How many presents does Santa leave at your house?

[princessreilly]

I love this! It is neat seeing how Santa comes to each house! Santa does half of the gifts here and they are the unwrapped gifts plus stockings. But this year we told dd and ds that they only had time to ask Santa for one gift and the rest is given by us!

 

[monorailsilver]

Santa brings all the gifts here as well as stocking stuffers & they all are wrapped (otherwise my kids would go right for that golden ticket gift & forget the rest).

I am thankful my dh grew up the same way-all gifts from Santa & all wrapped.

Oh & I think my kids got about 15 gifts this year not including the stocking stuffers that will be overflowing the stockings. FYI-one gift for my oldest is food for the Easy Bake Oven she requested-she is 8 & wanted that & an ipod go figure.

Another gift is the screen protector for the ipod & then screen protectors for the new DS & DSi my older 2 are getting as well as the DS my youngest is finally getting (my older 2 ds's are broken).

I love Christmas & I love watching them open each gift.

 

[HLDisney]

I voted 4 but they're all stocking stuffers. In our home, "Santa" (in parentheses b/c my DD knows that Santa isn't real but likes to pretend anyway) fills the stockings, hers and mine.

Helen

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

For those of you who say that Santa brings 1 or 2 gifts -- does he not fill stockings in your house? Or are you not counting little things in that total?

 

[abdmom]

Just one. Not counting stockings - which have chocolate/candy, and a cheap toy or two.

 

[Goofy'slady]

This year our youngest (4) will get one gift plus stocking stuffers from him, our 11yr old believes in the spirit of him but doesn't believe in him as a real person. However, she knows not to spoil it for her lil sister. All other gifts will come from hubby and I and all those other family members who purchased gifts.

Times are hard and I want them to realize how we all worked hard and saved to afford them a nice holiday - so while it might seem mean spirited I want the credit to go to whomever actually bought/made the gift this year and not to Santa. Santa, doesn't make mortgage payments, doesn't put food on the table each and every night, doesn't work for the money the dental insurance won't cover for braces, doesn't treat them to the movies and special Red Robin dinners out, doesn't send in money for class participation things like field trips and teacher gifts and doesn't take them to Disney World every year - we do so this year we're taking a bit of the lime light back from his HO-HOiness and grinning all the way. Thanks for understanding big guy!

T.

 

[tzolkin]

We are telling them Santa brings one present, to account for why we donate presents to Toys for Tots, etc.

Times are hard and I want them to realize how we all worked hard and saved to afford them a nice holiday - so while it might seem mean spirited I want the credit to go to whomever actually bought/made the gift this year and not to Santa. Santa, doesn't make mortgage payments, puts food on the table each and every night, works for the money the dental insurance won't cover for braces, treats them to the movies, takes them to Disney World every year - we do so this year we're taking a bit of the lime light back from his HO-HOiness and grinning all the way. Thanks for understanding big guy!

These are the reasons our kids each get one gift from Santa.

I grew up in a house where everything was from Santa, but I knew the reality of Santa from a very young age (I'm the oldest of 4 kids.) We were very poor during my childhood, but we always had a nice Christmas. I could appreciate what my parents had bought and knew how they had budgeted and saved to afford the presents we received.

We wanted our kids to understand that every one doesn't get a bunch of presents for Christmas. Since Santa only brings one gift, we donate to those kids whose parents can't afford to buy them additional presents.

For those of you who say that Santa brings 1 or 2 gifts -- does he not fill stockings in your house? Or are you not counting little things in that total?

Santa fills the stockings in addition to the one gift per child.

Also, all the Santa gifts are wrapped (unless they're too big)-- in a contrasting paper.

 

[geogat]

Everything comes from Santa, except 1 gift that comes from Mom and Dad. Usually this gift is special or related to the family somehow. With only 1 DD she tends to make out pretty good from Santa. So probably 10+. We don't mean to get her that much, it just kind of happens!

 

[WantToGoNow]

We have always done 3 gifts from Santa because that is what the wise men brought to Jesus. This year is a little different though - ds8 is getting a DS Lite and a game to go with it; dd6 is getting a Bitty Baby and some accessories so really they are only getting 1 gift each plus a stocking. The stockings have dollar items from Target and some candy. Ds8 doesn't believe in Santa and I was going to just put his gift under the tree but thought that might confuse dd6.

My oldest dd25 always had her Santa gifts unwrapped and back then more gifts were from Santa than from me. I left the gifts unwrapped when ds8 was very little as well. But when dd6 came along, it got confusing as to who's gifts were who's. I found a bunch of red/white striped paper just like they used on The Polar Express and bought a bunch of rolls. They are hidden in the basement closet and is only used for the Santa gifts. They have always recognized that paper as gifts from Santa versus the other misc. wrapped gifts under the tree that are from mom/dad and big sister.

