Christmas Eve box ?

[CJ98]

Opinion on Christmas Eve boxes…
I haven’t really had a need to do a Christmas Eve box but I have my own daughter now and I’ve always seen people do them. Are they worth it ? Are they worth it for a 6 month old baby ? What do you put in them ? It will be her first Christmas so I’m trying to make it as special as I can..

We are for our baby but it’s obviously more for us than her. She’s got a Christmas teddy (will be used every year), Christmas book, PJs and probably a little toy. We know she won’t remember any of it but we are very excited for our first Christmas with her.

I've done one for the past couple of years and my son is 6. I'd only bother for a baby if they had older siblings that I did it for.

I put in Xmas pjs (that he wears all year round), a Xmas book, chocolate, a craft activity, a small toy (has been a hot wheels car but I want to find something different this year) and last year he got a Xmas cup that he uses constantly, this year will be Xmas mug with some hot chocolate sachets and mini marshmallows.

I have a “welcome to the Christmas holidays box” which is received when school finishes. It really helps them unwind after the busiest term of the year.

Christmas pj’s
a magazine / comic
a fiction book to keep them busy
Some sweets
Puzzle book or a jigsaw

And I put Christmas bedding on ☺️ (which they’ve had for many years!)

DS can be a little too serious about school so I really value him having downtime

They do it with the Tonie too, loads to chose from & every night it’s bloody Paw Patrol Marshall!

We enjoy them. The elves deliver them to the doorstep and DD rushes to answer the doorbell before they disappear. Sadly, she's never caught them yet.

DD4 gets:

• Cosy PJs (we're not a matching sort of family fwiw)
• A small teddy, usually a Beanie Boo as she collects them
• A Christmassy themed book- this year it will be The Jolly Christmas Postman which we will read together
• A bag of "reindeer food" to sprinkle outside
• A bath bomb

SD15 gets:

• New PJs
• Cosy socks
• A reading book
• Sometimes a board game for us all to play together after DD is in bed
• A sweet treat of some description

SD only gets one if she's actually with us on Xmas Eve, so EOY.

It's just a little bit of magic to make Christmas Eve to help set the tone for the evening and get everyone cosy before bed.

But why not save the rattle and book as presents for Christmas Day? Again, if they're Christmas themed, you'd want them throughout advent because otherwise you're just packing them away in a week, same for the decoration! Why would you want the stocking in a special 'Christmas Eve Box' either? It's just making work for yourself!

Mine get one but they are very basic and only things they can use on Xmas Eve - so pjs, a bath bomb, a book and a hot chocolate.

Wouldn't bother with one for a 6 month old who doesn't even know what Christmas is! I suppose if you want to start the tradition and it's more for your benefit then you could do one with a little Xmas baby grow and a felt book or something like that.

Any bath bombs get wrapped up here for a present on Xmas day, I’m pretty tight though!

I love them, although I am now a few years into the tradition and wondering why on earth I started with it. I properly set myself up for another job to do/more stuff to buy at an already expensive and busy time of year! Also, making them slightly different each year so they don’t end up with 12 of the same items is getting annoying!
I usually put Christmas Eve pyjamas/nightie in as well as a book, a teddy, reindeer food, hot chocolate and sweets then something like a Christmas blanket or mug. The kids absolutely love it and it’s a highlight for them so I’ll keep the tradition going.

How would you do it? You'd surely just put it in a box and then unpack it again yourself for a 6 month old? I would save yourself a task as they have no idea what's going on. I think we hardly even bothered with presents when DS was that age and I was completely deprived of sleep.

We don't bother with them personally because I feel there's so much consumerism around Christmas already. DS generally ends up with new cosy pyjamas and slippers at some point in Nov/Dec, we often find new Christmas films on the TV, buy a nice hot choc when the weather turns, etc. I see no need to make it into a box that I need to organise every year.

We have one box for the 5 of us.

It contains:

Our stockings to hang.
All DC get a windup toy in their stocking every year, and after Christmas they get put in the Christmas Eve box, so 16yrs of little wind up animals come tumbling out and get set off around the floor. It's lovely and very nostalgic for the DC
We participate in a global card exchange and as all the cards arrive throughout December they go in the box and we open them all together over breakfast on Christmas Eve, reading updates from our friends around the world.
The Robert Sabuda pop up Night Before Christmas which eldest DS got aged 3 and has come out every year since.

So, no. It's not all mad consumerism. If you are intent on £30 of plastic shite from Home Bargains that will be landfill within a week then yes, I can see that it's unnecessary....but the fact that it's for Christmas Eve is kind of irrelevant. My friend buys shite continuously from Home Bargains, B&M etc all year round. It's broken or unwanted and chucked not long after she's bought it. She does it every month, so the stuff she buys at Christmas isn't extra.

