Page 2 | Spoke openly about Xmas presents and now worried

Jolomanojo · 2022-12-18T18:35:53+00:00

I was talking quite loudly and openly to a friend about Xmas presents for my kids and having to check that i’d got them enough etc plus for their stockings, and I didn’t realise there was a child near me listening. I stopped talking as soon as I saw the child, but I’m worried that I’ve ruined Christmas for that child as they’ll start to question Santa etc. I realise I was talking too loudly now and I’m annoyed at myself as there were other parents around who were probably listening and are thinking I’m an idiot for being so open. Just can’t shake feeling awful about it even though it’s done now and there’s literally nothing I can do to change it.

TheEvening · 19/12/2022 07:40

I hate the 'believes' and 'still believes' type stuff and we do try to avoid that to be honest.

We also do all the presents for the kids come from Santa. Not just stockings. DH and I grew up with all presents coming from Santa and we survived. It's never caused any issues with the kids. The older ones understand that people also buy one another gifts at Christmas too but their pile of gifts comes from Santa claus.

JustCakeInDrag · 19/12/2022 07:47

TheEvening · 19/12/2022 07:40

I hate the 'believes' and 'still believes' type stuff and we do try to avoid that to be honest.

We also do all the presents for the kids come from Santa. Not just stockings. DH and I grew up with all presents coming from Santa and we survived. It's never caused any issues with the kids. The older ones understand that people also buy one another gifts at Christmas too but their pile of gifts comes from Santa claus.

Are gifts from grandparents and other family members also designated as ‘from’ Santa?

ODFOx · 19/12/2022 08:11

Try to remember what you said and make the gifts that you mentioned from you, not Father Christmas.
Just in case.

DappledThings · 19/12/2022 08:36

My parents had Santa bring anything that was a pain in the arse to wrap. New bicycle? Santa. Awkwardly-shaped dollhouse? Santa. Huge stuffed animal? Definitely Santa, no one wants to find a box to put that in. These items would appear unwrapped and be waiting for us on Christmas morning amongst all the wrapped presents. Doesn’t anyone else do that?
Nope! When I got a bicycle one year my parents kept it hidden in the shed and I had to follow clues to find it. DD is getting a bike this year. We've bought a big bow to put on it and will wheel it out when we are opening presents. Father Christmas is definitely stockings only for us.

mam0918 · 19/12/2022 08:50

ScarlettOHaraHamiltonKennedyButler · 18/12/2022 20:23

It is not theft don't be so ridiculous. It's batshit yes but not theft! The items have already been gifted it doesn't matter what the bloody tag says.

Anyway OP we have all had our moments I'm sure. I remeber at about 7 finding a huge bag of sweets hidden in a cupboard just before Christmas, my Mum said she had bought them for the kids who don't get any presents. I was raging (very spoiled obvs) but it never twigged that they were actually our sweets from Santa, even when all the exact same one appeared in my stocking a few days later.

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Ok so in your theory if Amazon delivers a gift from you to my neighbor but it gets delivered to me I can relable it from me an claim its my gift to them that I bought and you must not have got anything... in your world it doesnt matter as neighbor still gets it right.

No that's LITRALLY theft.

girlmom21 · 19/12/2022 08:52

@mam0918 have you been on the Christmas sherry already? That's not a comparable situation as these gifts had already been given to the recipient

Mardyface · 19/12/2022 08:54

Honestly if they want to believe, they believe. At one point I could have made a big neon sign saying 'Santa is made up' and my DD wouldn't have believed me.

mam0918 · 19/12/2022 08:56

EllesB · 19/12/2022 07:31

At the risk of derailing, it seems odd to have Santa either bring everything or just fill stockings.

My parents had Santa bring anything that was a pain in the arse to wrap. New bicycle? Santa. Awkwardly-shaped dollhouse? Santa. Huge stuffed animal? Definitely Santa, no one wants to find a box to put that in. These items would appear unwrapped and be waiting for us on Christmas morning amongst all the wrapped presents. Doesn’t anyone else do that?

Santa delivers all awkward unwrappable things here too... am I hell trying to wrap the rocking horse this year lol.

mam0918 · 19/12/2022 08:57

girlmom21 · 19/12/2022 08:52

@mam0918 have you been on the Christmas sherry already? That's not a comparable situation as these gifts had already been given to the recipient

no they hadn't, the CHILD is the recipiant not the mother.

ScarlettOHaraHamiltonKennedyButler · 19/12/2022 08:58

mam0918 · 19/12/2022 08:50

Ok so in your theory if Amazon delivers a gift from you to my neighbor but it gets delivered to me I can relable it from me an claim its my gift to them that I bought and you must not have got anything... in your world it doesnt matter as neighbor still gets it right.

No that's LITRALLY theft.

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Not the same situation at all and you know it. Especially since whispers Santa isn't real.....

Perhaps you need to look up the definiton of theft, here I will make it easy for you

"dishonestly appropriating property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it"

In this situation the child still gets the gift, thinking it's from a magical man in a red suit instead of Aunt Susan makes zero difference, no one is depriving anyone of ownership, as the parcel has already changed hands when it was given to the mother and the gift giver has no intentions of it being given back (I would assume).

