Anonymous wrote:We only do 100% santa gifts. Maybe if they see the gift beforehand I'll take credit for it.

My kids think we have to pay Santa a bit and that's why poor kid don't get any gifts. My goal is to make the day as magical for my own children as possible.

What annoys me is that all the grandparents and relatives also say that "Santa dropped this off at our house for you too!" It worries me because it's not believable and I think it weakens the santa magic.

This is f*d up, lady.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We completely skip the entire Santa concept.

I have an adult friend whose parents did this. I've heard her talk dozens of times about how upset she was about this. She actually went to therapy about it as an adult because she felt like she missed out on typical childhood moments. She felt like she was just an accessory to her parents' adult life and they made no childhood concessions for her (like Santa, Easter bunny, tooth fairy).

This is your friend’s problem. My parents didn’t do Santa or Easter Bunny. I’m in therapy, but it’s never occurred to me to bring that up.

Oh dear. Santa gives one small gift (usually a stuffed animal of some sort that the kid asked for), family gives the rest. Otherwise you're setting yourself up for some drama. Plus, the comparisons in school are just awful. Kids talk.

Maybe next time don’t lie to your kids.

Anonymous wrote:I like the "way" of santa bringing one/two gifts and the rest are from family. I believe I read about this starting because not everyone can afford 100s of presents, and if they are all "from santa" it looks like santa cares more about those kids, rather than acknowledging that their parents are just much wealthier. So I like for santa to bring a few gifts. I don't really pay much attention to what other people do though.

This is what I do too for the same reason. The Santa gift is never the big gift either, I keep Santa around 30 bucks. Mom and dad give the bigger more expensive things ( like a bike or something)

We do big gifts from us to explain why some kids don't get bikes and play stations and others do. It also explains why we donate gifts to those in need.... Santa brings stocking stuffer and small toys

A pissing match with Santa! I'm dying LOL!

In our house Santa fills the stockings (which even though the things in stockings are obviously smaller this is honestly probably my kids’ favorite part of Christmas! They love all the treats and little random surprises!) and leaves out one unwrapped gift for each kid. The Santa gift is either something the specifically mentioned Santa bringing (my kids haven’t ever actually visited a Santa or written a letter to Santa but they will casually say stuff like “oohh I hope Santa brings me that for Christmas!” So I try to remember things like that throughout the year.) or if they haven’t specifically mentioned a Santa gift idea, then the Santa gift is a total surprise to them…something we’ve never discussed.

The mom and dad gifts are more expected—things the kids actually asked for or need. And all mom and dad gifts are wrapped whereas Santa gifts aren’t.

Anonymous wrote:We always did Santa only . I don’t care about getting “credit.” Kind of antithetical to the spirit.

I think any way you do it is fine—but everyone needs to be on the same page.
And if grandma is going to blurt out “oh I’m
glad you like! I know how much you love dinosaurs so I just had to get them!”
(As happened at our house when DS opened a pair of dinosaur pjs I when he was in K), then it’s probably important to make some presents from Santa and some
from other people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We only do 100% santa gifts. Maybe if they see the gift beforehand I'll take credit for it.

My kids think we have to pay Santa a bit and that's why poor kid don't get any gifts. My goal is to make the day as magical for my own children as possible.

What annoys me is that all the grandparents and relatives also say that "Santa dropped this off at our house for you too!" It worries me because it's not believable and I think it weakens the santa magic.

What is wrong with some grandparents? I would say to your kids, “oh Nana is so silly! Santa only comes to children’s homes.” Pshh

Possessiveness. My mom wanted all Christmas gifts to be opened at her house on Christmas morning not at my sister’s house where the grandchildren lived. They were in the same neighborhood at the time.

Anonymous wrote:As a former teacher, I’d urge everyone to minimize the number of presents from Santa. I’ll never forget this first grader describing all the toys he got “from Santa”. His friend who lived in low income housing look shattered. I will die on this hill.

Better to teach your little ones to be humble and not brag about their gifts, vacations and homes.

We always do Christmas Eve family presents (the majority of them). Christmas Day is less of a big deal, except the morning with one bigger "Santa present" on Christmas day, plus a stocking with underwear, socks, and a couple little things. My mom finally "retired' from stockings & santa for her adult kids when I was 40, haha. She was kind enough to warn us so we could be prepared.

I do the same with my family now. My kids are very little, but not sure how to handle the specific of the "bigger" Santa present with respect to comparing with other kids.

In my family, Santa only brings stockings which have mostly consumables — treats, pens, crayons, playdoh, books, etc. and a few small toys. All presents under the tree are from actual people and they’re opened in turn and if possible while the giver is present. This is how I grew up and my memories of Christmas are positively charmed so I don’t think having present from mom and dad takes away at all.

Anonymous wrote:We only do 100% santa gifts. Maybe if they see the gift beforehand I'll take credit for it.

My kids think we have to pay Santa a bit and that's why poor kid don't get any gifts. My goal is to make the day as magical for my own children as possible.

What annoys me is that all the grandparents and relatives also say that "Santa dropped this off at our house for you too!" It worries me because it's not believable and I think it weakens the santa magic.

What is wrong with some grandparents? I would say to your kids, “oh Nana is so silly! Santa only comes to children’s homes.” Pshh

Anonymous wrote:We always did Santa only . I don’t care about getting “credit.” Kind of antithetical to the spirit.

Agree with this. For us, all gifts under the tree on Xmas morning are from Santa. My children are now teenagers, and I’ll still write Santa..just for fun. My mother did the same.

Everyone has different traditions. It really doesn’t matter what other people do, there’s no wrong way.