What do you put in 1st December boxes vs Christmas Eve boxes?

[ChristmasIsComing2023]

What do you put in 1st December boxes vs Christmas Eve boxes??

@spitefulandbadgrammar I actually don't buy "Christmas Pyjamas" - I buy them when I need them. It's never that cold in December so I am still in just a t-shirt 😂

Well, children usually tend to grow out of things...

Agreed, but many posters are saying they (and presumably their partner) also get Xmas pyjamas.

Okay, fair enough!

We don't usually bother with Christmas PJs anymore anyway (have bought them for DC in past, but they did wear them all-year round.)

We do do 1 Dec boxes, but just a collection of things I would have bought anyway, like advent calendar, a new bauble, Christmas book and Christmas craft, etc.

So many judgements and assumptions on this thread. We class the whole of December as Christmas season because we all love it so much. That doesn't mean throwing lots of money at it. We make our own wreath, fill a fabric advent we've had for years, take walks to see lights, bake together etc. Decorations include holly and Ivy we gather from the garden. And yes, a 1st Dec basket. Over the years I've bought a couple of 'forever' items each year from talented small businesses. I do also buy Christmas outfits, but they are always generic enough to be worn throughout winter and handed down.

Just because I want to create a magical Christmas for our DC by bringing out special items year after year, with the addition of a few special new pieces, doesn't make me a consumerist fool or taken in by marketing. I will remember my children's Christmas's forever (and hopefully they will too) and will never regret making them magical, even if that makes me a dreadful person for presenting them with a 1st Dec basket.

Don't all the whingers ever get their kids new socks, pyjamas, colouring books, craft kits, bath bombs, sweets? They seem like quite basic childhood staples and yet as soon as they are Christmas themed and chucked in a box certain posters seem to lose perspective.

@TarantinoIsAMisogynist to answer your question about how many sets of pjs people have, I could go on 21 nights away holiday and have one clean pair for every night plus extra. Some Christmas themed, some onesies some short/T-shirts, fleecy. I have more pjs than I do 'nice' 'going out' clothes. If I'm home I wear pjs, when I get in from work the first thing I do if I'm not going out is put my pjs on. I spend more time in them than anything else so o have more of them than anything else

We bought DT’s those things but not Christmas themed (as they didn’t like Christmas themed clothes) - bought throughout the year but not specifically at Christmas.

So why put them in a box? Why has it become a thing to get your kids to open the same Christmas related stuff every year in a box? I don't get it. It just sounds like making your kids go through a naff rehearsal of opening stuff up at Christmas, taking away some of the magic of the actual day.

I think there is enough preparation and magic in getting the tree out and decorating the house, going for walk to see the Christmas lights in your neighbourhood, baking on Xmas Eve, etc.

@TwigletAddict10 boxes are generally easier to store when the contents aren't being used.
My Christmas bits are in a mix of boxes, bags and stuffed at the back of a cupboard.
I take "December 1st Box" as a figure of speech....it doesn't always mean an actual box 😂

You are right, it doesn’t mean a actual box🙄

@TwigletAddict10 and again a lot of what people say are in their "boxes" is stuff needed before the actual day. It's preparation for Christmas stuff. It's not going to take away any "magic" - it's about getting into the Christmas spirit.

Son has about 15 pairs and my daughter probably 20+ Pairs.

I don’t buy clothing though and wear it til it’s worn out. I wouldn’t wear well worn clothing. I’d get rid and buy new.

Etsy begs to differ with amount of actual boxes being flogged on there, but I'm glad to hear nobody is apparently buying them.

@TwigletAddict10 well the box my mum used for decades was a plain cardboard with the words "Christmas Decs" scrawled on with felt tip pen.
I have various boxes - some have pre printed pictures of Christmasy things, some are covered with pink dots.
Does it matter what colour, pattern or whatever the boxes are? It doesn't.

If we’re talking storing Christmas stuff, I DO have a Christmas box! With tree decorations and lights in. And DC’s stockings. I suppose I find the magic diminishes the more stuff there is – Christmas loo roll, mugs, bedding. This will make me sound like a deprived Little House on the Prairie person getting excited about a real orange in my stocking, but growing up we would only decorate the house on Christmas Eve – going out to gather armfuls of greenery, and we never had fizzy pop throughout the year, but my mother bought one bottle of lemonade for Christmas Day – a glass of Christmas lemonade was quite magical. Wiping your bum on Christmas loo roll for a whole month, less so.

I'm thinking of doing a 1st December box this year for my 3 year old. A lot of the stuff in there though will be stuff that will be reused every year like her xmas books. I've bought her a bauble for the last 3 Christmases and want to carry that on. We decorate the tree on 1st so thought it would be nice to give her a little box then. There won't be much in it - advent calendar, bauble, Xmas books, PJs, a xmas mug I bought her last year, hot chocolate bombs and a xmas jumper I bought her on Vinted. It won't cost much at all and I thought would be nice to get her some stuff she can enjoy using on the run up to Xmas, rather that just the night before.

Since so many people realized they don't like Christmas fruitcake.

Another stick to beat mothers with. I mean if you're not making it MAGICAL enough then you are failing aren't you? Left to fathers I imagine children would be lucky if they got a couple of presents to open on the day let alone a month of intense 'magic' making, a buying and wrapping mania for all members of the extended family and a roast dinner for 20 to buy, prep and cook. I'm exhausted just typing it.

@whatsappdoc I'm the one that likes the magic - my daughter is totally "meh" about it.
I hated Christmas for the 2 decades I worked in retail so I make up for it now.

Fair enough @Needmorelego

I admit I'm the one keeping the Christmas Eve ritual going, the letter and mince pie for Santa. My dds are in their 30s and humour me!

Well there you go then, if people are getting their children these things throughout the year then getting them Christmas themed versions for the run up to Christmas doesn't suddenly make it a capitalist nightmare.
Most items people tend to give are either used up or reused for years and years. What is the drama?

I can assure you I need to wipe my arse over Christmas and Aldi handily stock The Snowman loo roll.

It ain't Christmas till you've wiped your bum on The Snowman

Go away! Stop buying shit nobody needs! Fuckinghell

Not read the thread 😳