how do you 'do' santa?

[kbwebb]

Been thinking about this this year as DD is more likely to ask questions.
How do you do santa? are all the presents from him or just one? what do you say in regards to the other presents? do you tell them you brought the other presents or do you say you send santa money etc..

when i was little everything was from santa.
but a friend of mine her parents told her that they brought the presents and then sent them to santa and he would bring them if she was good

last year i think we said santa brought all of the presents (we dont put presents under the tree beforehand) but only specifically said santa got one or two of the things (the things that were on her list) - as in said oh look this ones off santa etc.

then presents from friends and family we just said that they brought them.



expecting her to ask lots and lots of questions this year as shes been asking me recently where certain toys have come from (as in mummy who got me these puzzles, where is this doll from)

 

[SmartieMeUp]

All presents from us, come from Santa and in piles ready for Christmas day. Presents from family go under the tree once we receive them - they know who they come from too.

This year, we haven't been so secretive, but DD1 is oblivious haha. But I have only bought little wrapping paper this time as I've wasted so much. I will wrap what I can in that, then whatever is left can be in homemade paper from us, as I've done for others (DD1 knows I've made it so I can't really lie about that).


People were kicking up a fuss on FB saying "why should the fat man in a red suit get all the credit for my hard earned money".

 

[Vickie]

Some gifts are from us, some are from Santa and some from friends/family/neighbors. While I do put some gifts under the tree before hand I don't put all out because it's just easier haha. However the kids do know the difference between Santa gifts and all others. I generally leave one gift unwrapped for each child to play with immediately. All others are wrapped from Santa but in different paper than what I use for us. I also don't label Santa gifts, but I do have a boy and a girl so finding different paper for each child isn't terribly difficult. I wrap and label all gifts from us (and my mom as she sends me money and I buy for the kids from her).

 

[Talia12]

All presents are from santa. The presents to grown ups are explained by saying that obviously, santa doesn't bring presents for grown ups so we buy those for each other.
My friend told me recently she had one present from santa and the rest from her parents - I never knew other people sometimes did it that way, I think it's rubbish personally haha. I remember when I was little the whole santa thing was the most magical thing ever and I want my son to experience that. I loved knowing that all the presents under the tree were offloaded from his sleigh. And my parents were always so surprised and interested in what I'd got haha as if they'd never seen any of it before

I don't mean to offend anyone but just to give my two pennies worth...I think people who say they don't want santa taking all the credit are kind of selfish... it's so amazing for kids and you'll get the credit in a few years when they look back and realise you did all of that for them, and kept up all the pretence, knowing you wouldn't get any thanks from them for it. Seeing your kids flip out with happiness and excitement is more important than getting the credit! They can say thank you for stuff the other 364 days of the year haha.

 

[Vickie]

^Just another take on it as you mentioned kids thanking the parents the rest of the year. We are very much those people who only buy toys, books etc. for Christmas and birthdays. The rest of the year my kids are told no or that they can buy them with their own money. They are spoiled on Christmas and birthdays and yes I do like for them to know that some of the gifts come from us, some come from grandma and other close family friends and others from Santa. To each their own but thought I would highlight why we personally spread out the gifts

 

[Talia12]

Oh yeah, totally fair enough. I think it's because I'm a mega Christmas freak and always have been

 

[kirstybumx3]

I have wondered this too. Not all presents here will be off Santa. How do we then explain if he asks why Santa brings him presents, other family members buy him presents, but mummy and daddy don’t!?
I think his main few he asked for will be off Santa and the rrest from us.

 

[SmartieMeUp]

People feel uptight because they see it as "why should Santa buy that kid 30 presents and this kid only 1 present, that isn't fair"

In the nicest way possible, that's not my problem it's like that. That's their parents problem.

 

[Talia12]

People feel uptight because they see it as "why should Santa buy that kid 30 presents and this kid only 1 present, that isn't fair"

In the nicest way possible, that's not my problem it's like that. That's their parents problem.

I agree, also kids don't tend to see how many presents their friends get, they're just with family at Christmas. So they don't compare. The only people hung up on it are the parents who don't want to do that many presents, which is totally their right but won't stop me spoiling the shit out of my DS and nephews and telling them santa did it haha.

 

[JessyG]

We do a split of 'from santa' presents and 'from mummy and daddy' presents which are only brought out on xmas eve. Presents from/to other family members and friends go under the tree.

My reasoning is quite simple Santa has thousands upon thousands of children to buy for and we dont like greed in our house. It also makes them think about what they really want. I think we actually do more presents from us but thats usually cause the bigger more expensive ones are from santa (or the ones she has actually asked for)

My friend says she sends santa money but she also sometimes buys gifts in front of the kids and says she sends them to santa (that is too weird and invites too many questions IMO)

for those of you who do all the presents from Santa. Have you ever been asked why you dont get them anything for christmas?

I think its very much your own personal opinion. I dont care about the 'credit' but would feel strange that grandma buys presents for the kids but we dont as the parents.

 

[faith82]

All family presents go under the tree. Santa brings all their other presents apart from any joint ones...they're from us.

