Christmas and kids buying single parent gifts?

[downtoearth]

So, I am just curious. I'm spending Christmas Eve and morning with the kids, and in the past it's been on XH to fill my stocking, buy me Xmas eve pajamas, and take the kids to buy gifts. Since I like stockings and PJs on Xmas eve (and it's part of my family Christmas tradition that has nothing to do with XH) I'm still planning to do that. Plus I have one young kid who still believes (1st grader). So weird, but I can just do that myself, right? I don't need to enlist anyone else to buy me surprise presents for my stocking (like my mom or my 8th grader), right? I'm guessing I'll just do my own stocking stuffers and pjs and then maybe give my kids each some $ to spend and take them to a store together to buy a present for me. 

Is that how you do it? What do you do about gifts for yourself on Christmas when kids want to buy for you, but you don't have someone else who can help them out? 

[doriswe]

I say, you do whatever you want to do! New or old traditions...all yours to decide! When my kiddos were little, they usually made something at daycare/school so that's what I got. If you're wanting them to surprise you with a gift, could you ask a friend to take them? Or a lot of schools in my area have an event where you can drop the kids off and they make something/or buy something and they help them wrap it so it's a surprise to the parent.

[AdaraMarie]

So far my kids haven't expressed any desire to buy me a present and I do not take them to buy a present for their dad, which I know some families do. I fill my own stocking, and santa leaves one gift for each kid and anything else is from mom.
It has evolved so that santa leaves something for the kids at both houses.
When I was a kid being raised by a single mom and when we were a bit older she would take us somewhere like kmart and wait outside while we went in and got a gift with money she gave us.

[downtoearth]

Nov 5, 2019 14:46:46 GMT -5 AdaraMarie said:

So far my kids haven't expressed any desire to buy me a present and I do not take them to buy a present for their dad, which I know some families do. I fill my own stocking, and santa leaves one gift for each kid and anything else is from mom.
It has evolved so that santa leaves something for the kids at both houses.
When I was a kid being raised by a single mom and when we were a bit older she would take us somewhere like kmart and wait outside while we went in and got a gift with money she gave us.

Did this buying a present when she was waiting outside seem weird to you or did you like that you could buy her a surprise to share on the holidays? Just wondering. (Oh and my kids are 13, 11, and 7 yrs old)

[downtoearth]

Nov 5, 2019 14:34:19 GMT -5 doriswe said:

I say, you do whatever you want to do! New or old traditions...all yours to decide! When my kiddos were little, they usually made something at daycare/school so that's what I got. If you're wanting them to surprise you with a gift, could you ask a friend to take them? Or a lot of schools in my area have an event where you can drop the kids off and they make something/or buy something and they help them wrap it so it's a surprise to the parent.

Our elementary used to, but they haven't done that for about 4 years. I guess with the oldest being 13, I keep thinking about giving them $ to buy something, but I think I'll look into something like that for the 7 year old.  

[AdaraMarie]

Nov 5, 2019 15:12:25 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Nov 5, 2019 14:46:46 GMT -5 AdaraMarie said:

So far my kids haven't expressed any desire to buy me a present and I do not take them to buy a present for their dad, which I know some families do. I fill my own stocking, and santa leaves one gift for each kid and anything else is from mom.
It has evolved so that santa leaves something for the kids at both houses.
When I was a kid being raised by a single mom and when we were a bit older she would take us somewhere like kmart and wait outside while we went in and got a gift with money she gave us.

Did this buying a present when she was waiting outside seem weird to you or did you like that you could buy her a surprise to share on the holidays? Just wondering. (Oh and my kids are 13, 11, and 7 yrs old)

It didn't seem weird to me because that was our only choice and it was all I knew. I think it made me feel grown up.