ThanksItHasPockets · 19/12/2022 09:03

Manicpixidreamgirl · 18/12/2022 21:50

I was in a restaurant with my two children last week when an older couple opposite us were doing some sickly flirting and the woman asked the man ‘do you still believe in Santa?’. The man said ‘of course’ and she said ‘oh that’s so sweet’. My 7 year old heard but didn’t say anything. It made me really sad. I feel like they should have known better.
Unless you said something that obvious, I wouldn’t worry. Everyone does Christmas differently.

I have read this twice and cannot work out what is so saddening about this innocuous, private conversation.

TheEvening · 19/12/2022 09:04

Are gifts from grandparents and other family members also designated as ‘from’ Santa?

No... I've never heard of that, except by a PP on this thread.

Lalliella · 19/12/2022 09:15

I hated the ridiculous deception of trying to invent a plausible sounding story of presents being from Santa whilst getting the children to be grateful to family for giving them presents! Couldn’t wait for them to stop believing, which being the cynical pair they are (can’t imagine where they got that from) was when they were quite young. We still had fun with Santa stories though and they still have stockings at 19 and 17!

Don’t worry OP. That child will have heard lots of contradictory Santa stories!

FabFitFifties · 19/12/2022 09:20

For PP who has bought a rocking horse - I drapped a white sheet over ours years ago, I hid bike in downstairs loo, but I suppose a sheet would work there too.

baxtersm · 19/12/2022 10:09

Mardyface · 19/12/2022 08:54

Honestly if they want to believe, they believe. At one point I could have made a big neon sign saying 'Santa is made up' and my DD wouldn't have believed me.

This is so true of all my children

Karatema · 19/12/2022 10:18

pinneddownbytabbies · 18/12/2022 18:49

I wouldn't worry about it. Until the age of 11 my Dniece apparently thought that all christmas presents were from Santa, including all the ones bought by grandparents and us. We didn't twig until one day, when SIL said something about cutting the tags off showing who they were from before she put the presents under the tree.
Bonkers.

This is nuts! How does DNiece send "thank yous?"

Norfolkungood · 19/12/2022 10:19

In our house all gifts come from Father Christmas. It was impossible to hide the fact that we were doing extra shopping trips and present buying. I used to tell the children that to help Father Christmas out I bought the presents and sent them to him and if they were really good Father Christmas would bring them on Christmas Eve. Was easy to hide the presents once they were in the house.

Phos · 19/12/2022 10:41

In our house some gifts are "from Santa" but even the ones from us and my mum and dad are bought by us and sent to Santa for checking and wrapping. Just how we did it when I was a kid.

Cucumberbund · 19/12/2022 10:55

When I was 8 I found evidence of a soft toy my mum had made the Christmas before. I knew she made it and it was supposed to be from Santa but I just decided she was helping Santa out. I really didn't twig there might be more to it than that.

MolkosTeenageAngst · 19/12/2022 11:19

Who was the child? Unless it was one of your own I wouldn’t worry about it, I doubt a strangers child who is young enough to believe in Santa would be interested enough in the conversation of two random adults to properly be listening/ taking any of it in. If on the off chance they did hear I supposed at worst they’ve learnt a lesson about why they shouldn’t eavesdrop on other peoples conversations!

Original poster

Jolomanojo · 19/12/2022 12:01

Hi no it wasn’t my child but a 5 year old nearby, so I guess it may have not made exact sense to her as I didn’t suggest Santa wasn’t real. I’m just kicking myself at causing potential difficult conversations for the parent to have to explain - if she was listening - and also embarrassed that others nearby who listening were probably cringing and thinking what an idiot. So valuable lesson for me to check there are no little ears listening in future and to keep my voice down. Thank you for the kind messages from everyone to try and reassure me x

OP posts:

DappledThings · 19/12/2022 12:24

I’m just kicking myself at causing potential difficult conversations for the parent to have to explain - if she was listening - and also embarrassed that others nearby who listening were probably cringing and thinking what an idiot.
This really isn't worth a second thought. If she was listening (unlikely) and asks her parents then it's only as difficult as they chose to make it.

As for any other adults listening it won't have crossed anyone's mind you were saying anything inappropriate. Seriously, forget it. It's a non-event.

mam0918 · 19/12/2022 14:49

ScarlettOHaraHamiltonKennedyButler · 19/12/2022 08:58

Not the same situation at all and you know it. Especially since whispers Santa isn't real.....

Perhaps you need to look up the definiton of theft, here I will make it easy for you

"dishonestly appropriating property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it"

In this situation the child still gets the gift, thinking it's from a magical man in a red suit instead of Aunt Susan makes zero difference, no one is depriving anyone of ownership, as the parcel has already changed hands when it was given to the mother and the gift giver has no intentions of it being given back (I would assume).

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ok so buy your very own quoted discription of theft its NO different that my amazon example where the intered recipient still got the item via the third party so was not 'deprived' of it.

It doesnt matter who you claim its from (and Santa is not fake to the child) you removed the knowledge of who it is from which is the willful act of deception and the act of 'dishonestly appropriating property'.

You can argue semantics all you want but its immoral and wrong to take a gift, discredit the gift giver and then claim it was from someone else and it is theft regardless of how you try to weasle your way out of that.

Your really tying yourself in knots to justify blatent dishonesty.