@LePetitMaman Your 16 yr olds sit & play with wind up toys with you on Xmas eve & listen to numerous cards been read out at breakfast?! All my friends teenagers just grunt & are fixated on their phones 😆 when I was a teenager it was tradition to spend xmas eve with friends in the pub.

This is what ours contains too :)

No wonder folk are are skint. No need for all these extra celebrations and gifts .... its gotten out of hand imo.

Yes. The eldest is 16. The youngest is 4. The eldest reads some of the cards in exaggerated comedy accents, one country we exchange with is Belgium, and he goes all "Hercule Poirot" over it. We've informed our Belgian friends and they now address the card to "Hercule and Family". The younger ones are absolutely captivated by it all. He is absolutely a phone grunter a lot of the time. He actively grabs the box from me on Christmas Eve because he's so excited, we started it when he was two, and people would send him little stickers etc. There is little he wants to do other than stare at his phone or disappear with mates, so long may this continue.

Put a wind up toy in front of an adult and they can't resist letting it off. What makes you find it so strange that a teen (who's toys many of these are) enjoys it? They all get tipped out..."that's my spinning monkey!!.....no, I got that last year, yours is the snail!...here try that one, it sings, I got that when I was four, like you!"

It's wonderful.

Here’s a thought. How about making Christmas Eve special by going to church?

I do one for my kids but I don’t buy lots for it. They get
xmas books which I keep in there all year round and only get them out at xmas so they never get bored of them

santas plate

santas magic key

new xmas pjs

hot chocolate

chocolate santa

Put a wind up toy in front of an adult and they can't resist letting it off. What makes you find it so strange that a teen (who's toys many of these are) enjoys it?

You misunderstand, I would enjoy it but not for anything more than a few minutes worth but horses for courses.

When I was a child we always got new pyjamas on Christmas Eve and usually something new for our bath, so we’d be clean and look nice in the photos for the next day!

I do this for my kids. On Christmas Eve we watch a film with some popcorn and then lay out mince pie for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, hang up stockings and go to bed. They are totally spoilt in terms of stockings and presents on Christmas Day - I really don’t feel the need to add to it on Xmas eve!

I also put their Christmas books away in Jan and get them out on 1 December, so all their bedtime stories are Christmas themed, which they love. We usually buy them 1 or 2 new ones each year to add to the pile.

Have never done Christmas Eve boxes. I do give grandson a christmas jumper, a Christmas hat and some Christmas themed storybooks with a chocolate advent calendar on the 1st though.

It's all very well to start these things.

I started doing it when my kids were young, and I must admit they LOVED it. Huge excitement, and they all talk about it still, and reminisce about the boxes over the years.

But what's my exit plan? My kids are now much bigger. Ds is 16 and doesn't want a pair of Christmas pyjamas. But youngest is only 12 and it seems mean to stop now when the eldest is 18 and still going. I'm fairly certain I'll be doing it for them and (eventually) their children for the rest of my life! Which I suppose is a lovely thing to have a grumble about really... it's just an extra job to do every year.

Last year they had pyjamas (DS got a packet of Christmas themed pants) and a hot chocolate making set, and they bloody loved it. So I suppose my answer it, it's lovely, but don't do it.

I love Christmas but have to agree with this.

People these days buy tat all year round, but at Christmas they really lose their minds.

Christmas consumerism (and consumerism in general) is wild.

Your kid is 6 months old, so no, it's absolutely not worth it just now.

You've got a few years. Take your time and have a think about whether you want your buy into the insta hype or not,

You can have a magical Christmas without buying all the stuff.

14 years!
I’ve never heard of them
Well I’m glad that passed me by tbh.

We generally just do a Candle and Advent calendars on 1st December.
( bought one for our dog from Aldi this year…….I’m not immune to the Christmas madness )

Do it OP. your baby will remember it forever.

We don’t do a formal box, but when it gets dark on Christmas Eve we always find a few wrapped presents in the garden that fell off Santa’s sleigh. They always happen to be PJs and a hot choc stirrer for each person in the house. Some of our children work and live in different paces now and we try to deliver their Santa sleigh presents still. It makes for a lovely Christmas Eve driving from city to city with Christmas music playing. This year we will picking some up and bringing them home - that’s our Christmas present!

I do a 1st December box too- with their advent calendars, bedding and a few accessories they can wear during December. Most of these are reusable, there is no cost, it’s just tradition.