A hopefully festive Tuesday

climbingsingle · December 2021

We left out carrots for the reindeer as well, and one of my parents definitely nibbled on it...haha.

mrsconn23 · December 2021

MissKittyDanger said:

short+sassy said:

I'm surprised at all stories of leaving out carrots/veggies for the reindeer. So cute! I've never heard of that before.

It's apparently a "thing" but I did it "because they fly so much, they must get hungry. I can't leave them out"

We've always done that with the kids. We leave out carrots and an apple, along with cookies and milk. And a note. DH writes back as Santa. Even though DefConn doesn't believe anymore, he still loves doing the whole thing.

Growing up we had Santa presents and presents from mom and dad. We only opened 1 present on Christmas Eve. We had a family tradition growing up that we stayed home as the 5 of us on Christmas Eve, we had appetizers for dinner (sausage balls, bbq mini franks, veggie and cheese platter, Christmas cookies, etc), watched "It's a Wonderful Life" (well dad did and we all complained it was boring), and we went to bed around 8 or 9. One of my sisters was usually up at like 5am. I was always the one they were dragging out of bed, because I love sleep and I'd likely snooped already anyway. LMAO

But Santa was definitely half-hearted thing growing up. My parents weren't like, "OH he's watching!" or anything like that. We didn't have an annual trip to the mall to visit him. If we did visit, it was out of convenience because we were already there and the line was short. One year, my dad's BFF dressed up as Santa and came through our back door during a Christmas party.

We always, always went to my paternal grandma's house on Christmas Day. I remember, like, 2 instances growing up of going to my maternal grandparents (who lived OOT, so we flew or drove).

We really only give 'Santa' presents to DefConn any more. And again, he knows that it's from us. But at 10, he's still a kid and wants the fun and 'magic'.

kerbohl · December 2021

missJeanLouise said:

DH and I had a serious discussion about Santa today. It was ridiculous. Basically, it was a discussion about the importance of Santa in Christmas. In one of our families, Santa played a bigger role. Kids wrote letters to Santa, left cookies out for him, were reminded of him when being naughty, etc. In the other, Santa was part of Christmas but carried less significance.

So now I am curious, how big of role did Santa play in your childhood? And do you continue those traditions on with your kid(s) now? How high on the Magic of Christmas scale do you rate Santa? Is he The Magic™ or is he a part of a bigger picture? How did you feel about him as a child?

Like @short+sassy was saying, we also didn't have Santa. My parents never fostered a belief, didn't hide any presents, made it clear that everything under the tree was from them. They also didn't really believe in lying to their kids, but my mom always talks about how funny she thought it was that we would always lie to everyone who asked us if we were excited that Santa was coming. Because we knew he was fake, but we also knew other people believe it, so we went along with that lie for them, even at a young age.
Christmas was always about church, family and having a fancy meal. We weren't well off growing up, so I don't think my parents could really afford all the commercialism. And also, if you left cookies out in our house, my brother would eat them. Even if he did believe in Santa, he would steal them from Santa.
And also, chocolate letters. It might be a Dutch thing, but it isn't really Christmas unless someone has gotten a chocolate letter. And maybe an orange.

kerbohl · December 2021

missJeanLouise said:

My experience was definitely more like @short+sassy . I never really cared about Santa or "how" it all happened. My favorite holiday traditions were going to the Nutcracker ballet, baking cookies, and seeing holiday lights. I don't remember learning he wasn't real, just gradually figured it out. To DH, on the other hand, apparently, Santa IS THE MAGIC. Knowing MIL it makes sense. He has a hard time understanding that not everyone grew up like him and that I don't automatically do the same traditions.

I definitely "believed" in the Easter Bunny longer than I did Santa. Santa I had all figured out and I COULD NOT figure out HOW my grandparents got the Easter baskets in the house while we were at church. Still to this day I don't really know how, maybe a neighbor? I didn't really believe in the magic bunny but I didn't know they did it, lol.

Eta: we always got a present or two from Santa but most were from my family. We visited him in the mall, sometimes left cookies for him, knew the stories. But we didn't write to him and he wasn't used as a behavior monitor.

The Easter bunny I would be more about getting on board with, but my parents did nothing with that. We even owned rabbits - they could have used that to their advantage! I remember one year I put a chicken egg in my one rabbit's pen as a joke. My brother did not humour me.

All bunnies are magic - they make my day better just by existing.

To the bolded - yeah, some people are really creative with these things and figuring out a way to illogical celebrate the holidays. They must have had a system!

MissKittyDanger · December 2021

mrsconn23 said:

MissKittyDanger said:

short+sassy said:

I'm surprised at all stories of leaving out carrots/veggies for the reindeer. So cute! I've never heard of that before.

It's apparently a "thing" but I did it "because they fly so much, they must get hungry. I can't leave them out"

We've always done that with the kids. We leave out carrots and an apple, along with cookies and milk. And a note. DH writes back as Santa. Even though DefConn doesn't believe anymore, he still loves doing the whole thing.

We really only give 'Santa' presents to DefConn any more. And again, he knows that it's from us. But at 10, he's still a kid and wants the fun and 'magic'.

