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Christmas

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

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Original poster

How does FC 'work' in your house? me and dh have very different ideas!! need MN help to decide!!

124 replies

llynnnn · 07/12/2009 07:50

It appears that Father Christmas worked very differently in my house as a child to how he worked in dh's! Now dd1 is 3 we really need to get our act together and discover how he will work for us!

So, in my house my parents didnt actually give me presents, they all came, unwrapped, by FC. We had presents from other family and friends under the tree which we were always aware of who had bought them for us. The factthat we had no actual prersents from my parents was never an issue and iirc we were told that parents sent money to FC to pay for them!

In dh's house santa only actually brought one present from him, wrapped, the rest of the gifts were from his parents and family (which were also brought by FC but tagged and left by him on xmas eve, so dh didnt actually see any presents from anyone until christmas morning)

So, how do you do it? dh thinks its shocking that FC didnt wrap our presents and also that there were none from my parents! he says he wouldve been upset that his parents hadn't actually bought him anything for christmas, this never occured to me as a child!

OP posts:

senua · 07/12/2009 08:33

There's no way that I am going to spend shed-loads of money on the DCs' presents and them end up being grateful to FC for them!!!
We do presents from parents & family, stocking from FC. Stocking contains (wrapped) pocket-money, Hawkins Bazaar type presents and far too much chocolate. We actually use a very large sock (like a wellie sock) and send the other off to FC. Then, when FC comes in the night, he simply swaps an empty sock for a full sock - saves him time and avoids making a rustling noise that might wake the DC.

OrmIrian · 07/12/2009 08:33

In our house FC doesn't actually work. We do all the work and he takes all the credit, the lazy fecker!

But in theory we brings christmas stockings that they have on their beds in the am. Full of small presents. The ones under the tree are from the people who gave them and we don't open them until after lunch.

OrmIrian · 07/12/2009 08:34

he brings

MaMight · 07/12/2009 08:34

FC fills a sack with presents, one biggish thing (eg a barbie) and a load of other little things or things they need, plus a couple of books, an orange, a shiny pound coin, some chocolate coins and a Terry's Chocolate Orange. Some things are wrapped, some aren't. FC ALWAYS has completely different wrapping paper to the stuff we are using. Sacks can be opened 1st thing in the morning, usually on dh and my bed.

Dh and I give the children a main present under the tree from us. Everyone elses wrapped and tagged presents go under the tree. Presents are opened once everyone is up and washed and dressed and breakfasted and lunch is cooking.

OrmIrian · 07/12/2009 08:36

Mamight - FC always uses different paper in our house too It's always cheap crappy stuff and some remnants saved from last year strangely enough.

MaMight · 07/12/2009 08:39

I really, really don't understand when people say they don't want FC taking the credit for things they give their children. Like Senua saying "There's no way that I am going to spend shed-loads of money on the DCs' presents and them end up being grateful to FC for them!!!"

Is gift giving about making people grateful then?

I have often read similar sentiments on MN. I'm probably putting it badly and I don't mean to be critical, I just find it baffling.

MaMight · 07/12/2009 08:40

Orm - my FC as a child always used really nasty crappy cheap stuff too! .

colditz · 07/12/2009 08:48

Everything was wrapped and it all came from Santa unless we were handed it by a relative/friend.

bogie · 07/12/2009 08:49

Santa gets the dc's 1 big present and leaves it wrapped up in the middle of the front room, with a huge tag 'To ds, love from Santa.'
The rest are all smaller presents from mum and dad.

DaftApeth · 07/12/2009 08:51

Are yes, the wrapping paper that FC uses is always different from that used on the other presents.

Had to re-wrap a few things on christmas eve last year because I got confused!

I agree that it doesn't really matter to my children who gave what. By the time everything is openned they don't remember who gavce them each thing anyway!

colditz · 07/12/2009 08:51

In my house, a certain amount of money (undisclosed) is paid to Santa, who then delivers the presents.

