How generous is Father Christmas in your house? It caused an interesting discussion last night with DH. I think Father Christmas dropped one present for each child down the chimney in DH’s house. When I was little Father Christmas dropped at least 15 presents each for my sister and I, so I tend to do the same. I also was listening to the radio this morning quite early and heard a Bishop talking about landfill, or our responsibility to the Earth for a less consumeristic angle to Christmas.
I’m already feeling very guilty about everything that goes to landfill, it seems such a lot doesn’t it? The girls don’t have all that much in terms of toys compared to others and we desperately try and avoid plastic tat (although inevitably get some from the in laws for Christmas). My sister and I had a long conversation about all of this a while ago too. Her son has just turned 3 and on his party invites she wrote preloved presents welcome. She says she only got one preloved pressie and that was more because the couple was skint than for eco reasons. She reckons nobody else knew what preloved meant.
Anyway I wondered if anyone fancied sharing what they have got for their littlies this Christmas. Partly for inspiration for next year because I would like to become a crafty mumma and actually make them things instead of buying things, partly because I still feel the need to purchase more for them so am seeking last minute ideas, in this crazy pre-Christmas rush of squirrelling things away but wonder if I should stop now, and partly just to see how generous Father Christmas is ....
so this is what I have got DD2 (2)
1. Mini Mouse T-shirt – FC £4.50
2. Charlie and Lola PJ’s – FC £12
3. The big big sea Book – FC £3
4. No matter what Book - FC £3.50
5. Fly away Katie Book - FC £3.50
6. Peppa Pig Annual – FC £3.50
7. Mini Car - FC £5
8. Mask - FC £5
9. Hot water bottle - Mum and Dad £15
10. The Lion King DVD
12. Bubble bath
13. Alphabet blocks
and DD1 (5)
1. Charlie and Lola T-shirt – FC £4.50
2. PJ’s
3. Babushka Book £6.60
4. Charlie and Lola Annual – FC £5
5. For every child Book – FC £3.70
6. How to live forever Book – FC £3.70
7. Icecream van - FC £7
8. Mask - FC £5
9. Space Hopper – Mum and Dad £15
10. Wooden Theatre - FC £9
11. Story Dice – FC £5 (Thanks Gill - and I’ll post your cheque tomorrow, sorry didn’t get out to post box this week)
I am determined not to get too consumerist about Christmas, as Grace will get loads from relatives, and it’s her birthday on the 17th too.
I have got her two books, a small rattle and a tree pencil so far from Father Christmas. She will also get a toothbrush, a satsuma and maybe one other small toy. She will get playsilks and a homemade outfit from us.
I don’t think I got her anything from her birthday yet. Sny ideas for something lovely, easy and homemade?
I think there is a recent post somewhere with everyones stocking lists on.
I still remember as a child staying at my grandparents, which was next door to my cousins house. In our (mine and my sisters) stockings we got items like: pencil, notepad, soft toy, chocolate coins, satsuma, toy like a yoyo or similar and maybe sindy clothes. I remember on Christmas morning rushing over to my cousins house to see what Father Christmas got her, and she had a pillow case for starters rather than a stocking, and ONE of the presents was a record player!! I thought Father Christmas was really unfair!
Do you get yours a ‘main’ present aswell as the stocking?
My stockings are same for DD and DS, but the items keep changing!
Something like:
Soft toy (kitten for DD and puppy for DS) from Myriad so very nice!
Peppa pig books (free from yogurt cartons offer)
2 other small books from charity shop
Felt toy (handmade) gnomes
Knitted toy each if I get around to it!
Pencil (nice one)
Chocolate coins
Satsuma
They will then get a main present each from us (not bought yet, but checking all second hand options first).
Tbh I dont buy them toys except at birthday and christmas so I dont feel too guilty really. My aim is to handmake more next year too. I also buy all my newphews and neices second hand stuff which I found over time. They are all under 6, so they wont know the difference anyway! I have found some great bargins. I am not giving any presents to adults except my handmade hampers.
FC (main present)- Wooden stacking house from Myriad
Stocking- Preloved My Little Ponies ( plastic, but 75p in charity shop, and nostalgia for mummy), toothbrush, forest elves
I remember as a kid being really excited at the sheer number of presents under the tree for me - however, I also remember been rather disappointed that most of it was tat - what I’d call “bulking out” presents, and sometimes I didn’t get what I really wanted because my mum had definite ideas of what little girls should have (not skalectric). Take out all the cheap poundland type tat and I probably got a couple of main presents and some clothes - plus bits from relatives, neighbours, friends and my brothers (mmm one year one brother bought me a huge pair of santa knickers lol).
Still last year I learned a valuable lessons, while Rye did get wooden toys and these were from carboots sales and charity shops in the main I did go for quantity over quality, suppose I got carried away trying to make Yule and christmas special for Rye.