My parents never took the credit for a single present whilst growing up and I never once wondered why they didn't buy us anything! That being said, I still wonder to this day how it never crossed my mind which is why we give them just a few presents from us x

 

[c1403]

You know what, I still haven't figured this out and DD1 just asked me about her presents so need to sort it out!

Last year (DD1 was four) I said she can ask santa for one special present and she chose a fire engine that moves....so that's what he got and it was unwrapped under the tree then she had her other presents from is no questions asked really.

She has just now asked how all the presents get here. They have a sack each in their bedrooms and a small pile downstairs. I'm tempted to say he brings all of them and I send him a list.

I don't want her to expect everything she wants as half of what she wants isn't appropriate for her age or we don't want her having it (make up at 5 year old not happening!)

So I'm tempted to say Mummy sends him ideas of what they like and he brings them but she can pick just one special present (which she will get within reason). She has just asked for a pony castle.

As a kid all our presents from Mum and Dad came from santa. The rest were from family etc.

I feel its such a big thing to keep up but I love the magic of it from their eyes so am keen to do 'something' just need to keep it believable.

 

[c1403]

Reading all your responses have me sooo confused ha ha ha

I'm now thinking the sack they have in their bedrooms is from Mummy and Daddy (plus the small pile for staff that doesn't fit the sack) their special present and small stocking is from santa. Job done!

 

[Kay_Baby]

We do stuff from santa and stuff from us.

Presents from us and other family/friends are all labelled and put under the tree and are only opened after lunch (me and DH both grew up with this, so can't imagine doing anything else). Stuff from others go under the tree when we get given them if the kids are with us, but they do tend to be smaller presents. Most goes under the tree after kids have gone to bed on Christmas Eve.

Santa fill the kids giant stockings with lots of smaller presents. These are left in their rooms and are opened in the morning.

One of the reason that we get the big presents and santa gets them smaller things is that I want the kids to realise they are lucky that we can afford to get them these things.

It was something I noticed as an older child (about the point when you start to question the whole thing) that some kids got loads from santa and we didn't. I know it was actually down to what my parents could afford and I do want to make sure my kids are really aware of how lucky they are.

 

[Talia12]

for those of you who do all the presents from Santa. Have you ever been asked why you dont get them anything for christmas?

I think its very much your own personal opinion. I dont care about the 'credit' but would feel strange that grandma buys presents for the kids but we dont as the parents.

All family presents (which means presents from my sister and my parents, no one else buys my DS/nephews anything) go under the tree on Christmas Eve and they're all from santa. On the off chance my granny or some other relative gets the kids a present, that gets given to them separately anyway and not on Christmas Day, so it's just a present from that person and that's that.

It never once occurred to me to ask why my parents didn't get me anything! I was way too excited about Christmas to be bothered about that

 

[Scout]

I grew up with Santa bringing all the presents. It never occurred to me to wonder why my parents didn't get us things. I think this is more of an adult's way of thinking. Kids are just too happy and excited at Christmas to think about things like that, I think. Also, as kids, we never compared with other kids. When we got back to school after Christmas break, we may have asked, "what did you get for Christmas", and usually the answer was whatever was the favorite gift, but I can't recall ever asking who that gift was from. It wasn't until I was in high school that I found out my best friend had never believed in Santa as her family didn't do it. As little kids, we just never discussed it. I guess I assumed everyone believed in Santa and I suppose maybe she assumed everyone didn't?? Idk. I should ask her. Now with dd, I'm just hoping her little friends are the same and just don't discuss it much. Seems like kids are a bit more savvy these days than when I was little.

Anyhoo, I do one gift from me on Christmas Eve. Santa brings everytihing else Christmas morning. The gifts from the grandparents, aunt and cousins are all from them, and get exchanged later on Christmas day when we go to my parents to celebrate with them and my sister and her kids.

Someone else mentioned this, and I, too, remember my mom being excited Christmas morning and asking me to show her what I got like she'd never seen it before. It was so much fun!

 

[impatient1]

We do stockings from Santa and a few presents which usually include a toy or two they want and a puzzle or game for them to share. Sometimes Santa brings them a big present together depending on their interests. Our stockings are mostly daily products we would use.
The rest of the presents are from us or family and get put under the tree as they come in. Everything is wrapped in different papers with labels.

 

[annio84]

We do one gift from father christmas. Everything else is from us or whoever. We donate gifts to our local salvation army for kids that won't get any and I couldn't find a way to explain that if santa brings everything.

 

[MrsL15]

I wrap a gift or 2 each in different paper to Santa's paper, and they go under the tree on the morning of Christmas Eve, from mum and dad. They then know which paper is theirs in the morning as they've had a good old rummage and look at the parcels. I think this also stops them wondering why we would buy gifts for other people but not them. Everything else that is laid out when they wake up on Christmas morning has been brought by Santa, from Santa!

We get the credit for birthdays, and anything else they get throughout the year. One day they'll know it was all mum and dad, but for now I want them to think it was someone a bit more magical x

 

[Scout]

We donate gifts to our local salvation army for kids that won't get any and I couldn't find a way to explain that if santa brings everything.

We choose a child from the angel tree and dd helps me pick out that child's gifts but so far she hasn't questioned Santa; however, she's only 4, so I suppose I need to think of something in case it comes up. I never thought about it until I saw your post