Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

My friends and I were talking about this the other day and I never realized how everyone's parents have a different version of Santa. All of my gifts from Santa were wrapped and under the tree Christmas morning. We new they were from Santa since they just had our name on them. (It takes a good couple of years before you recognize your parent's handwriting!). I have other friends that woke up Christmas morning and all of their Santa gifts were unwrapped and displayed, like the Barbie Dream house was set up or the clothes were laid out. Then I have another friend who grew up with Santa leaving only gifts in their stockings. All gifts under the tree were from their parents.

I'd love to hear your families tradition and moms out there, what do you do for your children?

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

I grew up, placing a note with cookies and milk on the kitchen table for Santa. I 'd then go to sleep and awake Christmas morning to find presents under the tree and my stocking stuffed, and the milk mostly gone and maybe 1 cookie left with a bit taken out if it.

edited to say all presents were wrapped.

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

Let's see.

Santa used to climb through our window, my parents left it open a crack (of course once we fell asleep it was closed) since we didn't have a fireplace. We left him milk and cookies and carrots for the reindeer, which were ALL gone by morning! haha!

Our gifts were piled under and around the tree and on furniture ALL wrapped (my parents went a little nuts with gifts). My mother wrote every tag out in squiggly (no word) type handwriting, as if it were 'Santa's' handwriting (she still does this). And we also got goodies in our stockings (wrapped as well).

Clean up was just so much fun, haha!

ETA - ALL of our gifts were from Santa. Nothing from our parents. Still to this day, my mother will write as if they are all from Santa. We'll see how it goes this year, since I'm not living there anymore.

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

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Posted by jennbaby

I grew up, placing a note with cookies and milk on the kitchen table for Santa. I 'd then go to sleep and awake Christmas morning to find presents under the tree and my stocking stuffed, and the milk mostly gone and maybe 1 cookie left with a bit taken out if it.

edited to say all presents were wrapped.

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Same with me Jenn!! to a T!

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

My parents told me there was no Santa when I was 4 so I always knew everything was from my parents.

If I ever have kids, Im definitely not telling them the 'truth' until they old enough to drive. Hahaha

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

Stef! That's terrible - only 4 years old?! Wow.

I found out really young from Jewish neighbor

But before and after I found out, we'd always wake up Christmas morning with all our gifts wrapped under the tree, and also in our stockings. I only left milk and cookies out a few years straight - I guess I was more concerned with my gifts!!!

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

AW STEF!!!!! 4 years old was so young to find out!!!!

did you go to school and tell other kids??

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

Well, being that I was born and raised in Astoria, Queens until about 8 years of age, my Santa didn't come down a chimney, he came down the ole fire escape My sister and I would write him a letter and leave him cookies and milk and then go to bed... the next morning, we'd wake up to a half glass of milk, no cookies, and a whole lotta presents.. *sigh* the good ole days..

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

I dont remember ever NOT knowing that Santa was not real. I was told that I thought he was real when I was 3 but I dont remember.

I didnt tell other kids (that i remember) b/c I was told that all the other kids didnt know and not to spoil their fun.

My parents would take me and my brother to Toys R Us and we would pick out our own presents. That was kind of fun. But by the time I was 10, we had to wrap all of our gifts too! That was NO FUN AT ALL. (Dont even ask me why we had to wrap gift when we knew what was inside. My parents were crazy)

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

we left cookies and milk and carrots in front of the fireplace. he came down the chimney and all the cookies and carrots would be gone - maybe like half of the milk too.

everything was wrapped in stacks for each sister under the tree. and there was a pile too for my mom and dad....that was a good trick!

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

Cute thread.

When we were younger we would have Christmas Eve at one family member's home and someone would dress up as Santa and give all the kids one small gift - he said we should be good and he will be back while we are sleeping to deliver the rest of our gifts. We left out cookies and milk, of course. Then on Christmas morning we would go downstairs and all our gifts would be wrapped in piles one for each sibling and everyone's stocking overflowing. I think we would wake up at the crack of dawn and my brothers and I would fight who was going to wake up mom and dad so we could go downstairs and open our gifts...

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

Stef I'm sorry your parents didn't believe in allowing you to imagine Santa Claus! I'm glad that you plan to foster that fantasy in your (possible) children someday, tho.