So this year the wooden toys are much better quality - well I can’t say for definite about the pirate ship and bus because a friend who works for WHSmith picked those up for me - but she and her partner seemed to think they were great (lol had to put the pirate ship together just to make sure all the bits were there )
handmade wooden fire engine - £2 (car boot sale)
WHSmith wooden bus (19.99 - picked it up last year for him)
Brio type train and trucks £8.99 (stall selling wooden bits in town)
Colouring Pencils (£1.50, tescos - I know, I know, but these are lovely pencils and triangular shaped which is idea for my lefty).
*Crayons (poundland £1)
First words in Spanish (The works £1.50)
Fire man Sam activity book and stickers (The Works 99p)
Enid Blyton bedtime stories (1.50 charity shop)
Polar Express book (1.50, charity shop)
Dragons book (1.50, charity shop)
*Habba black cat (um 3.75 I think,from purplecavingcat)
*Note book (poundland £1)
Foam eco things when wet can be use dto build stuff, bought them off a gp mama £2 I think.
*Home made crochet scarf
*home made crochet slipper socks
*home made mittens
home made crochet dragon (might become a dinosaur as Rye is starting to develop this boyhood obessions )
small wooden fire engine and a few small wooden cars
*satsuma
*christmas cookies
*fudge?
(*stocking fillers - I wanted to add dried figs too, but not being able to find any)
Then for his birthday on the 1st he will be receiving:
Wow writing it down seems to make it look a lot - I had planned to crochet Rye a pirate tunic but I doubt I’ll have time and I’ve been saving toilet rolls to make some skittles. I’ll still do them, but I won’t get them done before Yule or his birthday - also wanted to do some bunting. Blah, must be more organised next year! More bought stuff than I planned initially too.
After the New Year I plan to pick him up some more treeblocks and a version of the wooden likeabike, I’ve seen in an ebay shop for £34.
The treeblocks I’ll probably buy first and then later the bike, probably for the “half” birthday celebration I plan for July time - being that his birthday is 1st Jan so he wont be having a party on his birthday (well a tea party with me but that’s it).
I had hoped to make Rye a bit more - mind I have made gifts for friends and I have been concentrating on them as he has presents lol
Next year the plan is to buy Rye one main present and then make bits to go with it - I’ve got the large tree block house in mind or maybe somethng like the fire engine house - although I will wait to see what he’s interested in. Ohh freaky to think, this time next year he’s be almost 4!!!! wow.
Funny how things are so different in all the households, isn’t it? I remember having a main pressie plus a few littlies, sometimes in a stocking I think, but the stocking wasn’t a huge thing for us. My DH was also different and started first thing in the morning with a box (note, not stocking) of pressies and that was before the main pressies under the tree!
I really dislike the excess that has built up over the years and each year try to combat it. This year, after several years of ‘suggesting’ fewer things to the in laws, I’ve put my foot down and have ‘requested’ (yes, they noticed the difference!) no more than 1 main pressie and 2 ‘side’ pressies from the grandparents. If that works out it’ll be a major improvement! We normally have a small selection of things for the kids, but not much emphasis on FC - he’s more the deliverer than the giver! This year I’m aiming for 1 main + 2 side pressies too then maybe a couple of little things from santa and the kids special bears.
Unfortunately, I’m not much of a crafty person, so most stuff is bought but I do try and buy good quality fairtrade/organic stuff where I can or at least from companies with good ethics.
So, to answer your question, FC is quite stingy here but the kids still get far more than they need!
I’m quite pleased with the way I’m keeping down on the waste this year. Apart from the above, W is getting the myriad dumpster truck and some jigsaws from my parents, loads of books, some stickers and wooden animals from OH and me, and my grandparents are giving me money to get her a nice warm pair of winter boots=]
Father Christmas fills the stocking here and then the presents under the tree are from us and other relatives.
I wrote what Leo has in his stocking on the stocking thread - I spent £12.
His presents from us are 2 ostheimer animals (£15) and a train set (£7), a fairy tale book (£5) and then some second hand videos (£1) and a couple of colouring/sticker books (£2) and then I’ll make some biscuits and sweeties too.
I don’t like to spend lots at Christmas because otherwise it causes unneeded financial strain. Leo is also lucky to get lots of presents from family and friends. Mind you I think Leo’s still got lots from Father Christmas and us!
I am not going to write down what the boys are getting, as it is embarrasingly expensive. But it involves a netbook, lego, skateboard, more lego, and lots of other things! We justify it in that they don’t get other things in the year unless it is their birthday, or they buy it themselves.
Santa is very generous, and we just give one small gift from ourselves along with something handmade.
We do stockings (see other thread - little gifts and home made items plus one ostheimer animal each) and then one big pressie (from santa) plus a couple of little ones from us.
This year Meg (nearly 4) has a dolls house (made by DH) and wooden dolls family as her main pressie
and a cloth dolly with an outfit and a teddy dress up set from us.
Isobel (1 in Jan) has a lovely wood/soft horse ride on/walker (only cos the shop made a huge mistake and knocked £20 off when they put the price up in the window! So DH the bargain hunter really couldn’t resist and it is lovely!) from Santa
The myriad bird staker and a couple of instruments from us.
