Stockings/Father Christmas presents/presents under the tree, how do you do it?

[SillySausage81]

I'm dithering over how to arrange things, as this year will be our first Christmas where my DD (2.5) will actually know what's going on.

So when I was a child, we had our Father Christmas presents which were left in our rooms, and then our presents from family under the tree.

Father Christmas would bring us all our presents from our parents - we'd have one or two "main" presents plus a few surprises, which would all be left in a pillow case or sack at the end of our beds. We didn't really have actual stockings or "stocking filler presents". We'd open our Father Christmas presents as soon as we woke up on Christmas morning.

The family presents (aunts, uncles, grandparents) would sit under the tree for ages before Christmas. We were very lucky to have a big family which meant a massive stack of presents under the tree each year. We'd open them with the whole family after going downstairs.

I always thought that's how everyone does it, but now I'm hearing other things from different people, so just really interested to hear how everyone else does it.

My DD only has a couple of aunts and uncles so our tree present pile will look a lot smaller if we do things the way I did them as a kid, so looking for inspiration of other ways of doing it...

Are your kids' "main presents" from you or Father Christmas? Do you have lots of presents under the tree too? Do you have a stocking full of little gifts?

Oh yes Santa loves Sherry it’s his favourite part of Christmas Eve no milk for the big man in this house .

I always did stocking presents from father Christmas and main presents from us and other people from who they were actually from. This always worked they could appreciate who gave them what but still kept the magic alive.

Father Christmas does the stockings and we buy the presents for under the tree. I don't want some unknown entity getting all the credit for my hard work!
There was a meme I saw this weekend where a 7 year old tells their parent that this time of year is the best time for parents as Santa does all the work so they can just relax! It did make me laugh but the stress I have had previous years trying to find a certain item.
Mine are all early 20s and Santa still does their stocking and all other presents go under the tree. They know who the stocking is from really, but it's a running joke between us 😊

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Presents under the tree from friends/family
on Xmas eve Santa fills the stocking you leave at the end of your bed with little token pressies - except DS didn’t like the idea of Santa coming in his room so it was left outside.
Now they are teens “Santa” fills the stockings that have been left downstairs on the mantelpiece and sets her alarm for 2am to sneak them into the bedrooms

I dither too OP!

Made a huge thing a couple of years ago about FC only bringing the stockings. Cue my mum making lovely big stretchy knitted stockings for all 3 DC, bigger than average in order to accommodate flashier gifts than the stockings they had as babies which would only hold the standard chocolate coins and tiny gifts.

Then decided it just felt wrong to me to not have our presents from FC, plus there were some logistical complications with some stuff I had my heart set on being from FC not fitting in the stocking, and it just felt weird, so I decided that all gifts from us parents were to be from FC, then of course named gifts from family are also under the tree.

So long story short, we do a stocking from Santa and presents from us under the tree. All wrapped in lovely wrapping paper ordered online from shops we don't have in our town so they would never see it anywhere else 😅

I used to have a stocking formula which I strictly adhered to, now it's more of a guide of what to include. I.e. sweet treats, nice versions of toiletries, small clothing items like socks, underwear, knitwear hat or gloves etc, plus any gifts at all that will fit in the stocking. The stocking gets all stretched out and lumpy and I wrap every sodding little thing so it's all crinkly too!

They were a bit too excited when they were hung from the end of the bed though and DC were up at 4am 🙄so this year they'll be back in the hallway.

We haven't in previous years had an actual break between stocking presents and tree presents, but last year when as said they woke at 4am, they were sent back to bed with a Disney movie and their stockings, and the littlest went back to bed with us!

I'd quite like to implement a break between the stocking and the tree gifts going forward, as otherwise it seems a bit arbitrary to even have a separate stocking as well as the gifts under the tree?

Maybe I'll start doing stockings, breakfast and movie on in the background while they play with their stocking stuff, then tree presents. I get such conflicting memories from the Christmas board though; some people said they really liked waiting for the presents and the anticipation kept the excitement going throughout the day, others say they felt it was miserable to make DC wait for presents!

Stockings - small 'cheap' gifts and sweets opened in bed with mum
Tree - gifts from everyone else and clearly labelled

when mum said she couldnt afford things we knew we wouldnt get a new bike from santa as he just gets little things

I was very confused by other families, one family didnt get a tree until christmas day because santa bought it on christmas eve when they had gone to bed and then took it back on boxing day
one family had a santa who would bring electronics, barbie dream houses and cool big gifts, i thought they got more from him because i was not good, but mum explained that their parents just pretended the big stuff came from Santa because they were 'silly like that'

this was the same for us as children, and then our children and my siblings now see it repeated for their grandchildren

If i work every hour sent, and scrimp for a year to buy an xbox you can guarantee that my DS will know its from me! and now he is older he recognises the sacrifices made to give these things (he now makes a brilliant stocking for me!)

Stockings from Father Christmas everything else from whoever got it. Nothing gets put out until the kids are in bed on Christmas Eve. There's no wow if the presents were already out!

There are always a lot of threads on here around Christmas of parents who allowed Santa to bring all the presents and then hit a wall when their DC want something expensive etc etc. So I'd recommend starting out with all the main presents being under the tree (perhaps a few days early) and being from the donors. Santa can then bring a stocking. I made my DC a stocking each for their first Christmas so its something special to be brought out each year and is not too big so I don't need to buy too much. Stockings can always be padded out with things that they need - hats and gloves, socks, pretty tights, a bottle of Matey bubble bath as well as a few small toys.