 

[mjkacmom]

santa brings one gift at my house. DH and i explained to DD years ago that santa has millions of kids to deliver gifts to, and there's not enough room in his sleigh for each child to get any more than 1 gift. the rest of her gifts are from DH and i.

Hope she doesn't talk to my kids - Santa brings each and every gifts, about 6 per child.

 

[Deffenm]

One gift and the stockings. When the kids stop believeing in Santa we want them to know that they can always believe in us their parents. Plus like others have stated, we like our children to realize how hard people have worked to provide gifts for them. Santa's gift is also never the BIG item just one of the gifts.

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

Santa usually brings each child 3 gifts. It's usually one "big" gift and then two smaller ones. They are left unwrapped under or near the tree. This is in addition to stockings. All other gifts are from the people who give them...mom, dad, siblings, relatives. Santa doesn't get all the credit!

This year, however, they aren't getting as much from Santa. With a little guidance, they decided they would ask for two gifts and then a Wii to share. Then, my younger 2 boys (4 and 6) each wanted Spike. That just isn't in our budget with four kids, so we convinced them to ask for that together. So, my two little guys wil each l get one gift of his own and then 2 that will be shared.

 

[boakl]

This year Santa wrapped two gifts for each child (red striped paper and green ribbon like in the Polar Express) and there will be 3-4 unwrapped items as well, because "Santa" is a terrible wrapper and cannot wrap unusually shaped items to save her life!

The boys also will get one gift from their father and I. Coincidentally, my cheapness is what is keeping my nine year old a believer, he says Santa has to exist, because he knows I'd never spend that much money on toys!

We don't have a lot of family, so we try to make sure our Santa is generous or Christmas morning would look very sparse here.

 

[lizzyb]

Just one. We buy the rest.

 

[Camping Griswalds]

Santa brings everything here. Except for the presents the siblings get each other, and what they get us parents. Each child has their own special Christmas paper each year. It is usually a favorite character etc. The big presents like bikes, Doll houses don't get wrapped. Santa brings our Christmas tree and presents after everyone goes to sleep. I figure they have a lot of years in the future to know about budget and mortgage payments. They only have the "magic" for a couple of years. this was always my families tradition growing up, and we have gleefully continued with it. I don't have a set number of presents. The kids all get the same amount of presents, but not the same amount spent. That was too hard.

 

[pipersmom]

I was surprised by all the different responses, figured most people would do things the same way, very cool.

At any rate, I do about half and half, the "big" gift is always from Santa, plus some clothes, books, other smaller items and her stocking. It's just the way my Mom did it when I was growing up. After I stopped believing in Santa, I knew how hard my Mom must have worked to get us such nice Santa presents (our $$ was tight growing up too), and have always appreciated it..it's not something I feel like I have to get into my daughter's head now. When she gets older, she'll know, and I think that's soon enough

 

[DisneyMOM09]

Santa brings my daughters(3 and 10) 1 joint gift. Usually it is something large, one year it was a swing set, trampoline, play kitchen, ect. Santa always brings them something that they should share equally and be able to play with together, This year Santa will be bringing them each a Barbie and barbie furniture. We like to encourage them to play together and to share. We want them to always have a best friend right here in thier own home evne though they are so far apart in ages. Eventually it will be hard to find them a gift that they both will love equally, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Santa also fills the stockings, but they know that mom and dad add some things to help Santa out. Everything else is from mom and dad. I think it is important for them to realize that we work hard to provide them with gifts they will enjoy. We also tell them beginning in oct or nov that we will not be buying any toys, games ect, so that we are able to get them things for Christmas.

 

[PixiePlanner]

I voted 2 but it really depends on how you look at it. USUALLY, one big present each, one family gift (this year Pictureka) and several stocking gifts (if you're even counting those). The Santa gift is always something that they have been told is out of our price range. This is the first year DD has asked for something specific.

 

[TangaroaTiki]

Everything under the tree, about 20 gifts for each of my 3. Stockings are filled with small gifts & candy ~ All from Santa

Christmas was magical for me when I was little and it is magical now for my little ones

They each get one gift from us parents and they trade with each other.

 

[starsweeper]

I voted for 2, but really needed an other. Santa leaves a couple of unwrapped toys in front of the tree at our house. For example, DS is getting 3 Playskool Dinos and the Imaginext Dragon Fortress with some accessories--so technically more than 2 toys, but 2 toy concepts, if that makes sense. Then Mom and Dad give 3 toys for each child.