Christmas Eve boxes

[Yoyo2021]

Son had just come home from school and told me that some of his class had Xmas breakfasts this morning as it’s the 1st December and asked why we did not have one… I just did not know this was a thing but it clearly is as today on my Facebook plenty of others doing it. It made me think about Xmas Eve boxes too I just never do those either…. The extra cost etc on top of everything has just always been too much!

Anyway, do any of you do Xmas Eve boxes and if so what do you put in them?

I’ve been doing the 1st December box for years now. Fuelled by being a single parent that works full time guilt.

• Various Christmas books I’ve collected over the last 14 years, haven’t bought any new ones for around 6 years
• Christmas cardigans - they are new every year, knitted by my Grandmother (I’ve kept every single one she’s made and I’ve 3DDs so there’s rather a lot of them now!)
• Hot chocolate bombs
• Christmas shaped marshmallows
• Christmas chocolates
• Christmas baking stuff (aprons, cookie cutters etc, again, had all of it for years)
• Christmas mugs, glasses, bowls (only replaced if there are any breakages)
• Crafts
• LEGO Elf House/Christmas Brick Heads/smaller sets to build (this does get added to, courtesy of January sales)

I don’t have time to fuck about with fancy breakfasts, Elf on a Shelf, and I don’t have the funds for things like Christmas markets/Winter Wonderlands/outdoor ice skating/or any of the other events that are around that cost c.£100 for 1 adult and 3 kids.

Refreshing to hear. I still buy the things for hot chocolate and baking for Xmas Eve. Today I bought an elf cup thing to go in his stocking and will do the winter Xmas beano special to put in his stocking.

Im the same never do the Christmas markets they are so so expensive with over priced food vans etc and it’s only me and my ten year old 😱!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! x x x

Im the same never do the Christmas markets they are so so expensive with over priced food vans

Yes it's a shame that in the UK these markets are so overpriced. In Germany they are in every town and offer very good value drinks and food - and a lovely atmosphere.

A December 1st three course breakfast? A Christmas Eve box? Never heard of these or have offered these to my kids...

Pjs
Dressing gown
Slippers
Fleece blanket
Sweets
Soft toy
Annual
Tickets for the panto (always go christmas eve)
New clothes and shoes for panto

I only do it because dd usually needed new pj's around that time. I just bought a box from card factory and put pj's, book, little Xmas soft toy, Netflix voucher, and some kind of food treat

We have 'Santas Box' which we get out on Christmas Eve. It was gifted to us from DH parents. It has items in that we reuse every year, Santa's bell, Santa's Key, The Night Before Christmas Book, x2 Christmas mugs and some reindeer food (DC normally make some when they visit Santa). I will normally put in something like hot chocolate and some cookies etc. It's so lovely, my DD every year just loves putting the bell on the tree and the key on the back door handle along with the mine pies etc for Santa.

My two have beautiful hand-made wooden Christmas eve boxes that they were given by a relative when they were born. They really treasure them. Every year they each get pyjamas, a new book, an ornament to hang on the tree and a sweet treat of some sort like a Christmas cookie or little bag of chocolate coins. I don't think it's OTT as it's all either consumable or something they'll get plenty of use out of.

I've never heard of a special breakfast on 1st of December. I couldn't be doing with that on a weekday, mornings are hectic enough as it is.

I normally do a box on Xmas eve. This year it will have:

• PJs (which will be worn year round)
• Bath bomb
• New slippers
• a minecraft book each
• a cheap meccano type set each

I have bought them new bedding this week, and am swithering between putting them in too, or just putting it on the beds now.

Xmas eve boxes, for me, are all about distracting them for an hour while I prep dinner, and making the bedtime routine special.

Usually I get a couple of fresh cocktails delivered from my pre-kids favourite cocktail bar for me and DH as our Xmas eve box too. 🙂

My 8yo and DH say Xmas eve is their favourite part of Christmas. We have a routine we tend to follow, and the box (or bundle on the stairs - I don't actually have a box) is a part of that.

We've never done anything but stockings, an Advent calendar and Advent wreath. The had a special Christmas Eve within the village with dressing up for a lovely Crib service, seeing excited friends, having family arrive (or spending time with family who had already arrived) communal supper and singing in the Square. Track Santa was all the needed.
This year its cathedral evensong, drinks with neighbours and a curry for 12. Different but still no need of a box of sugar to make it feel good.

I have three kids and never heard of a northpole breakfast on the 1st December until I read it on here a few days ago.
I don't do Christmas Eve boxes either but my boys do all get Christmas PJ's on Christmas Eve.

Because normally that stuff would be part of the Christmas stocking, whereas if you've put it all in a Christmas eve box then you have to think of even more stuff to put in the actual Christmas stocking. And the Christmas stocking gifts have to be even better and more exciting, otherwise so that they're not overshadowed by the Christmas Eve box.

@SillySausage81 I really struggled to find stocking fillers this year for my dd10. If I had to then find stuff for a Christmas Eve box I'd be lost !!