Santa brings absolutely everything and it doesn't go out until Christmas eve night.

On the off chance family give presents then that's obviously from family. Which they won't get until they see said family member

There is an easy way around the Father Christmas insane gift request thing to be fair - I simply say Father Christmas doesn't bring tech (they understand "tech" as tablets, phones, laptops and the like) or animals or anything too big to fit in the sleigh

As long as it's enforced early on the DC won't bat an eye.

I really enjoy these types of threads, hearing everyone's traditions.
My 'kids' are 19 and 21 and still wake up to a stocking next to the bed. They will still bring them through and pile on our bed to open them.
They now fill ones for us too which is lovely.
When they were young gifts from friends/family they could put under the tree ready for the big day.
Ours and Santas gifts appeared magically (out of the loft!) overnight and we're put in separate piles. If they only had a name on them and not a tag they were from Santa.
Also good point to remember different wrapping. Almost got rumbled one year by putting a from Mum and Dad tag on a gift with Santas wrapping paper.

*If i work every hour sent, and scrimp for a year to buy an xbox you can guarantee that my DS will know its from me! and now he is older he recognises the sacrifices made to give these things (he now makes a brilliant stocking for me!)^

I don’t understand this mindset. Young children have little understanding of the value of money. They believe in magic. By the time they are eleven or twelve, they will undoubtedly know the presents are from you.

I do all sorts of things fiormy children. I pay for numerous activities. I drive them wherever they need to go. I sit in a dark while they are at sports and music practise. I don’t expect them to be grateful at this age. . I’m sure when they older and doing the same for their own children, , they will appreciate what I did but I do it because I’m a parent. It’s what parents do.

I agree with you, itaintwhatyoudo, parents who make a thing out of 'sacrifices' are just too much. I don't believe the word should be used! We choose to do things and if that means going without sometimes, or working extra hard, so be it. It's incumbent on us to do the very best we can for our children.

When our children are adult they will look back and understand, be pleased and thankful for their good childhood, but it is what every child should have, however humble the home. They don't want to remember a mother who made herself a martyr to give them things.

(My mum was always going on about the sacrifices she and my father made for my benefit; dad never said anything.)

We do stockings wrapped in a separate paper and left outside bedroom doors. These are excitedly discovered and brought into Mum&Dads bedroom to unwrap together - containing small toys, bubble bath, chocolate, tangerine and some coins etc.

Downstairs we have a family sack with our name on, each child gets 1-2 gifts from Santa, also wrapped in the separate paper. Our Santa gift is somewhere in the middle - not a big, very expensive gift but more substantial than a jigsaw puzzle. Eg - a nice doll or box of lego would be their single present, or two boxes of wooden play food for younger dc.

All gifts under the tree are from everyone else for the whole family.

And definitely this too! Nothing gets put out until everyone is in bed.

I completely agree with this!!!

Gifts are from whoever bought them. They appear under the tree on Christmas morning. Stockings hang from the back of dining chairs, these are filled by Father Christmas and are opened at the table after Christmas lunch. It initially happened like that to keep the children at the table but as the incentive was no longer needed the children didn't want it to change so they have remained on the back of dining chairs. It's a relaxed affair presents from under the tree are opened over the course of the day.

Definitely nothing goes out until kids are in bed. It's provides a Wow factor!

My DMum will say she never pretended Santa delivered everything she just didn't want us poking at gifts nor did she want to move them to hoover.

But there is something special about gifts just appearing in the night. My Santa delivers everything (like the postman) but Stockings and couple of things are from him.

I think I wrote that badly, I dont mean that i expected him as a child to be grateful.
However, in the years I couldnt afford to get him much he didnt expect Santa to get him something big and he didnt see others getting more and think he was at fault for not getting a big gift from Father Christmas because he had not been 'good enough'.
Like your own children it was never about the money, he didnt understand how much things cost and not an expectation of gratitude
The magic was there and the excitement was huge, just not defined by a large gift from santa.

oh, and the reference to him being older ...he is now in his mid 20's so much older

DS is 5 and I've never really differentiated between the gifts from us and Santa. He's never asked!

So we have a pile of presents on the sofa with the stocking in the middle and then under the tree is gifts for other people or from other people.

I'm Irish and our tradition is that Santa / Santy brings all the gifts from the parents.
All presents from other friends / family are labelled and go under the tree.
Everything else is from Santy and we don't give gifts to dc.
My dc get a large stocking filled with chocolate and small presents (this year teen dc is getting airpods / perfume / makeup / chocolate etc) and also a pile or display of presents. None of the presents Santy brings are wrapped but usually arranged in a nice 'display' downstairs by the fireplace.

This is exactly how it was when I was a kid and how we've chosen to do it for our dc. Dh came from a family who made minimal effort and santa brought a stocking and that was it. He far prefers our system now and he's the biggest culprit for over indulging dc!

Separate presents from us. Which can go under the tree whenever.
No family gifts to bother about.
FC brings things DS has specifically asked FC to bring in his letter, with usually a couple of stocking fillers like a bag of sweets or whatever. They'll appear in his stocking Christmas morning.

We will sit down and separate out what's from us and what's from FC.

Always a different paper from FC ;)