How do you "do" Santa?

TinaL99

This is the first year we are going to have gifts from Santa for the girls so DH and I have been talking a lot about it.  We're going to have 1 big gift for each girl that will be left unwrapped (a toy box for Audrey and a fish tank for Stella).  The stockings will be from Santa but we're trying to figure out if we want the other small gifts to be from us or Santa.  How do you do it?

missyjg

When DH was little, everything was from Santa. When I was little, it was only the stockings. So we are compromising:

Santa will leave a couple of gifts and the rest will be from "mommy and daddy". Santa also fills the stockings. We will put presents under the tree as we get them except for the "santa" presents, they will come on Christmas Eve.

jewelsonu

we are going to have the big gift from santa and stocking from santa.  then smaller stuff from us.  But this year I am trying to scale back and not buy alot since we have too much as it is

when i was little stocking were from santa and only thing we could open before anyone else woke up.  everything else we had to wait for my parents. boy did they take forever to come downstairs

Irisheyes1247

When I was little, my parents mixed in a couple gifts from Santa and usually there was one that was for my sister and I to share (like a movie we both would like) or something that was a family gift (board game or something). Stockings were generally filled with new socks and underwear, plus tic tacs or gum and maybe a few little trinkets or toys and those were from my parents and they were the only thing we could open before my mom and dad came downstairs. All gifts were wrapped, from Santa or from my parents, and had gift tags or labels on them.

MrsRichardson915

Stockings in our house are from Santa. We also have done one big gift from santa, and then we have a 'Santa sack" that we put some other gifts in from Santa. They aren't wrapped. Then we do some gifts from us that are wrapped. I would say other than the big gift, we just go 1/2 and 1/2 on whether they are from us or Santa.

ArcticFox

Most of the big stuff is from Santa, and I wrap it all in the same paper (or like a big bow on something like the play kitchen).

The smaller stuff is from us, and I do other wrapping paper.

TinyPinkBug

We do most things from Santa, then pick 2 things for each kid to be from each of us.  Then we exchange family gifts on Christmas Eve around dinner time.  Everything on x-mas morning is from Santa.

dle927

Most of the gifts come from Santa. 

A fun gift or two, clothes and a Christmas Eve gift will come from us.  Everything else - including stockings, bigger gifts and 90% of the toys, come from Santa.  Santa always got all the glory when I was growing up and I'll do it the same way for my kids. 

DH grew up not celebrating Christmas so he has deferred to me when it comes to how Christmas morning goes down.

We have specific wrapping paper from Santa, and specific wrap from us. Even now when they are too little to notice.  I fear that they will look back on a photograph of Christmas morning and figure it out so I made sure to have different wrapping paper even for Claire's first Christmas at 2 and a half months old.  And even for that first Christmas I got her gifts from Santa so my niece wouldn't figure it out.  Pathetic!  

abba916

I dont know what we'll do...my parents always did stocking from santa and a gift or two although my mother told me there wasnt santa when I was like 5- it was like a joke...my dad still does a santa present...

JenJar

Christmas Eve is gift from us.  They get four each...something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read...  'To wear' is always Christmas jammies to wear that night.  Anything else if from Santa the next morning, including stockings.

Telyco

I hope to do Christmas Eve family gifts - one gift to each kid from us and then the kids can exchange too. Then santa gifts on christmas morning.

SeptemberBride'08

I'm going to follow what my parents did.

Our stockings and a doll or something like that for each kid and a family gift like a game. They were left in front of the tree under a blanket. That way my parents didn't have to fuss with hiding wrapping paper etc. I loved how they did this.

wendyj

We've done all presents from Santa, but may have a couple things from us thrown in this year.  This is his first year really understanding the concept of Santa, so we're kind of still trying to decide.

When I was a kid, the "cool" presents were from Santa, and other presents, like clothes, were from my parents.

kzel0627

My parents always did presents so that stockings were from Santa and a few gifts. All the rest were from my parents. I'm not sure what DH's parents did...we've never talked about how his parents did presents (we met when we were 18 and 19 so there was no Santa anymore lol). I like how my parents did presents. You don't want your kids to think they don't get any Christmas presents from you.

TinyPinkBug

I wanted to add, the reason we exchange our own presents on x-mas Eve goes back to what my parents did.  They just stuck all the presents under the tree wrapped in a different paper for each child.  I remember, long before I could even read my own name, opening all my gifts on Christmas then asking my parents why they didn't get us anything.  They told me some presents were from Santa and some were from them.  It was pretty obvious to me that they were lying, I knew then that Santa didn't really exist.  I would guess I was around 5 or 6.  I continued to pretend I believed for a LONG time, even going out of my way to pretend I believed to my parents because I was afraid that they would stop giving me presents from Santa if they knew I knew the truth. 

I think that was the same year my father threw all our christmas presents in the trash because we wouldn't pick them up before going to our Grandmother's house for lunch.  He really did put them in the trash too, but by mistake.  He was bluffing when he put them in black trash bags but then forgot the next morning and took out all the bags for pick-up.