I know this sounds a bit cold, but I had to do some expectation management as I'm quite poor and ds1's expectations were quite steep. I do hate the fact that he, at 6 years old, now checks the price of everything before asking for it, but I have tried to get some sort of balance between meanness and ridiculous splooging.

senua · 07/12/2009 08:52

It was tongue-in-cheek, MaNight. It's actually, "I don't want my DC thinking that I don't care. How weird to have a stranger leaving them presents but not their parents."

hamsterlover · 07/12/2009 08:55

Ah yes - separate wrapping paper defo needed. My sister commented one memorable year 'Muuum, do you know that FC uses the same wrapping paper as you'! Oops

senua · 07/12/2009 08:58

"By the time everything is opened they don't remember who gave them each thing anyway!"

No way. Mummy is always there with a pen and paper, making notes, so that they can write their thank you letters.

"I do hate the fact that he, at 6 years old, now checks the price of everything before asking for it"

Too right they should. I taught mine to check prices before asking GPs or aunts/uncles. It's only fair on the gift-giver.

drinkystinkyuletidegubbins · 07/12/2009 09:05

wrapped presents in stocking from Santa - wrapped presents under tree from mummy daddy and rest of family.

Stockings opened first, tree presents later...

Dominique07 · 07/12/2009 09:13

In my parent's house, the magic was waking up on Christmas day to find that FC had brought all the presents from the relatives, parents and from FC himself; the stocking at the end of the bed was magically full of presents from FC and there were presents under the tree.
I think it was my parent's perogative as to how many presents they bought and how many were from FC, depending on how much money they had/were spending that year, always something from parents and something from FC. I think its a lovely tradition, as someone who has been brought up on Christmas as the winter festival to cheer us up in the dark months. My more religious DP will have to be converted to the idea (hopefully) since he was brought up in very poor surroundings and couldn't really do presents at all...

Wanderinginawinterwonderland · 07/12/2009 09:19

All of my presents were from my parents but FC had delivered them. They were always wrapped and tagged.

Gifts from or for outside members of the family/friends were always under the tree beforehand. My mum always told me that FC had to 'bless' them on Christmas Eve, before they could be opened.

stealthsquiggle · 07/12/2009 09:27

FC definitely wraps stuff up - surely half the fun is in the unwrapping?

In our house (as in my house as a child - I do all the flipping work, so my version wins over DH's) FC takes credit for (wrapped) contents of stocking only - all other presents (from us and from others) are wrapped and under the tree.

As far as I understand it (I didn't really listen before imposing my version ) DH's version as a child was that FC was a delivery man - he left all presents in a heap and the DC went downstairs and got stuck straight in - no restraint, no list-writing, no Thank you letters as far as I can work out,

nickytwotimes · 07/12/2009 09:31

Santa (am Scottish - can't say FC) brings gifts that are wrapped, unless too big, like a bike, etc.

Parents do not give pressies, yet no one minds.

shelleylou · 07/12/2009 09:35

AS a child all presents were wrapped and tagged and put under the tree. Ones from our parents said they were from them and same with other relatives. Santa just put our name on them. All came down christmas eve.
Ill probably do the same with ds

alwayslookingforanswers · 07/12/2009 09:39

no - doesn't need to be different wrapping paper - god mum doesn't have time to sit and wrap all the presents. Santa sorts all that out and when he drops them all off on Christmas eve he leaves one from himself as well.

IdrisTheDragon · 07/12/2009 09:41

Here, Father Christmas gives children a stocking with wrapped (small) presents in and a large present (wrapped). Everyone else gives whatever they want to give and it has a label from them on.

When I was about 5 I think I asked my mum and dad why they never gave me a present at Christmas (Father Christmas gave everything) and so they then gave me a present.

In DH's house Father Christmas gave a few presents not wrapped in a stocking. Not sure how big present worked there.

stealthsquiggle · 07/12/2009 09:42

FC uses different (cheap ) wrapping paper for stocking presents than gets used for anything else.

ItsAllaBitNoisy · 07/12/2009 09:44

Lol at sitting with a pen and making notes of who gave what. Or spacing out the presents over the day. Or waiting until everyone is washed, dressed and breakfasted. Or waiting till after lunch. It's all a bit stilted imo.

In my house everything is wrapped, piled in the middle of floor and then ripped open in a sleepy pyjamaed wondrous amazed way at about 3am.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

borderslass · 07/12/2009 09:44

I stopped wrapping from Santa years ago but when they were little I did MaMight we told ours we sent their presents to Santa so their expectations weren't unrealistic and they didn't end up disappointed that way.

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