When we were really little (under 5/6), my parents left everything from Santa unwrapped and on display on Christmas morning...to me, that created the 'WOW!' effect when we woke up...to see everything in all its glory, just waiting to be played with! The only wrapped gifts under the tree were the gifts from my parents to one another, and my parents special gifts to us. They always made sure there were things under the tree for each of us that said from 'Mom and Dad.'

DH and I haven't really discussed it yet, but we'll probably do things the same way in our house. Unless his parents had some other tradition that he wants to carry forward...

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

I think we left cookies and milk out, though I'm not sure. We would go to bed and my parents usually had to give us a time when we could get up and go into the living room - we were usually up by about 4-5:00 - sooo excited (in fact I think until I was probably around 10 I got sick most every christmas from the excitement.) So, I think it was probably we couldn't go out there till around 7:00 or so. I'd usually end up in my parents room on the edge of the bed, staring at the clock for a while while my mom tried to pretend she was asleep.
Then, we'd go into the living room and all our presents were piled up under the tree wrapped. Everyone's presents were wrapped in different paper and piled together. There was probably one tag on the top so we'd know which paper was ours. Then we'd just start ripping them open like crazy.
We did get a row boat one year which my parents hid in a neighbor's garage for about a month. They claim that when we walked into the living room and saw the boat there, we said 'lets go look in our stockings'. It was obviously not wrapped and I'm sure we thought it was cool, but there it was - we knew what it was when we saw it and we wanted to see what else we got!!

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

Stef...I don't remember ever believing in Santa either...but we all pretended anyway...


I figured it out in Kindergarten when everyone in class got letters from Santa (from jr high kids) and I notived all the different handwriting (what a smart ass I was...my teacher tried to tell me that he had the elves help him...but I didn't buy it)

we also got our gifts on Christmas Eve...yet my 2 best friend who lived on either side of me didn't get it until the morning...so I thought it was suspicious that he would make two trips...



as for the tradition...we would go with my dad and grandfather around the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights and get Eggnog from Dairy Barn...then when we cam home my mom and grandmother would try to tell us that we just missed Santa...

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

We left out cookies and milk as well which were always gone by Christmas morning. The presents from Santa were all wrapped in the same wrapping paper and all other gifts were in a different style paper than the Santa gifts, as well as the stocking gifts.

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

We didnt have a fireplace so we figured he walked in the back door. We left him some cookies and milk, which he always enjoyed. He didnt have time to wrap all those presents but he set them up nicely under the tree. He usually forgot one or two things but then he remembered and left them at Grandmas house.

You Gotta Believe

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

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Posted by Niecey

Cute thread.

When we were younger we would have Christmas Eve at one family member's home and someone would dress up as Santa and give all the kids one small gift - he said we should be good and he will be back while we are sleeping to deliver the rest of our gifts.

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Neicy, my dad's family did that too. As we got older we'd all try to figure out who was playing Santa that year. Now they have the party earlier (too hectic to get everyone together on Christmas eve) and everyone loves that DH will actully volunteer to be Santa (most of the guys hate doing it - so this is big plus points for him!!)

I don't remember when I stopped believing is santa - I remember in 3rd grade the teacher saying something about 'Well, you all know there is no santa.' I thought that was a little mean. And there were 2 girls in my classes growing up who were Jehovas Witness who would go around telling us there was no Santa while we all worked on our holiday pictures in art. That always bothered me.

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

I'm loving all these stories. I think it is funny that as kids we never compared how our Santa gifts were...wrapped, unwrapped... that would have made us think that maybe he wasn't real...well except for Erica and her slick thinking in Kindergarten!

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

We had a neighbor that would dress up as Santa every year and come over our house on Christmas Eve and give out candy canes, a Burger King calendar and a gift (always Christmas pajamas). Well then his son starting doing it who I had a crush on since I was like 8..I almost died!

Re: Fun question for the day: How did Santa bring you your gifts when you were a kid?

All the gifts were put under the tree while me and my sis were alseep.. in our matching christmas pajamas that we got to open the night before..

All of the stuff was wrapped and my father had this video camera with the light on the top that made the living room feel like we were sitting ON THE SUN! I would always make my parents get up at like 6am and we were not ALLOWED to go downstairs until my parents went first (i guess my dad wanted to catch our faces on the video camera)

We left cookies and stuff for santa, but with all the presents i dont think we even wondered about that the next day..
I dont remember thinking there wasnt a santa.. i dont remember when i found out..

But i will tell you, i still get up that early and make frank open presents with me!!!