How have these new fads come about ?

Sadly, I can't remember the last time I was over excited

Mmmmm are you sure ? What about those items of clothing you told us about!!!!!

We did not have a Christmas box when I was small but rituals yes! My parents put me to bed on 23 Dec and in the morning, as if by magic, the home was decorated and there was a tree..always a couple of baubles for me to add. Christmas Eve was church and a special rice dish for supper, a new nightie and hanging up a stocking..or a pram pillowcase! Excitement and magic!

Iam, it is not grumbling for the sake of it. This planet has a finite amount of rescources and we should think carefully before adding to landfill.

The Christmas spend a thon is out of control .

I had a whats app message from GD last night, it was a photo of her Christmas list ...." Clothes, there is a list online, for colours and size please consult Mummy"

oldbatty In the case of my DDs & their kids it is not all new stuff! The Christmas Eve box contains the stuff you only use at Christmas. Special mugs, stories, CDs & DVDsetc. They live in the box from Christmas to Christmas. Plus a new pair of PJs and maybe the clothes for Christmas day., some hot chocolate & nibbles for FC & reindeer! It is more about setting a tradition of a cosy Christmas Eve with family than rampant consumerism! Though there will always be those that do go OTT.

Pecs it's the same for my GC, I bought the boxes, sustainable wood, with their names engraved. They can have them for the rest of their lives to keep their treasures in.

The only "new things" which get put in the box are the PJs, hot chocolate sachet, carrots (reindeers) mince pie (home made). Glass for Santas sherry, mug, book, cd are the original ones that came with the box.

Basically I am the grinch, so ignore.

Wouldn't you agree that there is a happy medium between rampant consumerism and grinchiness? I believe that many of us feel much of Christmas is overcommercialsed but the alternative doesn't have to be mean and grumpy!
Quite a few of us seem to have achieved a reasonable, happy balance.

I was introduced to Christmas Eve boxes by my DIL. It is a lovely idea and is part of my GC family tradition.

Sorry I can stop being mean but I fear grumpy may be permanent.

I understand that "The Elf on the Shelf" is an idea which started in the USA. (That's where I first saw it, years before it was here.) It was "triggered" by a children's book published in 2005. Doubtless it was then taken up by marketing persons - simply to sell more "stuff"! Thankfully my USA family ignore it - as do I.

mcem there is definitely a way between "grinch" and rabid consumerism. Depending on the day and my list of chores I can be anywhere on that scale ?????

I don't think these things have reached deepest Devon yet.
Shelf elves??? Christmas eve boxes????
But I do like llamas.

To answer the OP. Everything was a new fad once upon a time. Go with it or ignore it. Everyone has the choice.

The elf of the shelf now has his own sleeping bag for when he gets tired!

In my son's house there is a box in the top corner of the room which has a flashing red light. (May be connected to the house alarm) He convinced grandson, 7, that it was a 'Santa cam' to check for bad behaviour! Worked sometimes!
As for unicorns and llamas...??

Disgusted of Tonbridge (near Tunbridge Wells! )

Never heard of Christmas Eve boxes. Shudder to think what will the "essentials" for those once the marketing folk get going. Sounds as if the boxes will take on the importance of Christmas Stockings and will be filled with about the value of stuff some children receive as Christmas presents.

I, like BlueBelle and a few others, dod not and do not 'do' CE boxes. It must be a foreign fad.
Net stocking edged in red crepe paper (Woolworths) was hung on the bed-post and a mince pie and milk was left by the fire with a note and a carrot for Rudolph. Presents were opened on Christmas day after breakfast but our stockings were gleefully emptied at first light.
Nowadays, stocking fillers each cost much more than the whole of our gifts when I was a child.
When my AC were little I used to put sooty prints around the fireplace and leave crumbs on the plate.
It was hard not to make a noise when taking their stockings upstairs. Larger presents were around the tree.
All this nonsense about CE boxes is a ploy to encourage more spending.
Who on earth makes a point of buying new pjs to wear on Christmas
Eve or a bath with 'smellies' and new ir freshly laundered bedlinen? My children bathed every night and bedlinen changed weekly, regardless and they each had several pairs of pjs or nighties which were renewed as and when.
It's a con and you are falling for it.

* did not dod

I’d never heard of Christmas Eve boxes, neither had my DD until last Christmas Eve when the shops had closed and her 5 year old twins asked where they were. I guess children at school had been talking about them.

I love the Christmas Eve Box idea. My side of the family all gather at my DD's for the evening - we have a barbecue meal and lots of fun with the 4 grandchildren.

We have the boxes ready when bedtime comes around - the kids love putting on their new pyjamas , getting hot chocolates with marshmallows , and all lying down to watch a festive movie before bed. The boxes are reused every year .
This isn't a " new fad" in my family, it's a longstanding tradition and just as much fun as the Christmas morning gift exchange.

Just more ways to spend money unnecessarily- like baby showers, hen and stag parties, and I understand now that there are divorce parties too!

The Elf on a Shelf thing becomes a bit of a competition on social media, which is full of photos of what the elf did last night. The elves antics become more and more bizzare as the years go by. I know a family who painted all the kids nails bright green when they were asleep and blamed the elf. I don't think I would have wanted to go to sleep anymore if that had happened to me when I was small! Preparations for Christmas should be card making, calendar making, tree/ house decorating and baking! Nice traditional activities which of course involve copious amounts of glitter which still twinkles in the carpet come Easter!

We don't celebrate Christmas, but we do celebrate Yule, we burn the Yule log which is cut from the remains of the previous years tree. We exchange a gift and have a family meal. My dd then celebrates Christmas with her own small family. They do have an elf, made by mummy, who gives a small gift each day. Usually a sweet or decoration for the tree. I don't like the commercial elf or Xmas eve boxes. As a child we got chocolate coins in our slippers Xmas eve morning, a throw back to when my family lived in Germany before I was born.

While out shopping on Saturday with my sister, i asked her 'what is this 'thing' with Unicorns, they are everywhere, she shrugged her shoulders and said who knows!!!