Christmas Traditions – Are your children’s presents from Santa or a mixture of Santa and Mummy & Daddy?
Over the past three years my husband and I have created some of our own Christmas traditions. Every year I buy our twins one new Christmas decoration for the Christmas tree so that when they’re older they’ll have enough to decorate a tree of their own for their own family.
We’ve also started giving our girls a special Christmas eve box which typically includes new pyjamas and a chocolate or two!
One thing I have been very curious about though is how other parents deal with present giving and receiving, in particular those received from Santa.
Growing up I have fond memories of Christmas. My sister and I would place our Christmas stockings at the end of our beds and when we woke in the morning we’d be delighted to find them overflowing with goodies! I remember being so excited that I’d use a torch in the early hours of the morning to get a sneaky peek inside before our parents woke up!
When we descended upon our living room we’d find a room full of presents underneath the Christmas tree. Some were from Santa and some were from mummy and daddy.
So far my husband and I have celebrated three Christmases together with our children meaning this year will be the fourth.
We’ve always left our girls presents under the Christmas tree, as has been tradition in both my husbands family and mine. However we’ve always told the girls that the presents were all from Santa, including those in their stockings.
This got me thinking about what other families do. Do they also say that all of the present are from Santa or that some are from Santa and the rest from mummy and daddy?
I was a bit surprised when I asked this question on my Facebook page a while ago as the majority of people said that the most wanted present(s) and those in Christmas stockings were from Santa and the rest were from mummy and daddy.
It got me thinking that maybe my husband and I should tell our girls that some of the presents they have are from Santa and some from us instead of saying that they’re all from Santa.
I asked my husband what he thought he said we should continue to say that they’re all from Santa. After all our girls are only three years old so why not let them enjoy the magic of Christmas and Santa whilst they’re young.
I have to be honest and say that I agree with this so this Christmas our girls will receive all of their presents from Santa.
What do you do? Do you tell your children that all of their presents are from Santa or that some are from Santa and the rest are from you? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
8 Comments
LyndseyJ
October 21, 2015 at 5:56 am
In my family the stocking presents which are usually small bits were always from Santa. Then the main present from parents. I guess it's so we said smaller things of Santa when asked at school so other less off children didn't think Santa preferred us when we had got larger gifts than them. Once we have children I think I will do the same. Xxx
Mellissa Williams
October 21, 2015 at 7:57 am
My son's presents were always from Santa when he was young. Now he's older it's still nice to say one is from Santa!
Lylia Rose
October 21, 2015 at 9:23 am
Oh gosh, my daughter is three now so kind of gets the whole Christmas thing. I think Ill say Santa and all the Christmas presents will be under the tree with a stocking on the fireplace. I always thought everything was off Santa until I grew older and knew! My Mum will still put from Santa on some of my presents and I'm 30!
Sarah Howe – Run Jump Scrap
October 21, 2015 at 11:50 am
When I was a kid all my presents were delivered by Santa but they had labels on to tell me who they were from in terms of family members. So I still had to write my thank you letters. Thinking back I should have recognised my Mum's handwriting! I think for now though with my 2 year old they will all be from Santa. Thanks for sharing with #bestandworst and see you soon xx
Soosie Wales
October 21, 2015 at 12:50 pm
When my boys were very young the presents were from Santa but as they grew up only the presents on their list were from Santa (not everything on their list mind you… I'm not a billionaire!) Other pressies were from Mum and Dad.
At our previous house the local Round Table used to have a Santa call in with a present (you had to buy it, wrap it and leave it at a local shop). The elves would come first and say Santa was on his way, lots of bells and music.. it was magical!
Laura
October 21, 2015 at 7:30 pm
When I was growing up it was always some from Santa and some from Mummy and Daddy so I started to introduce that last yeat, but I don't think my son really cared. I did see an interesting post on Facebook though about how the more expensive presents should be from parents as less fortunate children may not understand why Santa gave some children more. I like the idea of doing a Christmas eve box though 🙂
Alison
October 25, 2015 at 8:00 am
So far we haven't really made a big deal of Christmas presents and Santa because we weren't sure how much our daughter really understood, but I think this year we're going to make more out of it, although I haven't thought in that much detail as to whether some of the presents are going to be from mummy and daddy. I only really have the haziest idea of what we're actually going to be buying for them, to be honest. I have a few ideas but havn't settled on anything yet. However, I have been toying with the idea of doing a Christmas Eve hamper, and wasn't sure if I would, but I think I will; it's such a lovely idea. #bestandworst
Sharon Saunders
October 25, 2015 at 12:16 pm
Oooo this is a subject of much debate – our mums from school have all manner of different traditions and few of us do anything similar! When my HB and I got together we had to combine our traditions carefully for our two children! We always say most of the presents are from Father Christmas but there are always some from us too. It's trickier with my 7yo girl now as she hears a lot of stuff at school.