christmas
And anyway, they open stockings in their pjs, and then we get dressed and have breakfast, and maybe even go to church before we open presents under the tree. So photos are fine. Until they get tp 13 and then phots are either 'not allowed' or are of drappy black and eye rolling

Loathe Xmas eve boxes - how spoilt are we making children! Next it will be Xmas eve eve boxes...

@daisypond

I am strictly presents only on Christmas day so no pressies in it.

Eh? But you said you bought new pyjamas and an activity book.

My children are grown up and I usually do give them some new PJ bottoms amongst their presents, but I don't consider pyjamas (or underwear) a present for children. I only consider clothing to be a present when they get older and want particular clothes, particularly more expensive things than you would normally want to buy, or that they don't really need.