How Do/Did You Explain Christmas Presents to Kids?

[AlexanderSalamander]

My kids are 2y and 6m so I haven't had much explaining to do this year. But I've been thinking for future reference...

How do/did you explain these things to kids to keep the Christmas magic? :

1. Grandparents who we don't see much brought a bag full of wrapped presents to our house 5 days before Christmas. What do you tell kids to explain why we have these early?
2. Other people's presents. Did Santa drop them off at our house? Does he not deliver these ones to adults?
3. Did you go shopping with kids for presents for siblings/Mummy/Daddy/relatives? If so, how do you explain buying the presents (then Santa delivering them)
4. What other tips etc do you have to keep the Christmas magic for kids?

Santa delivers stocking presents others are from whoever gives them.

Santa only brings the stockings here as well. Like pp, Santa bringing all the toys is only something I've come across on MN! I'd be miffed if I'd put money, time and effort into, say, my nephew's presents and he was told they were from Santa so I received no thanks from him for them.

OP, just save yourself future headaches and allow people to give presents to your children from them, so they can enjoy giving them.

@SallyLovesCheese only gifts that I buy are from Santa gifts from other people are from them & given as such - don't mind Santa getting my credit but the kids are aware that other people give them gifts & say thanks.

we never 'did' father christmas. a beardy bloke is not getting the credit for my efforts
christmas is a time we think about our loved ones and exchange gifts.

Father Christmas always just leaves a stocking filled with small gifts and one big present. Presents from other people are from other people. We buy DCs presents too and wrap them in different paper and leave in a separate pile. I don't want Santa getting all the credit for the things we spend money on!

Kids write letter to Santa and ask for one thing. Santa brings that one item and the rest are from mummy and daddy.

Any presents we bought were from Santa plus the stocking. We said that although he brought them we had to pay for them so they couldn't go overboard on their list. Presents from other people were from that person and not Santa

We do a stocking (which is literally little things in both size and value, - socks/stationery/costume jewellery/slime/Lego figures etc - not iPhones and £100 braclets etc) and then a main present with a couple of medium presents (books, slightly larger toys)
Then everything else is under the tree and is from whoever bought it.

Santa brings one thing that they wrote in their letter (so they can't change their mind last minute). All the other presents credit is given to those who gave them and we say thank you. If someone gave a present early when children were young we gave the giver the option of watching the children open it in front of them so they could enjoy the reactions (it made no real difference to Christmas Day as they still had loads to open and most of the people that have presents early wouldn't have seen them on Christmas Day). If the giver declined it went under the tree.

When my son was two he told everyone that Santa brought all the gifts even though we had the same system of saying who brought them. We didn't make a big deal out. He was just processing everything I think.

Yep, Santa delivers stocking only in our house too.

DS only 15 months but already decided Santa leaves Stocking not main presents but he can pass on messages to us if we need hints.
Stocking is left at the end of the bed and can be opened as soon as you wake up. Presents under the tree after breakfast and getting dressed

Santa brings the stocking and a gift or two. The bulk of presents come from family.

Santa only brings the stocking containing small silly and some useful bits and bobs

All other presents are from the people who brought them.

As an adult who still gets a stocking this year it was noticeable that FC has shares in Baylis & Harding and Tesco. Also the dog is very good at internet shopping

We neither enforce Santa nor bring it up. If 4 year old mentioned Santa we go along. But the two ground rules here are -

1. The gifts are never FROM Santa. If anything Santa is the postman. We never ever ever want him to develop the notion that he deserves more/less than Kid X or Y because of unavoidable disparities between gifts across families.

1. It’s nothing to do with naughty and nice.

Same as everyone else.

1. I don't get what is to explain Grandparents are coming over 5 days before, hence that is why they have brought their presents.
2. Not sure if you mean presents from you, or to you, but either way, what has this got to do with Father Christmas ? People give presents to family, and sometimes friends.
3. Well, I try not to - much easier to go on your own and get done efficiently - or these days order on-line. However, if they were with me, then what is to explain ? In fact as they get older, it is nice to involve them in the idea of getting presents for people they love, so they begin to get the idea once the start getting their own pocket money
4. Build your own little traditions without setting yourself up for masses of work year after year. Don't put pressure on yourselves. Happily explain that different families do things differently.

Wow, thanks everyone for your replies!

I think I'm possibly overthinking it, but I know my 2 year old is a clever little cookie and I so I wanted to get the story straight for future reference

It would be so much easier if every family did the same!

Contrary to one comment, yes, I'm English, born and bred. I've never heard of Santa only bringing stockings until now! Sure none of my friends ever had this either. My DH (from the South, I'm Northern) hasn't either and we were both pretty much told the same story by our separate families as kids.

