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Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

Original poster

christmas plans-how will this work out?

26 replies

themildmannneredjanitor · 06/10/2008 22:52

dh's parents live abroad.

they either stay abroad at christmas or come to us.

this year however they have bought a pied a terre in the uk and have invited us to spend christmas there with them.

i think we would like to do this and it will be lovely for dh and will save us the stres of guests over christmas but am worried about how to do it with the children. how to maintain traditions, make sure the illusion is still there of fc etc. how to transport all the presents without thek knowing!

any ideas?

OP posts:
cherryliquormonster · 06/10/2008 23:00

how old are the children? maybe you could take the presents over while they are at school just before they break up for xmas. or do the shopping online and get it delivered there

Original poster
themildmannneredjanitor · 06/10/2008 23:08

well-the flat is a 4 hour drive away from home and pil will only be arriving just before christmas so no deliveries possible.
the children are 5 and 8.

OP posts:
dizzywitches · 06/10/2008 23:17

when are you going? you could have the stuff delivered on Christmas Eve maybe?

dizzywitches · 06/10/2008 23:18

oh sorry just saw your no deliveries possible comment

daffodill6 · 06/10/2008 23:37

Really difficult if they still believe in Santa. ... But you could send a letter to Santa beforehand... "please take small stuff to Pils address and leave other things (if any) for when we return" I undersatnd your concerns about traditions etc (half of dps family live in Europe), but the Santa thing for me was the hardest to crack... and so we didn't go elsewhere for the holiday until dd was 9

Original poster
themildmannneredjanitor · 06/10/2008 23:53

mmmm lots to think about.

one of the toughest things i think isthat his parents always leave their presents until midday to open.
there is no way i can make the boys wait that long. just not going to happen!

OP posts:
magicofchristmas · 07/10/2008 01:32

I did this a few years ago with my friends kids when we went away for christmas. They were aged between 4 and 8 (3kids).
Older one wasn't sure if santa still existed or not so..

I hired a big car then turned up at their house "complaining" the boot was jammed so had to put our luggage in the main car under feet, on knees etc while i waited for the AA to come and unlock the boot, but, seeing as it was so near christmas they couldn't come out till boxing day

Once the kids were in the car I had an urgent need to "visit the loo" during which time santa managed to leave a few big pressies under the tree for their return home, includng a little note in the fish tank saying to the pet shop owner something along the lines of "I santa herby authorise pet shop to give fish to * as he has been so good all year and has promised to take good care etc etc". They loved the trip to hand over the note in the new year

The kids had a ball. We also did all the traditional christmas stuff while away too. Oh by the way, he had requested fish from santa

magicofchristmas · 07/10/2008 01:36

You have no idea how much stuff we managed to cram into that oot lol.
We even had an electric guitar (complete with amp) in there. What racket we endured christmas morning.

mumwhereareyou · 07/10/2008 06:56

When we used to live in germany when DH was in army, this was really common with a lot of people becuase they wanted to go home for xmas and knew they would be bringing more stuff home than they were taking.

The majority of them used to take the small stuff home and leave a key with a friend to out the other stuff out so when they got home to germany, there was more presents.

They used to explain that santa could't deliver big stuff in the UK, most of the kids brought it and they loved having to open presents twice.

Our kids don't open their presents to mid morning, we normally have our stockings in bed, then a leisurely breakfast, get dressed then open pressies but we always leave a couple to the afternoon as well. They enjoy it as they have time to play with some before getting a load more.

Buda · 07/10/2008 12:28

We have this every year. I usually manage to get to Dublin in Oct and do most shopping then and leave at my parents. Not happening this year.

I will be able to have stuff delivered though.

Like the idea of saying the boot is jammed! Clever.

DS still expects to get a present under the tree here when we get back! (Last year it was the elec guitar tmmj!)

So. You first problem is getting stuff to the house. What day do DH's parents arrive? Is there any way they will be there to accept delivery? What about a neighbour?

Or you do the car thingie.

We then do Xmas stocking in bedroom. Then we go downstairs to see what FC has left. By then my parents are usually up and as my Dad is reverting to his childhood, he has a stocking up at the fireplace for every GC, DS gets another stocking.

We leave all the other presents till my sisters arrive. Used to open some before lunch and some after.

magicofchristmas · 07/10/2008 18:15

Another thought (weather permitting of course) oh, and garden.

How about puttng some parcels hidden in the garden for them to find later on (when's convenient for the ILs). That way they get to open some when they wake and a bit later someone comes across a letter from FC saying there is some hidden treasure in the garden.

Dont know how practical that would be in the winter, but, funilly enough the easter bunny did that earlier this year.