As I got older, I realized how much fun my parents had with Christmas.
My dad had the milk and veggies {I didn't put the milk out before I went to bed because I didn't want it to go bad} and my mum would eat cookies.

Idk if anyone had a rule, but I was only allowed to open my stocking before anyone got up.

banana468 · December 2021

I'm trying to convince my kids that Santa prefers spiked eggnog or bourbon to milk with his cookies.

mrsconn23 · December 2021

MissKittyDanger said:

mrsconn23 said:

MissKittyDanger said:

short+sassy said:

I'm surprised at all stories of leaving out carrots/veggies for the reindeer. So cute! I've never heard of that before.

It's apparently a "thing" but I did it "because they fly so much, they must get hungry. I can't leave them out"

We've always done that with the kids. We leave out carrots and an apple, along with cookies and milk. And a note. DH writes back as Santa. Even though DefConn doesn't believe anymore, he still loves doing the whole thing.

We really only give 'Santa' presents to DefConn any more. And again, he knows that it's from us. But at 10, he's still a kid and wants the fun and 'magic'.

As I got older, I realized how much fun my parents had with Christmas.
My dad had the milk and veggies {I didn't put the milk out before I went to bed because I didn't want it to go bad} and my mum would eat cookies.

Idk if anyone had a rule, but I was only allowed to open my stocking before anyone got up.

We weren't allowed to go downstairs until dad said we could. He had to make coffee and 'check' to see if Santa came. We didn't go down until coffee was done and mom and dad had a cup in their hands (which I *totally* understand as a parent today, LOL). We always opened stockings first before we could do presents. Presents were also passed out one at a time and we opened from youngest to oldest.

mrsconn23 · December 2021

Thanks for asking about this @missJeanLouise. Remembering all this stuff is so comforting and has made me smile today.

banana468 · December 2021

mrsconn23 said:

MissKittyDanger said:

mrsconn23 said:

MissKittyDanger said:

short+sassy said:

I'm surprised at all stories of leaving out carrots/veggies for the reindeer. So cute! I've never heard of that before.

It's apparently a "thing" but I did it "because they fly so much, they must get hungry. I can't leave them out"

We've always done that with the kids. We leave out carrots and an apple, along with cookies and milk. And a note. DH writes back as Santa. Even though DefConn doesn't believe anymore, he still loves doing the whole thing.

We really only give 'Santa' presents to DefConn any more. And again, he knows that it's from us. But at 10, he's still a kid and wants the fun and 'magic'.

As I got older, I realized how much fun my parents had with Christmas.
My dad had the milk and veggies {I didn't put the milk out before I went to bed because I didn't want it to go bad} and my mum would eat cookies.

Idk if anyone had a rule, but I was only allowed to open my stocking before anyone got up.

We weren't allowed to go downstairs until dad said we could. He had to make coffee and 'check' to see if Santa came. We didn't go down until coffee was done and mom and dad had a cup in their hands (which I *totally* understand as a parent today, LOL). We always opened stockings first before we could do presents. Presents were also passed out one at a time and we opened from youngest to oldest.

Eff that "order" noise! We just sort of go back and forth and I TRY to make sure the kids don't actually open their things until we're all done unless it can be quick. I don't want a demo of everything.

That said, we weren't and our kids are not allowed to open ANYTHING. We try to tell them to not touch anything until we're downstairs but that's about as successful as me telling my kids to not touch every every surface in Disney. They often have their stockings un-hooked from the mantle and are ready to dig in.

short+sassy · December 2021

kerbohl said:

missJeanLouise said:

My experience was definitely more like @short+sassy . I never really cared about Santa or "how" it all happened. My favorite holiday traditions were going to the Nutcracker ballet, baking cookies, and seeing holiday lights. I don't remember learning he wasn't real, just gradually figured it out. To DH, on the other hand, apparently, Santa IS THE MAGIC. Knowing MIL it makes sense. He has a hard time understanding that not everyone grew up like him and that I don't automatically do the same traditions.

I definitely "believed" in the Easter Bunny longer than I did Santa. Santa I had all figured out and I COULD NOT figure out HOW my grandparents got the Easter baskets in the house while we were at church. Still to this day I don't really know how, maybe a neighbor? I didn't really believe in the magic bunny but I didn't know they did it, lol.

Eta: we always got a present or two from Santa but most were from my family. We visited him in the mall, sometimes left cookies for him, knew the stories. But we didn't write to him and he wasn't used as a behavior monitor.

The Easter bunny I would be more about getting on board with, but my parents did nothing with that. We even owned rabbits - they could have used that to their advantage! I remember one year I put a chicken egg in my one rabbit's pen as a joke. My brother did not humour me.

All bunnies are magic - they make my day better just by existing.

To the bolded - yeah, some people are really creative with these things and figuring out a way to illogical celebrate the holidays. They must have had a system!

I love bunnies! Especially when I was a little girl. I didn't believe in the Easter Bunny, per se. But I did hope, and checked multiple times on Easter, every year that real bunnies would magically show up and be hopping around on the front lawn. I lived in an urban area. I don't think I ever saw a wild rabbit in our yard at Easter or any other day of the year, lol.

