How do/will you "do" Santa?

[marshmallowhands]

Since this is the first year DD has really been able to understand the whole Santa deal, my DH and I have been talking about how Santa will do gifts for our kids.

Growing up, DH got one or two gifts that were unwrapped under the tree from Santa as well as a stocking. The rest of his gifts were from mom & dad.

I got all of my gifts (and stocking) from Santa and they were wrapped under the tree.

Anyway, just curious to see how Santa brought you presents and how you'll do it for your kids.

[h]

We do it like your DH did growing up--Santa brings a couple big gifts and a stocking and doesn't wrap. Presents from mom, dad, grandparents, siblings, etc. are wrapped and under the tree.

[monarch]

1-2 gifts, wrapped. Plus the stockings.

[luvmagoldn]

Dec 19, 2012 18:58:09 GMT -5 monarch said:

1-2 gifts, wrapped. Plus the stockings.

This. Santa gifts are wrapped in special Santa paper.

[geneg]

Dec 19, 2012 18:30:56 GMT -5 h said:

We do it like your DH did growing up--Santa brings a couple big gifts and a stocking and doesn't wrap. Presents from mom, dad, grandparents, siblings, etc. are wrapped and under the tree.

Same here. Santa fills a stocking with unwrapped gifts. Sometimes presents are too big for the stocking and are next to or underneath it. DD is getting a dollhouse from Santa, but the dolls and furniture are wrapped and under the tree from M&D plus grandparents. DS is getting a huge ball and some toy cars. DH is getting beef jerky. Everyone gets chocolate and an orange.

[rootbeerfloat]

We do it like your DH did. Santa brings the big gift and stockings, unwrapped. Everything else from us and everyone else is wrapped.

Growing up, Santa wrapped things, even when we not longer believed, lol.

[statlerwaldorf]

I am struggling with this and I still don't know what we are going to do. As a kid, everything was wrapped and from Santa. DH's family doesn't celebrate Christmas.

[auntie]

Growing up, it all came from Santa. Really big gifts like bikes weren't wrapped. Toys that had to be assembled weren't wrapped but everything else was.

DH and I give DS a single gift and the rest is wrapped in Santa's paper. LOL, he's 19 and still loves that tradition.

[froggy76]

Stockings come from Santa. Maybe one wrapped present under the tree, too, but I plan to take credit for everything else! This is how my parents did it growing up.

I was talking about this with some friends last night and never realized before that people did unwrapped gifts under the tree and everything was from Santa.

[whitepicketfence]

All gifts are wrapped and from Santa. We also fill the kids' stockings.

The kids get gifts from other family members on Christmas Eve (DH's family) and Christmas Day (my family) so we don't feel that they need any specifically from us.

[SusanBAnthony]

Dec 19, 2012 19:11:13 GMT -5 luvmagoldn said:

Dec 19, 2012 18:58:09 GMT -5 monarch said:

1-2 gifts, wrapped. Plus the stockings.

This. Santa gifts are wrapped in special Santa paper.

Ditto. This is what I had growing up.

I botched the stockings this year. I shopped for DH's stocking stuffers with the kids. I hope they forget!

[DarcyLongfellow]

Growing up, all our presents were from Santa, and they were all wrapped -- including stocking stuffers. Santa presents aren't under the tree, though, they're set aside so they're separate from all the other presents and can be opened first :-)

We do it the same way with DD. She gets no presents from me and DH at all, just from Santa. She gets plenty of stuff from the grandparents, so she has presents under the tree too :-)

[jena]

Growing up, all gifts from Santa and wrapped in special paper.

For my family, Santa does not wrap and just brings a few gifts - mostly what they asked for and whatever the big gift is.

What I love about the unwrapped way of doing it is that the gifts are set up and ready to play with, so they get that instant gratification. And while they check them out we have time to get some coffee and maybe some breakfast (Actually I set up all the gifts we give to the kids, even the wrapped ones as much as possible - all plastic shells and twist ties removed and batteries inserted so we're not sitting around the tree with a box cutter cussing at the packaging.)

Oh, and I'd like to get at least SOME credit for gift giving - and I suspect that my DD would ask if we had a gift for her if we said they all came from Santa.

[suburbanzookeeper]

We do our stockings on the 6th as part of St. Nick... . The stocking comes from Santa.

Santa gives one present that gets dropped into a reusable fabric sack on Christmas Eve (I made the bags so I don't have to deal with the wrapping paper issue & it makes them a bit of a tradition). We wanted DD to grow up with the understanding that Santa does not have an unlimited budget and have appreciation for what we give her.

[Deleted]

We'll probably do what my parents did. 1-2 presents, unwrapped on the fireplace hearth and unwrapped gifts in the stocking. We always played with our Santa gifts while my parents made cinnamon rolls (a real treat in our household), then opened stockings, then the rest of the gifts.

[agrippa]

2 gifts from Santa under the tree, one in the stocking. Wrapped in brown package paper with their initials stamped all over the top. (That way we don't have to find the same wrapping paper when we run out, and Santa won't.have our handwriting)

[Deleted]

Dec 19, 2012 19:11:13 GMT -5 luvmagoldn said:

Dec 19, 2012 18:58:09 GMT -5 monarch said:

1-2 gifts, wrapped. Plus the stockings.

This. Santa gifts are wrapped in special Santa paper.

This is us. Also, my inlaws still give us one gift from "santa"

My parents didn't do stockings so that is kind of a new thing for me. I still have to find stocking stuffers for DS2.

[ladygrey]

Growing up, Santa only brought stockings. All the presents were from my mom and dad. I think we'll probably do something similar with our kids.

[Deleted]

Santa for my kids is just like DH & I had as kids. Santa leaves unwrapped toys & fills stockings. Mom & Dad give wrapped non-toys usually. Santa gets all the credit...lol. Santa brings lots of stuff--we're trying to reel it in a bit but still this year it's 1 big, 2 medium, 4 small plus another 4-6 smaller. I'm struggling but I feel like its too late & we set the bar too high. But DH & I grew up with big Christmases so it's what we know. Problem is its pricey & quite literally we are out of space & out of ideas. All these girls means we've bought a version of nearly everything. I wish I could start over.

[HoneySpider]

Growing up Santa brought all the gifts (wrapped) and filled the stockings (unwrapped). We opened one gift on Christmas Eve so that must have been from my parents. I suspect we will do something similar to this with our future kids.

[GailGoldie]

we do it like my parents did it --- all presents are from santa and all are wrapped.

I don't need any credit on xmas.... none are from me/dh - though, we do give each other gifts that are from us (the kids help buy them) and the kids buy each other gifts, etc.

Kids love to unwrap stuff - it's just fun! It's the only time of the year that i actually WRAP gifts- the rest = in gift bags.

the stuff in the stocking is unwrapped - fun little stuff- that we go through once all the presents are doing being unwrapped --- growing up we did it this way and it was always a fun way to finish up the morning.

[Deleted]

Santa gave a few presents, usually the big ones and the rest were from family. They were wrapped.

We're not making a huge effort in the myth, so we'll continue this way.

[smiley]

Growing up most of our gifts were from Santa. We knew Santa was on a budget and made our lists accordingly.

I don't remember any special paper or wrapping from Santa though...

When we have a child I plan to buy one of these bags, not sure which size though...