Santa Questions?

[happygirl]

Santa brings it all.

 

[tchrrx]

DD gets a pair of pajamas and several books from DH & I. Some years she'll also get another small gift from us. These items are under the tree and wrapped just like everyone else's gifts. They will be opened on Christmas Eve.

Santa brings 12-15 gifts that are wrapped in special themed paper. (The paper usually coordinates with the p.j's that we bought her...go figure. ) Then, he stuffs stockings for DD, DH, & myself. This year will be our first time to have family over on Christmas morning, so Santa will also stuff stockings for MiL and FiL.

 

[mjkacmom]

I give them jammies and ornaments Christmas Eve., and Santa brings the rest!

 

[Coconut36]

Growing up Santa brought some items..generally what was asked for but I was encouraged/guided to not ask for "big" items from Santa. Parents generally bought the big stuff like bikes or other things like that.

I do the same with my kids. They are guided/encouraged to ask Santa for 1-2 reasonable items (that to date Santa has been able to bring..I have always explained that Santa is not 100% and sometimes we ask for things he "runs out of" or can't obtain because I don't want huge disappointment should one of them ask for the "it" item one year and it can't be found).

So here Santa brings a few gifts and Mom and Dad the rest/majority.

 

[mjkacmom]

The gifts are from friends and family, and the stockings are filled by Santa. I want my children to acknowledge the generosity of others and be able to tell them thank you.

However, we don't encourage a belief in Santa once the children get old enough to start questioning. I don't encourage a literal belief in myths, so they get a history lesson on Saint Nicholas, on the Christian belief in the birth of baby Jesus, where all the traditions originated; and why we honor these myths and traditions with the spirit of loving and goodwill at this time of year.

Therefore they place no more literal belief in the Jolly Fat Fellow on the Rooftops then they do in the possibility of the prophet Jesus being born in dead of winter (instead of spring).

However we still sing the songs, tell the stories, and honor all of the traditions, so Santa comes in the front door (no chimney) and fills the stockings.

Well, the gifts from friends and family are received, acknowledged, and my kids graciously thank them - I don't know what they have to do with Santa gifts. I don't think people are passing them off as being from Santa!

 

[NHdisneylover]

Well, the gifts from friends and family are received, acknowledged, and my kids graciously thank them - I don't know what they have to do with Santa gifts. I don't think people are passing them off as being from Santa!

I have seen more than on thread on the DIS over the years where people talk about ALL gifts being from Santa. The first I saw was someone who was newly married into a family and was shocked that the rather expensive gifts she and her husband brought for a niece of nephew had the tags removed and "santa" put on them because ALL gifts are from Santa. I remember it well ebcuase i was so surprised by this concept.

 

[Disneyland Princess]

In our house Santa always brought the most expensive item we wanted and filled stocking with gift cards, candy and maybe a CD or movie.

Then we each got a gift from mom and dad (usually the next biggest item) and a present from both my siblings. Besides that there was usually a family gift like a board game.

Even though my siblings are all old enough now to know Santa is not real we still do gifts from Santa, its more of a tradition now then anything else.

 

[It'sOffToDisneyWeGo]

In our house the kids receive gifts from both Santa and Mom and Dad. It does seem like Santa gives the cool stuff and we give the clothes, coats, etc.

 

[luvsJack]

Its always been a mixture here. And each parent gives each kid at least one gift just from him/her. I make sure dh picks out something for each one each year.

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite gifts was a little white toy dog that would bark and do little flips in the air. The tag said "from daddy". Now my dad wasn't the biggest on shopping and usually had no clue of anything to buy. But it was just so special to me that he had picked out and bought that little dog for me. And honestly I couldn't tell you what Santa brought that year.

(I don't even know that Daddy actually bought the toy, Mom may have had him write out the tag; but that is how I saw it at the time.)

 

[Mary•Poppins]

I have a funny story about this ....

In our house with our 3 boys, Santa brought most of the gifts. We have an advent box and on the 24th there would always be a card that says ... a present from mom and dad. This was when we would exchange gifts as a family. We had something for our children and they would have something for us. Then, Santa would arrive in the morning and leave his gifts.

Anyway, this is our first Christmas where all my children "officially" know that Santa is us. As our sons became old enough (usually around 5th grade) to really question the existence of Santa, the Easter Bunny, etc. we would sit them down and tell them the truth. Starting with our oldest to our youngest last year. We just felt it was better coming from us officially.

Well .... every year, my middle son would ask for a cat for Christmas. That was on the top of his list for 4 years before we caved and has Santa bring him a cat.

So in March of one year, my middle son asks about the Easter Bunny. We sit him down and proceed to give him the truth. We tell him there is no Easter Bunny, and no tooth fairy ... and then no Santa. I has been us. He looks at us in surprise. And we tell him we are sorry if he thought there still was a Santa, but there isn't. He then goes on to tell us that he thought there HAD to be a Santa since there was NO WAY we would have brought a cat! We still laugh about it to this day!

