Three Gifts at Christmas?

[MagicKingdom05]

casey49781,

I remember those days, when me and my brother got up Christmas morning ran down stairs at 6 am and looked at the stuff, already put together (trains, swingset, etc).

Now day's it's my mom and dad that have to wake us up and not usually before 9 am. Funny how things change.

 

[Kirby]

I remember waking up one Christmas morning when my cousins were staying with us and we went into the living room to sneak a peek at what Santa had brought us. And then running back to the den to bed when we heard my aunt getting up. She thought we were up too early and told us it wasn't time to get up! I got a gigantic stuffed Snoopy that year from Santa. It's the only Santa gift that I remember but I sure don't remember asking for it. I do remember asking for a pony and a piano once but got neither.

 

[Barb D]

We do the three gift thing. I got the idea from a friend when my big kids were little. I like it because it helps me put a limit on my spending. Some years the three are more expensive; this year I'm trying to pay off credit cards and didn't spend as much.

I don't have a problem with people who don't do this, but it works for us.

My sister doesn't do Santa AT ALL -- no stockings, no Santa decorations, etc. It concerned me a bit the year they visited here at Christmas time (staying with my parents) because we do do Santa, and my 3 kids get more per kid than her 10. We decided we would do Christmas morning apart and get together in the afternoon.

 

[aprilgail2]

Santa brings everything except one or two things that are from me...I want Santa to get all the credit while she still believes in him..when she stops believing then seh will know who they all came from...
We actually hada problem with my daughter and another kid regarding the one present from santa thing that her family does....they were talking and my daughter was listing what she wanted for christmas and the other girl said one thing...my daughter said "thats it? just one thing?" and the girl said that santa only brings one gift and my daughter replied "you must be REALLY bad if santa only brings one gift to you, he brings a big stack to me"...the kid started crying and ran to her mom asking why Santa doesn't like her and thinks she is bad....it gets really confusing with all the different things each family does LOL

 

[crz4mm2]

One big (unwrapped) Santa gift(and the stocking stuffers) and the rest from Us. As the kids got older, the big gift changed to being from us (I wanted credit for it!! LOL).
I like lots of gifts to open too. I think it's more fun to have lots to open (even if it is little things).

 

[Pin Wizard]

There's another idea.

DS's godparents have always given their kids one gift at Christmas. It's definitely not about gifts for them.

When DS started wanting items $100+, he cut himself short on the number.

 

[MrsPete]

Here's what we do in my house:

Christmas Eve: Everyone gets a new pair of PJs and a new ornament for the tree (kids' ornaments are marked with an initial and the date and are stored in separate boxes so that someday they'll each have their own boxes to take to their first homes).

Christmas morning: Santa leaves fat stockings and one gift per child (unwrapped). Santa's gifts are often set up in fancy ways; for example, last year Santa left remote control cars with a huge candy speedway to drive through. Yep, Santa built ramps, roadways, etc.

Most presents are from Mom and Dad (wrapped). Tons of presents, some necessities like new church clothes, some wishes like video games, always a ton of books.

We totally spoil the kids on Christmas day (and we do birthdays big -- both kids born in spring, so the dates are spread out from Christmas), but during the rest of the year all their wants are greeted with the same response: "Do you have enough money?" We want them to grow up to be financially responsible, so they receive a fair amount of allowance (and are required to do chores); they are responsible for buying certain needs and all their wants with that allowance. To do this, they must budget and plan ahead (within age appropriate limits). It's working well for our family.

What I would do if I could: If I had a living room with a real doorway, I'd have Santa "wrap" the doorway so the kids would have to burst through the paper to get into the tree room on Christmas morning. I think that'd be really fun.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Santa brings everything except one or two things that are from me...I want Santa to get all the credit while she still believes in him..when she stops believing then seh will know who they all came from...

I'm of this opinion as well. My DH always asks why Santa gets to give the cool stuff and I always tell him I like Santa to get the credit as long as he can...they'll know eventually that it was all from us.

...it gets really confusing with all the different things each family does LOL

It Does! There was a family renting a few doors down from us and they were very, very poor. Really they couldn't afford to be renting in our neighborhood and they didn't have any money for gifts. Well, Santa only filled their stockings, no gifts under the tree. My DD was very confused at the time as to why Santa left her all kinds of stuff but only filled the stockings of the house 2 doors down...she wondered why he did that, why didnt' he give those kids as much as he gave her? It's hard to explain the differences to kids when they start getting old enough to ask the questions.

 

[mom23boys]

Santa brings everything except one or two things that are from me...I want Santa to get all the credit while she still believes in him..when she stops believing then seh will know who they all came from...

We also do this. On Christmas Eve my kids open our present, this year ESPN Jersey for our Disney Trip, they picked them out. The little one DS3 is getting Backyardigans plastic place setting.

On Christmas morning there are huge piles of gifts from Santa. Santa brings everything (well almost) for there list plus more. I also think Santa should get the credit.

My Neighbor does the three gift tradition. My Middle DS6 and her son also 6 are in the same class any play all the time, but it has not come up yet. I guess we will deal with that when the time comes.

 

[aprilgail2]

It Does! There was a family renting a few doors down from us and they were very, very poor. Really they couldn't afford to be renting in our neighborhood and they didn't have any money for gifts. Well, Santa only filled their stockings, no gifts under the tree. My DD was very confused at the time as to why Santa left her all kinds of stuff but only filled the stockings of the house 2 doors down...she wondered why he did that, why didnt' he give those kids as much as he gave her? It's hard to explain the differences to kids when they start getting old enough to ask the questions.

I work for a toy drive this time of year and my daughter (she's 6) helps out every weekend picking up toy up from places and filling wish lists from the things that we get in and she asked this year how come santa didn't like poor people. I ended up telling her that even though santa brings the gifts the parents have to give him some money during the year towards them so if they don't have money then santa brings them only one thing and we help out by giving them the rest to make it a merry christmas for them...but now that also works where when her friend gets one gift she feels bad for htem because she thinks they are very poor and can't afford it....its a no win situation LOL!

 

[soccerchick]

I started cutting back and doing the three gifts thing three years ago when DD was still small enough to not notice. I knew it was time to cut back when I was embarassed for other relatives to come over and see all the stuff she got but really didn't need. My mother and brother and sister also buy too much for my kids and that adds to it. This was easier to do when they were small and I could buy Little Tykes and Fisher Price for almost nothing at Kohls.


I do buy things for my kids throughout the year, but I also do so frugally. I buy the movies we want when they come out (because they are cheaper then) but the kids usually don't get them until a long car ride or snow day or other special event. They also have a lot of hand-me-down big toys (like Little Tykes stuff) from their cousin, so I've been lucky that way. DD usually asks for just one or two items. Santa brings those and then an item she didn't ask for - makes the magic more special. She also gets a stocking stuffed with small goodies and usually a DVD. Mom and dad give clothes and books, and while DD loves the books, last year she opened a pair of pants and said, "oh, clothes, just what I didn't want."

When I was a child, my parents bought us more for Christmas, but we didn't get much the rest of the year. My mom also used to make herself crazy trying to have equal # of presents and equal value, so the packages kept piling up. My kids have no problem with the three gifts. I also don't feel the need to compete with neighbors and friends for "stuff."
I want my kids to have a balanced Christmas, focusing on the celebration of the birth of Jesus, family, and yes, Santa too.

This ended up being a bit of a ramble, but I hope it helped explain why some of us might try to do more with less.