After years of pleading, my parents finally got me a baby bunny when I was 8. She was white and her name was Fluffy. My dad built her a nice, wooden hutch with one room that had wood walls, so she could hide in it if she wanted. And the other room had wire walls so we could see and interact with her. That was my first pet. She was a sweet and friendly bunny.

short+sassy · December 2021

We opened our stockings on Christmas Eve and one present, after we got home from church. Dinner was also after church and consisted of finger foods, heavy appetizers and cookies, that we ate in the living room while we hung out and opened the stockings.

For Christmas morning, my mom was the master coordinator and generally gave us which gift to open next. My sister and I would take turns opening one present at a time. With our mom and dad occasionally taking a turn with one of their gifts. But if my sister and I were receiving something similar, my mom would have us open those gifts at the same time.

ILoveBeachMusic · December 2021

When I was growing up, we had Santa. We did visit him (malls weren't a thing) at a department store or shopping center (strip mall). We left out cookies and milk. One year my parents had my cousin's boyfriend (now husband) write a letter to me thanking me for the cookies. I was probably in college before I knew who wrote the letter (obviously I knew it wasn't Santa). We always went to church then came home to open one present. My parents didn't emphasize the naughty and nice aspect but did joke about it sometimes. My favorite tradition was driving around the neighborhood after church looking at lights. With my own kids, we did do pictures with Santa every year and left out cookies, milk and carrots. We didn't emphasize behavior. We made sure they knew the religious meaning of Christmas - advent calendar, Bible stories etc. We never did St. Nicholas day. That is a northern European tradition that wasn't part of our heritage. SIL's mother is from Germany so he grew up doing it. He and DD do it with their boys (I think they are doing it). For my kids we wouldn't let them open presents until we had coffee and something to eat. They could open stockings. We usually had orange cinnamon rolls. A few years ago DS1 started making his own from scratch rolls. I'm bummed he won't be here this year to make them. I haven't decided if I will do it or resort to prepared one.

levioosa · December 2021

Yes yes, looking at lights was one of our favorite activities too. My grandparents live in an area that is famous for their lights. Each street in this one neighborhood has a theme and they all go all out to decorate for the theme. Driving through to see the lights was always so magical. We were allowed to pick one present of our choice to open on Christmas Eve. At my mom’s parent’s house on Christmas Day everyone took a turn. It was more of a free for all at my dad’s parent’s house. And at home it was a mesh where presents were handed out and then opened kind of all together.

kerbohl · December 2021

short+sassy said:

kerbohl said:

missJeanLouise said:

My experience was definitely more like @short+sassy . I never really cared about Santa or "how" it all happened. My favorite holiday traditions were going to the Nutcracker ballet, baking cookies, and seeing holiday lights. I don't remember learning he wasn't real, just gradually figured it out. To DH, on the other hand, apparently, Santa IS THE MAGIC. Knowing MIL it makes sense. He has a hard time understanding that not everyone grew up like him and that I don't automatically do the same traditions.

I definitely "believed" in the Easter Bunny longer than I did Santa. Santa I had all figured out and I COULD NOT figure out HOW my grandparents got the Easter baskets in the house while we were at church. Still to this day I don't really know how, maybe a neighbor? I didn't really believe in the magic bunny but I didn't know they did it, lol.

Eta: we always got a present or two from Santa but most were from my family. We visited him in the mall, sometimes left cookies for him, knew the stories. But we didn't write to him and he wasn't used as a behavior monitor.

The Easter bunny I would be more about getting on board with, but my parents did nothing with that. We even owned rabbits - they could have used that to their advantage! I remember one year I put a chicken egg in my one rabbit's pen as a joke. My brother did not humour me.

All bunnies are magic - they make my day better just by existing.

To the bolded - yeah, some people are really creative with these things and figuring out a way to illogical celebrate the holidays. They must have had a system!

I love bunnies! Especially when I was a little girl. I didn't believe in the Easter Bunny, per se. But I did hope, and checked multiple times on Easter, every year that real bunnies would magically show up and be hopping around on the front lawn. I lived in an urban area. I don't think I ever saw a wild rabbit in our yard at Easter or any other day of the year, lol.

After years of pleading, my parents finally got me a baby bunny when I was 8. She was white and her name was Fluffy. My dad built her a nice, wooden hutch with one room that had wood walls, so she could hide in it if she wanted. And the other room had wire walls so we could see and interact with her. That was my first pet. She was a sweet and friendly bunny.

Aw, how sweet! They really do make amazing pets. And I have a soft spot for the white rabbits - I've owned quite a few, but if I did a tally, I have owned more white ones than any other colour.

kerbohl · December 2021

mrsconn23 said:

Thanks for asking about this @missJeanLouise. Remembering all this stuff is so comforting and has made me smile today.

I'm with mrsconn23, this has been a lovely thread. So wonderful to see all the different ways we celebrate!

A hopefully festive Tuesday

Re: A hopefully festive Tuesday

Choose Another Board

Search Boards