 

[mamacatnv]

"Other"
Santa brings 1 - 2 gifts and they are not usually the big gifts, they are usually the 2nd on the list and something practical (last year Down Comforters w/Duvet covers were the practical and a request was from the list).
Santa does not get all the credit and his gifts are always wrapped in paper that is specifically purchased on a yearly basis and then tossed.
Santa and Mom fill stockings

Santa had to sign an agreement with Mom years ago:
No live animals/fish/reptiles
No item that Mom/Dad have already said no to
No siblings

 

[Sorsha]

Well, the gifts from friends and family are received, acknowledged, and my kids graciously thank them - I don't know what they have to do with Santa gifts. I don't think people are passing them off as being from Santa!

Because DH and I are their "family" too, why shouldn't they be taught to acknowledge that we love them and purchased the gifts that they wanted, and be grateful to us? I honestly see no point in labeling gifts you give to someone because you love them as being from a Fat Jolly Old Fellow in a Red Suit.

 

[Sorsha]

Santa had to sign an agreement with Mom years ago:
No live animals/fish/reptiles
No item that Mom/Dad have already said no to
No siblings

I love this "agreement" - very good thinking ahead on Mom and Dad's part.

 

[goofinoff]

We used to do everything from Santa when they were little but then when they got a little older my oldest asked why we didn't get them anything. I told her it was because we bought them stuff all year long....I couldn't think of anything else to say. So I started doing clothes and pajamas from us. I don't think she ever remembered asking me about it and has always known that the "presents in the back of the tree" are from mom and dad. Oh the pajamas are always from the cat!

Unfortunately Santa gets credit for all the really cool gifts!!

 

[mjkacmom]

Because DH and I are their "family" too, why shouldn't they be taught to acknowledge that we love them and purchased the gifts that they wanted, and be grateful to us? I honestly see no point in labeling gifts you give to someone because you love them as being from a Fat Jolly Old Fellow in a Red Suit.

But you mentioned friends and family? My kids get one gift from me, gifts from aunts and uncles, plus grandparents. They have plenty of gifts other than just Santa. I love the magic of Santa, and how he buys things that we wouldn't (but they know I have the final veto regarding gifts). They know we love them, and don't expect gifts from us on Christmas morning, because it's always been this way.

 

[goofinoff]

I have seen more than on thread on the DIS over the years where people talk about ALL gifts being from Santa. The first I saw was someone who was newly married into a family and was shocked that the rather expensive gifts she and her husband brought for a niece of nephew had the tags removed and "santa" put on them because ALL gifts are from Santa. I remember it well because i was so surprised by this concept.

Sounds like something that my SIL would do! When I first started dating my husband there was only one grandchild in the family. As you can imagine the sun rose and set on that child! Even when my SIL had her second there still weren't any other grandchildren and my SIL used to assign gifts for us to get for Christmas and birthdays! That's right....assign! I will never forget the first Thanksgiving that we were married my SIL handed out photo copy's of my neice's list and my SIL had written names next to certain items!!!! I didn't get anything on the list and my SIL was not happy with me but I didn't care!

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

All of the gifts from DH and I are from Santa right now.

If they get gifts from other family members, they are from them.

We got a delivery of gifts from DH's grandmother and those go under the tree now and they were told that they are from Grandma Dino.

I got a check for them for Christmas from MY grandmother...I bought them some gifts and labled them from her as well.

MIL WANTS her gifts to be from Santa...So they will be.

 

[Sorsha]

But you mentioned friends and family? My kids get one gift from me, gifts from aunts and uncles, plus grandparents. They have plenty of gifts other than just Santa. I love the magic of Santa, and how he buys things that we wouldn't (but they know I have the final veto regarding gifts). They know we love them, and don't expect gifts from us on Christmas morning, because it's always been this way.

Its all good, to each their own!

As I said in my original post, I don't encourage my children to have literal belief in mythological creatures. Just my own personal opinion. We don't do the Easter Bunny or the tooth fairy either past about the age of 5 or so. They are taught the difference between fiction and truth early on. We are athiests, so drawing a line between real and mythological is important to us.

I wouldn't them lying to me, so why would I feel it was OK to lie to them about who brought the presents?

Again, JMHO, to each their own.

 

[cari12]

Our kids are 8 and 6 now and we have always told them that Santa fills the stockings and gives one gift per person (even Mom and Dad). When they do their letters, we tell them to choose the 3 things they want the most and Santa will choose one of them. This way if we ever have a tough year financially, we just need to get one of those 3 things and we are good to keep the magic alive.

 

[kldmom2000]

I chose 50/50 even though it's more like 25/75.... Santa usually brings 3-4 gifts & fills the stockings.... the rest is from us