Because normally that stuff would be part of the Christmas stocking, whereas if you've put it all in a Christmas eve box then you have to think of even more stuff to put in the actual Christmas stocking. And the Christmas stocking gifts have to be even better and more exciting, otherwise so that they're not overshadowed by the Christmas Eve box.

Why not just keep the presents for Christmas Day? Surely the excitement and anticipation are part of the experience. Perhaps offer an Advent Calendar to count down the days to Christmas?

No no no. Not everyone will be doing it and if you start you won't be able to stop it! Just tell your child that people have different traditions and your family has its own. End of.

This 1st December Christmas breakfast is an invention to show off on social media by the sounds of it.

I've never heard of it before. Luckily our kids would chant "too soon"

We don't even get our tree until well into double figures December date.

We tried reindeer food once and managed to fuck that up! What happened to a sherry and a carrot, that we could have convincingly pulled off.

Never had, never will, do Christmas eve box either. Ours get plenty as far as we are concerned we don't need to keep adding more and more and more. We try to keep a bit of humbleness around Christmas it's really not, for us, just about stuff and more stuff and more stuff. For starters if they did ever whinge they would get the (stock) overconsumption is killing the planet speech.

Saying all this we have much magic in cooking a dough ball dish and gingerbread house on Christmas eve, happy feel good TV, they have always been suspicious of Santa and we never confirmed his existence, never did the elf thing (again not a tradition invented in the USA in the 1990s assuming purely to sell toy elves plus we couldn't convincingly answer the "surely the elves would be needed at the north pole this time of year" questions). So even with all the stuff we don't do we manage to have magical, cosy, loving, thankful, fun and happy Christmases.

So no OP. You are most definitely not a rubbish mum. Well no more than us. Christmas eve you can have blankets, film, game or two, bit of cooking, bowl of satsumas, Christmas music on radio, the excitement of hanging a stocking up. All you need. More than enough.

@frozendaisy 👏👏👏

A Christmas Eve box? With presents in? Eh? Isn't presents what Christmas Day is for? Literally the next day? Why are they getting another set of presents as pre-presents? Is it like pre drinking?

As well as all these advent calendars full of toys rather than choc. It's absolute madness. Most kids on here have more than enough. It makes me feel a bit sick really how much my kids have and we definitely do not do pre-presents.

Stockings here have several sweets then things like stickers, chalks/crayons/pencils, small toy and bubbles in them, they cost less than £1 (more like 50p each) all usable stuff.

I mean what can be less boring than a toothbrush and shower gel? You hardly have to go above and beyond to beat that for a kid, basically ANY creative outlet would be better.

I also dont see HOW people fit PJs in a stocking or why? it makes sense on xmas ever because they were them to bed so they are already in them on xmas morning when they do gifts.

Most books dont fit in a stocking either unless they are those tiny baby books.

It just doesnt make sense.

They are not 'presents' they are nessecities for getting ready for bed and traditional items.

They are not 'presents' they are nessecities

Wow, if you call all these things necessities, you've no idea how spoilt and lucky you are!

A tooth brush, hygene products, food and warm clothing are absoloutly nessecities parents have to LEGALLY provide in the UK.

There is nothing spoilt or lucky about a child being clean, clothed, warm and fed, what an utterly disgusting view point that you think that isn't the bare fucking minimum to provide to kids.

The only difference is its new replacements put in a 'box' on a specific day rather than just any random wednesday its still absoloutly legally required box/xmas eve or not else its neglect.

I have done the Christmas Eve Box since my eldest was small. I don’t buy Christmas Pjs to put into them. I always bought regular Pjs. I put in a couple small treats and for Christmas Eve and cosy socks. We use same box every year. The first one he ever got contained the night before Christmas book. We read it every year at bedtime on Christmas Eve. Last year my eldest read the book to his baby brother, which was so lovely.
He would be getting Pjs every year anyway as his old ones get too small. Christmas breakfast can take a running jump though.

I also don't see HOW people fit PJs in a stocking or why?
Most books don't fit in a stocking either unless they are those tiny baby books.

Well personally (and I'm fairly sure I'm not the only one) when I say "stocking" it's a 'euphemism' for enormous sack. When I was a kid my parents would either put our presents from Father Christmas in pillow cases or, depending on the size, sometime a massive sack.

@mam0918 oh do get off your high horse ! So now a Christmas Eve box is a legal requirement? I've heard it all now

I remember in detail the excitement, it was magical it was what made Christmas Christmas not birthday, that feeling of a lumpy stocking when you woke up as a child at the end of the bed. It was brilliant.

We give ours fun, small toys, sweets, a book (placed under), in their stockings. New packet of good pens and a sketch book.

And for us, not for all clearly, but for us diluting that thrill of first presents with pyjamas and shower gel the night before just isn't going to ever happen. I can understand giving nice pyjamas as a present but they would be under the tree. I know some people exchange gifts Christmas eve, but nope, not here, first presents, stocking. It's was the twinkle of Christmas in my childhood and that is all we want a bit of twinkle on Christmas morning. The rest is just chasing that first hit high as far as I can tell!