Weegle · 07/10/2008 18:47

Does FC bring everything in your house? That could be where the problem lies. Although DS is still little enough that he doesn't notice boot packing, FC only brings the stocking presents so they are easy enough to pack in a hold all. All the presents from us we just make sure are all wrapped then put in to boxes and black bags along with all the presents for everyone else so he won't know what's what.

magicofchristmas · 07/10/2008 19:05

When I was a child my parents only gave me one pressie, the others came from FC and then there was the odd few from aunties etc.
It's a bit difficult to change it now as the OPs children are older so will know what usually happens.

Original poster
themildmannneredjanitor · 07/10/2008 21:03

fc brings everything.
he is the big postman type person!

i imagine my in lawas will be flying just before christm,as. it is a new flat so they won't know their neighbours!
no garden but it is the actual getting stuff from my house to their place that is the problem.
i think we will have to use cunning sleight of hand!

OP posts:
geordieminx · 08/10/2008 10:07

just a thought... You need to plan how to get all of the stuff back home after xmas too. Unless you have a huge car, 2 adults, 2 dc's, all the santa claus presents, your luggage, plus presents from others... I'm thinking beverly hill billys, where the granny is strapped to the roof.

Bingo! Could you get a roof box? If you have a garage, pack presents into roof box the load onto car?

geordieminx · 08/10/2008 10:07

just a thought... You need to plan how to get all of the stuff back home after xmas too. Unless you have a huge car, 2 adults, 2 dc's, all the santa claus presents, your luggage, plus presents from others... I'm thinking beverly hill billys, where the granny is strapped to the roof.

Bingo! Could you get a roof box? If you have a garage, pack presents into roof box the load onto car?

geordieminx · 08/10/2008 10:08

ooops

Buda · 08/10/2008 12:59

Great idea geordie! DCs can be told it's empty and hey presto pressies on site when you need them!

bellavita · 08/10/2008 13:03

georgie - the roof box sounds like a good idea.

bellavita · 08/10/2008 13:04

arrrgh pressed post button before I realised I was supposed to type geordie

GrapefruitMoon · 08/10/2008 13:23

We used to have this problem when dd was little - used to spend every Christmas in Ireland. Luckily she was small enough for us to be able to influence her choice of presents but I was so happy when we spent our first Christmas in our own home and was able to finally buy larger (in size) presents! Generally we only got her things which would fit in our luggage as we flew there and back. She sometimes got large presents from dh's family which had to stay in ireland until we took our car over later in the year - some things never actually made it to the UK as sadly we never had room for them

Roof box is a good idea... otherwise explain to the children that if they want large presents they will need to write to fc beforehand to get him to leave the big presents in your house and deliver the smaller ones to gp's house...

reban · 08/10/2008 13:56

im sure that your in-laws will not expect your children to wait until mid-day to open presents if you speak to them .. especially if father christmas has managed to deliver all there presents to this different address!
My daughter gets two christmas's. She is always with us for christmas day and then travels to her father's home in ireland on boxing day. We have always said that father christmas knows she is going to spend part of her christmas holidays with daddy so he makes sure he delivers her irish presents there.

GrapefruitMoon · 08/10/2008 14:53

Missed the bit about opening presents at midday . I can never understand people who do this (apart from families where all are grown up and they need to wait for everyone to arrive or something). But then my family is so impatient that we used to open family (ie non-fc) presents on Christmas Eve!

pinkspottywellies · 08/10/2008 15:03

I think the best thing about Santa is that you can make up whatever stories you need to. My DH was trying to make a case for not having Christmas with my family (his are near mine are 5 hours away!) because 'what about FC I told him not to be so silly. FC can deliver anything anywhere. He found me and my sis in Lanzarote one year

Re opening presents after lunch, surely you can say that your tradition is to open some in the morning and that is what you'll be doing. They must know this already having spent Christmas with you before?

Hope it all works out ok.

Flibbertyjibbet · 08/10/2008 15:10

We used to have stocking from santa and presents in the morning downstairs.
But we always had parcels from grandmas and a relative a long way away. They are given out one at a time with everyone watching to see what you got - so it all takes a looooong time and everyone is occupied.

I think it was my mums way of getting some leverage for good behaviour for most of xmas day!
We loved it as it meant we got more pressies quite late in the day.
At first dp thought it was mad but now he loves the late in the day one at a time opening instead of his family's all ripping everything open at the same time and its all over in minutes.

OP - you could just have a few tree pressies on xmas day and lie to the kids, say FC must have forgot that you wouldn't be at home then come home to find all the pressies laid out (by a kind neighbour) problem solved pmsl!!!

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