Santa gives one present. Parents give the rest. I wanted them to know if they didn't get a certain thing it wasn't because they were bad, but because I didn't think it was a good idea or it was out of the budget.

When I was a kid we only got one small gift from our parents and the rest from Santa. I have a 2 year old now and hadn’t considered the question. But after reading comments about how this is harsh for low income kids, I’m on board with saying they’re mostly from mom and dad.

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.

But the flying reindeer and chimney delivery is more believable?

It’s a split for us. Sometimes they saw gifts accidentally (stupid Amazon!) so we made them mom and dad gifts. Plus we also had them shop and give gifts to each other. Made it easier for them to believe longer too since some things weren’t possible/easy for Santa he only brought certain things.

My kids go to a Title 1 school, so we've always had one Santa gift and the rest from parents. They make a wish list, and pick one special item to ask from Santa. I got some "but Santa brings Larla aaaaall of her gifts!" around K-1st grade, but I just told them that in our family we only ask Santa for one and other families can make different choices. This is our last year of Santa though, and we may not even make it through this year, so we'll see if the Santa gift holds up once the last one admits they know the real deal.

Anonymous wrote:One or two big gifts and stockings from Santa (unwrapped and displayed so they can start playing right away and yelp from excitement as they come down the stairs--will miss that so much when they are older!) and then the rest are from us and extended family.

This is how my parents did it and how I do it with my own DCs, except Santa doesn't do the stockings. They know that I fill those Christmas Eve and Santa does the one big, unwrapped gift.

Anonymous wrote: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.

Why the “oh dear.”

Anonymous wrote:I think it is fine to make Christmas however you want it.

Exactly right. Your children only believe in Santa for a short time.

Sounds like from the posts that Christmas magic is by presents.

I think it is fine to make Christmas however you want it.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Yes, AND tiny humans make mistakes. If you must do Santa, keep it to one, small gift or just the stocking. Mr kids don’t have Santa. I don’t understand how grown adults can lack such empathy for the poor kids in our midst. After Snowmaggedon, one kid told a colleague that she hadn’t eaten since she’d left school two weeks earlier. How on Earth is that family supposed to get her a gift from Santa? Just give the gifts to your kids. No need to make other kids feel unloved.

-willing to die on this hill