Christmas Eve Boxes

Never heard of this! Is it English?

I was allowed to open my stocking when I woke up on Christmas morning but had to have Breakfast & get dressed before rest of presents could be opened - I carried this on with DD & she has with DGS.

DD has an elf which DGS loves - he's very naughty

Don't see need for present(s) on Christmas Eve although new pjs are a good idea

Nannanoo that made me howl, thank you

When I was little we always opened one present on Christmas eve as I was physically sick with excitement by Christmas day. This became a family tradition (the present not the being sick).

I was negative about 'elf on shelf' stuff when i saw something on social media. However I have since discovered that my eldest daughter & her husband are having huge fun with the idea - as are their children (6 & 9)
She bought a cheap 'elf' and he 'goes back to the North Pole' for a couple of days now and again to give them a rest from thinking of places the elf can be 'found'
My daughter also uses Christmas eve to produce new pyjamas and the family curl up to watch a new dvd before bed. I think it's a great way to settle excited children and create a lovely Christmas tradition & none of it needs to be very expensive.

I have a Swedish friend living here, and we've 'done' Christmas with her many times. Their big day is Christmas Eve, but I've never once heard her mention Elves on shelves or boxes.
Her main Christmas tradition - apart from their traditional food - seems to be a candle bridge in every window from the first Sunday in Advent.
As far as I can make out (though willing to be proved wrong) the elf is not a well worn tradition as such, but something someone has thought up not too long ago, which has become the latest 'must have' - though if you read Mumsnet a lot of parents are very anti, and some children are frightened of an elf that can creep around in the night, spy on them, and get up to mischief.

Some of my family (all grown up) have had their Christmas presents today, and also Christmas lunch. There was a good reason however, As one of my grandsons is off to Australia on Monday for several months so his dad decided to bring Christmas forward in their house. I had hoped the traveller would take his presents to open in Sydney but the hope was short-lived. ?

Fair enough ginny, but it's only become big commercial news in very recent years.

Ana, our family has done simple Christmas Eve boxes for years. The only thing new in them is the pj's, so not expensive and not anything new.

Just googled it, yes a tradition in a lot of European (mainly Catholic) countries.

I suppose that is how the tradition of putting stockings up on Christmas Eve came about.

The shoes in the window are a Croatian tradition, I'm not sure about other countries.

Is it not German as well?

What's a Croatian tradition?

I did think about the pyjama, chocolate and dvd idea but I've spent enough already.

It's a Croatian tradition

I don't think they are. I think they are an adaptation of Scandinavian practices.
There is no need to buy anything extra, just spread out what you have already bought.
My grandchildren know that one as well, Jalima. It's good that children know about all these different traditions, I think.

In some parts of Europe St Nicholas's Day is 6th December and children clean their shoes and leave them in the window on the 5th December, St Nicholas's Eve, in the hope they will be filled with little presents and chocolates.

Nothing at all!

But these 'Christmas Eve Boxes' are a recent invention designed, as far as I can see, to make Christmas even more stressful and expensive for parents already stretched to the limit...

My grandchildren have always been given presents on Christmas Eve. Two of them have a Norwegian grandparent, and the other two are Danish, so it's a natural thing to do.
We have a Danish Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. Then they open presents from their parents. On Christmas Day it's British tradition, with presents from Santa under the tree.
Aren't we supposed to be a multi cultural society these days?
What's wrong with adopting other traditions?

A bit of nonsense can be fun. If you enjoy these sort of things , great . Nobody is forced to do anything so If not then just don't .

Nobody is forced to take on any of these things. If you enjoy it , do it . If you can't or don't want to, then don't.

It's a racket, just an excuse, to rip off more gullible people, over the Xmas period. It's all nonsense anyway. Bah, humbug.

Personally, I think enough gifts change hands at this time of the year, without adding extras on Christmas Eve. Nothing like a bit of excitement and anticipation waiting for Santa's visit....
When I was young, the Christmas tree was decorated on Christmas Eve; oh, the excitement and the exquisite delight of waking early on Christmas morning to feel my Dad's army sock at the bottom of my bed filled with crackly gifts. I can feel that sensation now 60 years later. Presents, not that many, were opened after lunch before we played games.
One of my DDs is having 'Christmas' this weekend at her inlaws as they won't be seeing them on the Day. Tree, turkey, presents, crackers, the lot. They had a family do last weekend for her fil's birthday. Last Christmas Day I didn't see them but no one bothered with a pre Christmas for me and I have spent my last 2 birthdays alone; the penalty of living hundreds of miles from my family. Me grumpy? Yes and 2x yes . Upside this year is that I will be with all 3 DDs and their families. Even more upside is that there are 2 presents each for the gc's plus, of course, stockings from Santa, and one each for the adults. Small is beautiful

Morning everyone
I don't agree with Xmas eve presents but when my girls where small we used to do what we called tree presents we used to wrap little presents up and put them on the Xmas tree and they would choose one a day up until New Year's Day to spread Xmas out for longer they used to love it and now they do it for there children

GS2 (nearly 4) was next door with his auntie and she told him that his elf could see through the wall and would know if he was being good. His face was a picture!