Christmas Eve Boxes

Glorybee

The fact that it was Christmas Eve alone was enough of a thrill for us as kids ?.

Exactly.
Never done the xmas pyjamas either.

I was told it was an American thing Sharon103.
Personaly, i will not be going down that track,as if Christmas isn`t expensive enough.
It would be interesting to know if Americans take on English traditions.

Ellet an elf on a shelf is exactly that , it's an elf and dressed in red that sit on an edge of shelf . Or even an mantle piece or window seals . People treat them as a game and hide them round the house , then when it's found that person moves somewhere else and it goes on . Last year they had them in poundland . So it's cheap harmless fun . Happy elf hunting .

Never heard of them. Is it another American idea?
When I was small in the 1920s we had a couple of good presents on Christmas Day. I still have my li fe size bisque head baby doll from when I was seven .
The same just after the war in 1950 I managed to get a teddy bear for my son. He still has it although in a rather shabby state.. These days children have far more toys and they are soon thrown away.

I am a totally over indulgent granny and have reversed my previous ignoring of anything over the bare minimum of Christmas celebrations (a few gifts and a nice lunch, no decorations, no ridiculous spending). We decorate now for beloved GS and I buy him too much. There is no way we will extend this into anything beyond Christmas Day.

I can’t see the point of them. Christmas Eve has its own magic surely, mince pies and sherry for Father Christmas (not Santa in our family), carrot for the reindeer, perhaps a reading of the Night before Christmas.
DS and DiL do them though, and the creepy elf thing. I don’t like chocolate Advent calendars either.

BusterTank thank you. That sounds fun. It’s a pity we won’t be doing a big Christmas this year, my family would have loved looking for the elf.

I asked DD if she was doing anything on Christmas Eve for DGD, only the usual she said.

That's new PJ's from her other Gran and a new book from us to unwrap then off to bed.

The 'magic' of Christmas Eve can sometimes turn sour. I remember miserable Christmas Eves, when I got so excited I ended up getting into trouble, then I was sure Father Christmas wouldn't come to me. So I give my DGCs a bag with some new pyjamas, a book and something that they can entertain themselves with, like a jigsaw, a pack of stickers or one of those magic slate things. NOT a game which requires another person and will probably end in tears.

I saw them at the garden centre. Took me back to Christmas 60 years ago when I was so excited about getting a huge dolly that I became ill.... hot, sweaty and tearful. My uncle brought me a box of bric-a/brac from his shop and it worked a treat. I still have the huge dolly and some of the bric- a brave. I treasure it all.

Pathetic. Teaching little ones they can't wait for anything.

@Misslovefood My thoughts exactly !!!!! ???

We have a Christmas sack on Christmas Eve. Just a plain hessian sack which we call the “early sack”. One of the grown ups puts it in the living room whilst the grandchildren are distracted and then we wait for the children to “discover it”. We track “Santa” across the sky as well.

The sack contains new pyjamas each , a new book for a bedtime story ( I also read the night before Christmas book every year) and a new Blu-ray . The children shower put on new pyjamas and we all settle down together with hot chocolate ( marshmallows or dipping lollies in the sack too) and watch the new film. New book is read before they go to sleep. The children love it and so do we.

We don’t like the creepy elf on a shelf

Discussing this with DD2 and she believes it's a Scandinavian/German tradition. Traditionally these families exchange gifts on Christmas Eve?
I don't know if that's true or not? I know the Royal family do but not sure if that's something else which came from Prince Albert along with the tree?
DD2 is of the opinion that Lidl and Aldi started selling CE boxes here first when they arrived on the British supermarket scheme?
Maybe we have some Scandinavian and German mums who could advise?

Surely as children we had excitement all through December, making cards, advent calendars (no chocs then), Christmas party at school, Christmas Fairs, Church panto, advent services with a crib under the tree, saving pennies for, or making, presents. We decorated the tree Christmas Eve at Gran’s house and sang carols outside her door for pennies Traditions change with each generation, making memories. Can’t stand the elf on the shelf though, watching to see if children are good!

I loved Christmas Eve as a child,I can remember have had a bubble bath !!!what a treat! then my mum would put a joint of beef in the oven ready for beef sandwiches when we returned from Midnight mass when we were allowed to open one present before bed.
I tried to follow this tradition with my daughter .
It was a lovely magical time which was not about spending lots of money which some parents cannot afford.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

@AnneHinckley, having read that Christmas Eve story, I’m sure you’d love ‘The Empty Stocking*!
There’s a very naughty child involved but it does have have a lovely happy ending - very cleverly done IMO.

Christmas is near and most of the peoples are bzy in online shopping

A very good friend of mine is Swedish - before her dh died and she returned to Stockholm after many years in the U.K., we often spent Christmas with them, whether there or here.

Yes, Christmas Eve was her big day, so we always had her traditional food then - lots of nice fishy things - she’d make a sort of seafood cheesecake - and ham, not to mention glogg - very alcoholic! and IIRC vodka that had been put in the freezer! ‘Rice porridge’ was a thing, too - like rice pudding, but done in a saucepan - she made it with all single cream so very rich.

On Christmas Day we’d have our traditional dinner, which I’d cook if at their house.

From the beginning of Advent she’d always have a ‘candle bridge’ in every window of the house - it would look so nice and welcoming when we arrived in the dark after a long drive.

It's all about building up the excitement to Christmas Day.

Do children really need any more excitement than comes with the usual Christmas preparations?

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travelsafar

I know people who buy matching xmas pj's for the whole family to wear so that they can take pics on xmas morning with them all wearing them!!

I think you have hit the nail on the head there, Travelsafar. Facebook will be flooded with the pictures, as well as the Elf on a Shelf. I suspect a lot is done for the parents’ benefit, rather than the child’s.
I liked this Elf, mind you.

We always allowed our daughter to open one present on Christmas Eve. She's 50 now and the tradition continues. She still texts me to ask "which one mum?'. I try to put something a bit different in the box. She does it for her own daughter too. I noticed the boxes in the shops last year.