To clarify, we give all presents from 'the giver', so no one is giving presents without getting the credit or thanks for it. All presents that arrive on Christmas day are from Mummy and Daddy etc, with the exception of maybe one or two (from us) coming from Santa himself. Includes all presents in the sack and stocking. How we were told as kids was that mummy and Daddy buy the presents but then they go to Santa to be 'checked' and then delivered back on xmas day. This is the bit I was unhappy with really! Both myself and DH were told this as kids. But the story is questionable. It does however, I suppose, cater for the fact that no, we can't afford to buy you xxxxx for Christmas, as Santa isnt the one paying

We were then told that all our presents that came from grandparents etc, Santa had left those at their houses to be passed on to us, but we still understood that they were being given by that family member etc, not Santa. I don't remember ever questioning this story as a child, but I wanted to get the story straight for my kids!

My query today came from my kids receiving grandparents' gifts a few days early, so I wasn't sure what to tell the kids. "Oh, Santa dropped them off early", or, "they still have to go to Santa to be checked then redelivered"?!

Adults gifts were a grey area for me; whether they were delivered by Santa or not. And I wasn't sure how to explain going Christmas shopping for gifts to give to others, other than using the "they all go to Santa for checking" story.

My kids, and I think it's important, will always know who bought them what gift; Santa is just the delivery guy really.

There's been some great comments and suggestions here that I'll remember. Very insightful. We'll get our story straight for next year, as I think that's when the questions will come.

I've not got on the Naughty Elf bandwagon - to be honest I don't see the point in it, other than a bit of fun I suppose - or the Christmas Eve Box (wait, what?! Kids get presents BEFORE Christmas Day now too?!?!?!).

I really will take on board the comment re using Santa as a behavioral strategy though, as this was pushed on us as kids and I really don't want to ruin the magic. Also, kids will probably still get presents whether they've been naughty or nice anyway, so it would only reinforce their behaviour, even if it was bad behaviour? I can think of at least one little guy who shouldn't get presents based on this premise, but he will do, regardless

Oh, I wish everyone gave the same story. There should be a instructional handbook!

Thanks again! And Merry Christmas to all!

Also to add that, we don't leave presents under the tree on the run up to Christmas. My family didn't when I was a child. Lesser risk of being burgled I think. That might tell you a lot about the area which I grew up in though! I think this is why my parents had to invent other stories about the gifts appearing, but we haven't left gifts under the tree either, they all appear in Christmas morning, even the ones that were brought early.

Also, not sure my 2 year old would have been able to resist opening them if they were left in view

gosh that sounds awfully complicated

Santa has nothing whatsoever to do with gifts given by other people. He doesn't leave things at other people's houses unless you are staying there and will be there on Christmas morning.

It's a bit daft to me to buy presents to send to Santa who then brings them back. In our house Santa got the gifts and we paid for them.

Does sound complicated. And Santa delivering all the presents to different people's houses for them to give? So it's open for the children to say "Santa knew just what I wanted!" and the giver has to just sit there and say nothing? Will a child really say "Thank you for delivering Santa's present"? You thank the giver, surely, not the deliverer? So a letter to Santa after Christmas thanking him for all the gifts instead of nice thank you letters to different people thanking them? Hmm. I'm not convinced.

But when we were told this story as kids, we never once thanked Santa, we ALWAYS thanked the giver and understood that the presents came from them. Plus, we never did 'thank you cards'. We thanked the giver in person or with a telephone call if we couldn't see them. Thank you cards seems like a Hallmark gimmick these days and my kids won't be doing them either. I'd rather get a thank you in person than on a card, from anyone.

Sounds like your families have really complicated things here.

I suspect there were no presents under the tree before Christmas morning, as your family were last minute wrappers

As your dc get older, and are staying up later, you really, really don't want to have built up a tradition of everything happening on the evening of Christmas Eve, believe me.

Father Christmas honestly doesn't get involved in courier work - he has enough to do - if the present is from Grandma or Uncle Bob, then they bring it.

Sounds like your families have really complicated things here.
I agree. Santa getting involved in presents from family at all is so unnecessary. Why add in random levels of subterfuge?

Thank you cards seems like a Hallmark gimmick these days and my kids won't be doing them either. I'd rather get a thank you in person than on a card, from anyone
This is quite an odd opinion too I think. We always do cards and ways had to when we were children. It's maybe a little more formal than required or is necessarily common these days but it's hardly a gimmick.

I agree Dappled.

Hardly a Hallmark gimmick, when writing a Thank you note is a tradition from long before Hallmark became a business. The dc don't always see people who send them presents, on the day - that is who my dc used to write a thank you note for (not bought from Hallmark)