What does santa get your kids and what comes from you?

[NoNamesLeft234678]

My little boy will be 16 months old 2 days after Christmas so he won't understand but I want to keep it the same every year. Last year I did a letter from santa (will be mics to look back on as he grows) and mentioned some things I said he liked and then santa got him his stocking presents and a want, need, wear and a read and everything else was from us/whoever got him it. Does this seem like a good idea going forward? What do you do?

Same here. Sticking is opened as soon as we are all awake

Stocking from Father Christmas with little bits and bobs in (always including a tube of smarties, orange, chocolate coins and new underwear).

anything under the tree is from friends and family.

This litrally NEVER happens because:

A) kids dont talk about xmas like that

&

B) us poverty laden minimum wagers statistically do xmas MUCH bigger, I have never know any kid get a dressing gown and selection box and I live in one of the poorest areas of the country and me and my friends class as well below the poverty lines. I would be mortified not to do the big xmas its why we buy all year round in the sales, we're experts at it.

Its middle class people on MN who say shit like 'my kid only gets 50p, a new pair of pants and a small satsuma because think of the POOR children' and it speaks to complete class ignorance.

I also bet the same people who ignorantly tell infertile people to 'just adoopt' because clearly we live in oliver twist and can just nip down the orphanage to pick up one of the poor children to fill our void.

I don't think it is necessary to explain anything other than everybody is different and they have different Christmases. Though I agree with @mam0918 since I work in a school and have never had this come up. Nor has it happened with the children I know, maybe it it is different for others. If a child gets practically nothing for Christmas I expect it may feel pretty unfair regardless of who the nothing came from.

One main gift comes from us under tree eg dolls pram. One main gift from Santa, eg new doll and outfit, then about 3 other smaller gifts eg a game like Hungry Hippo and 6 or 7 stocking fillers like a selection pack, Art supplies, a new book, Character lunch box, torch etc. Children also get main gift and small stocking from Grandparent too.

Dose that ever actually happen though? As teachers have said on here, they have never seen it happen in schools, I’ve also never seen it happen. And as I said earlier I always manage my DCs expectations including what their friends may or may not get.

I think this is where I get it from, Irish parents. I think when we were little my parents definitely tried to make Christmas magical in a way they never had, they both grew up very poor and never got presents, my grandparents couldn’t afford to feed them let alone buy presents. So when it came to us they did things as they would have liked it. We never had stockings or sacks just gifts from FC.

i have Irish friends who are exactly the same.

Also love Christmas in Ireland!

This sounds like such a good way of doing it.

I’ve seen it happen. I work in school and I’ve heard the children talking about presents. I’ve had devastated parents applying to us for food bank and toy bank help knowing their children will be hearing “Santa brought me x, y, z”.

Every year the Salvation Army ask us for details of families that we know need help with getting some presents for their children. Parents WILL do all they can to provide a magical Christmas BUT many simply can’t do much.

DD is 15 and while she still gets Santa presents, she obviously knows what's going on.

In the past the stocking came from Santa which was filled with normal gifts she would have gotten anyway.

We then chose a couple of items from her wish list. Santa never delivered electronics though.

Santa only does stockings and only delivers those!

One year DS school added up to a list like that and it was fucking mortifying being the result of pitying stares and gossip.

Worse to know they're sat discussing their incorrect 'assumption' of my poor hard done by DS (my DS wants for nothing and we have massive xmases) based on fuck all, so I would take the assumptions of a white night school employee with a BIG pinch of salt having been on the wrong end of it.

I also attended 4 different school in my childhood across a range of class backgrounds and not once did anyone talk about what they got from Santa, I litrally had ZERO idea until mumsnet that people even did stockings or wrapped presents because we didn't.

I thought the stuff on tv was just american film tropes not real stuff people did (like making a massive breakfast and only having a bite of toast or disecting frogs at school etc...) until I was mid 20s.

I totally understand many children go without, I was once one of those children. My DDs school are selling 2nd hand toys for parents struggling, my DDs have already donated some very good quality toys. I also donate to the food bank, not the official LA one but one set up by a group of residents from a near by estate that’s suffered badly since covid, just like many others. And I will be donating new toys in the coming weeks. I have done this for over 20 years, because I do know exactly what it’s like to not get anything for Christmas.

I do not believe I should stop telling my children that Santa brings their gifts, even if other children do or do not talk about it in school.

I agree with you, @DappledThings - our dses weren't upset by finding out Father Christmas wasn't real - they still loved getting their stockings, and in fact we carried on doing them right up 'til last year - and they are all in their 20s. And I didn't feel upset about it either - it was obvious they wouldn't go on believing forever, and I still had the fun of doing their stockings, and watching them unwrap the things I'd chosen.

We aren't doing stockings this year - ds1, his wife and their new baby will be having their first family Christmas together at home, and so it doesn't seem right to do them for ds2 and ds3 and not ds1. If I am absolutely honest, it is a bit of a relief to stop. I did the majority of the Christmas planning and shopping, and thinking of stocking presents for four adults (I used to do one for dh too) was stressful - and then I had all the wrapping to do, and a lot of the fun had gone out of it, for me.

I'm not sure, @MinnieTP... grin]

Santa does stockings & 1 special gift from their letter & surprise.
Everything else comes from whoever it is from.

Stocking and a single gift from Santa, the rest from us.

He brings a few presents (whatever fits in the sack) and we give the others. The elves fill the stocking though (as otherwise it doesn't make sense, as the stockings are there first thing in the morning but Father Christmas comes around in the afternoon or evening, so why would he come twice? Though tbh I doubt DS would question it)

Stockings, plus one main present. Everything else is from who it's from.

No such thing.

My teens all humour me as I say things like
“I got that for you for Christmas. I mean Father Christmas did. Maybe I mentioned it to him when he asked”
and we all just carry on as if Father Christmas is real whilst all knowing otherwise.

@TheWomanTheyCallJayne we have similar... DDs hobby equipment arrived the other day, we needed to check it for size then we called for Ruldolph to come and pick it up while DD rolled her eyes at us. Only 11yo and mastered The Look.

The elves bring the advent calendars and the Christmas eve boxes (new pjs, a bath bomb, a sweet treat and reindeer food to sprinkle outside the house)
Santa brings the stockings and 1 or 2 gifts from their list. The rest is from us & family.

I used to say we send Santa money in September and he buys presents 🎁
that way it explains why someone else got more valuable presents