We really try not to go overboard and get good quality toys, but since we only have small families the girls don’t get too much else hence them getting a couple of things from us/each other.
This really gets me thinking, I couldn’t believe the mass of gifts Seth got for his 1st birthday and probably sound like a meanie but I’m going halfs with my mum on a storage unit from Ikea to tuck his many toys away nicely! I’m not a total scrodge though! So far I have:
Farm toys: goat, sheep, bull and gypsy pony
Tactile book
Tractor Ted Organic Farm dvd (though may hold back on this one to 2nd birthday)
Wooden round the world train set
block jigsaw (yet to be used presant from 1st Christmas when he was only 2 mths old!)
h/m Felted jingling, juggling balls
still to get/make: wooden wheel back frog
wooden stegasorus
old mcdonald masks
Christmas angels book
frugi top
fair trade doll
The Mighty Jungle on cd….he loves this!
h/m finger puppets
h/m playdough
satsumas
h/m organic munchies
Wow, my list looks incredibly stingy now, compared with everyone else’s! Grace has a pillowcase from Father Christmas, because I did/do, and I have made pillow cases for my husband and sister too - the have our names stitched onto them. Definitely doesn’t mean they are full though!
Our list is so short because apart from the fact that we are flat broke, Grace has loads of toys - and prefers to play with things that aren’t toys anyway, and I just know that she is going to get loads more from the rest of the family. If everyone just got her one present she would get 5 presents from the in-law’s side alone, and there is no way my family will just get her one thing - it’s not the way they are built. So, she will get tons, and I really don’t want her to think that Christmas is all about consumerism.
I might wrap her up a couple of cereal boxes though, because she loves unwrapping things, and she loves playing with boxes, so that seems like a good pressie.
We also give incredibly little compared with most of the preceding. Each of ours will be getting this year:
an inexpensive watch
some kind of fancy pen/pencil
hopefully a couple of homemade felt items for their felt food collection (if I get time to make it!)
maybe a small plastic animal to add to their animals collection
chocolate coins
Also, we make a point of telling our children that father Christmas is just a nice story, as we feel it is important to emphasise that gifts are exchanged between real people because we love each other and because the solstice is a time of sharing and being together. I find that when children think these presents come out of thin air, brought by a magical person, they expect far more than is realistic and don’t see a reciprocity (ie they don’t get the joy of giving as well as receiving) because no one gives presents to Father Christmas, do they?
I am incredibly stingy, hehe. But I’m also broke, so I save up for W’s presents. I’ll probably get W more once she’s older, but I myself never got loads as a child- I got things I really, really wanted, and some odds and ends that I loved, but my parents always followed the quality over quantity route.
Also agree with Julysea,about pointing out that gifts are between people as well. although W believes FC is real, I’m going to limit the actual.impact, as it were, of FC. I remember as a kid being more excited about the fact that a big magical bloke with reindeer was actually coming down the chimney, than anything else. And my mum and dad were always real sticklers for handwritten thank-you notes after Christmas.
OH didn’t want W to believe in Santee, because he had some qualms about lying to children, them not appreciating that it was actually parents who did the buying. I agree with him, but on the other hand I do think that it’s a lovely magicalpart of Christmas for a little one, so we reached a compromise. OH’s parents never told them FC wasn’t real and always made a big deal of over-protecting that belief (his 11 year old sister only found out before she went into secondary school!) so it was quite devestating for them when they found out.
Whereas my parents made it all very special and magical, but never took it to extremes. I found out FC wasn’t real when I was 7, and it didn’t upset me one bit, because I’d never had a huge emphasis put on him.
I remember in the last year of primary school, we were all talking about whether santee was real or not, and there was only one girl in the class who still believed. She refused to believe he wasn’t real and was in tears trying to prove it. Turns out her parents had gone over the top, glittery footprints, glittery hand prints on the chimney, “hoofmarks” in the front garden, told her that you wouldn’t get any presents if you didn’t believe in Father christmas. In the end my teacher had to send her out of the class on sme soprt of pretend errand, s she could tell us all to not mention the big S word in front of her
When I was young I loved the magic of Father Christmas and I think it’s all part of a young child’s fantasy world. I naturally became aware that Father Christmas wasn’t literally true as I got older but I still believe in the magic of it IYSWIM? I wasn’t upset about realising he wasn’t real because the magic of it gave me so much pleasure and still does!
As for expecting lots of things from Father Christmas - we had a small stocking from Father Christmas with things like choc coins, satsuma, nuts, stationery (for thank you letters!), socks and a couple of small toys. Any big presents were from our parents. We also always left Father Christmas a mince pie, glass of sherry and carrots for the reindeer - so we did give something to him too! I do all this with Leo and I think I’ll get him to make a thank-you card for Father Christmas this year too.
Becks, I used to choose what toys I wanted for Christmas according to what book obsession of the time was. So i read Tottie: The Story of a Doll’s House, and guess what i wanted for my eighth Christmas. Best present I ever got.
)
We justify it in that they don’t get other things in the year unless it is their birthday, or they buy it themselves. 
