Friday Question #220
WARNING! This post contains spoilers… or rather, it eludes to the truth about Santa Claus. You’ve been warned!
Growing up (or even now), did (do) you get gifts from Santa? Were all of your gifts from Santa, or just some of them (and some from your parents)?
Good thing I didn’t ask this question again
I think I need to explain this question a bit better. Gina and I were chatting this week about how different families “do” Santa gifts. When she was a kid, all of her gifts at home were from Santa – none from her parents. But when I was a kid, we received gifts from Santa, and from our parents. If I remember correctly, we were allowed to open our stocking from Santa before our parents got out of bed. And there was a gift from Santa wrapped in Santa paper (which maybe we got to open early too?). But the rest of the gifts at home were from our parents, and we had to wait for them to get up to open them*.
I was surprised to hear some kids only got gifts from Santa. Gina was surprised to hear that I got gifts from Santa and my parents!
And yes, “Santa” still gives me a stocking… I love stockings!
*As you know, they were not sleeping in, we were just up at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning!
Themocracy
I also received both presents from Santa and my parents. I would get so excited to open my gifts from Santa! I miss those days.
I can’t remember exactly but I think all the gifts at home were from Santa.
I find it interesting that you were up before your parents and allowed to go open gifts before they were up! My parents have always been early risers so they were always up before my brother and me. If by some odd chance we were up before them (more likely to be me than him)I wasn’t permitted to go downstairs until my parents were up. I think part of the magic for them was seeing us come down the stairs and seeing all the gifts under the tree. My dad even made us do it over one year when he wasn’t prepared and didn’t video tape us on the first round.
Ha ha. I bet my parents were too tired from wrapping all night! And I think we were up at 5:30 or something ridiculous – too excited to stay in bed!
That is nice that your dad made tapes! 🙂
We got one present from Santa and the rest from my parents!
We always opened family gifts Christmas eve, and then Santa gifts and stockings Christmas morning. My family still does it this way…
We got gifts from Santa and from my parents. We had to wait til mom and dad got up to get into the stockings and open our gifts from Santa, but we usually made a lot of noise so they didn’t really have a chance to sleep in. Santa still brings me a stocking too!!
=^..^=
I don’t think mine specified, pretty sure they just had my name with no from and I had to assume from there. This was probably because there were 7 years between my sister and I. I could be naive and think the Santa route and no one said anything either way until I figured it all out.
We got gifts from both Santa and my parents. Like you, we were allowed to open stockings but we were not allowed to touch the presents until our parents were up. I still get a wrapped present from Santa.
An interesting twist to this question: some friends and I were talking recently and “Santa” did not wrap presents at their house! Just put everything around the tree. Our presents were definitely wrapped but I do remember asking my mom why they were in the same paper as the “mom and dad” presents and she told me Santa had to borrow some wrapping paper. HAHA!
Very interesting twist indeed! I think I prefer them wrapped… but in different paper than mom and dad’s – lol @ your parents!
Yep, I got prezzies from both. But I don’t know how much of that was due to being an only child. 😉 I always figured it was to further make a distinction that Mom & Dad were NOT Santa for the little ones!
Good point – why wouldn’t your parents give you gifts too, ha ha!
Santa still brings me gifts and stockings! My dad told me long ago that if I stop believing, he stops coming. Santa rocks the casbah!!!!
We opened family presents on Christmas Eve (parents got us gifts) and then Santa on Christmas Morning. We weren’t allowed to touch anything until everyone was up. Which sucked for them because I have ALWAYS been an early morning person. We were all up by 6:30 on Christmas morning 🙂
We got presents from both. And I still get a stocking too 🙂 My Mom and I both sneak down at different points during the night to fill stockings and put presents under the tree. It is more fun to wake up to a room full of way more presents than was there when you went to bed.
I totally agree – that is more fun! I love sneaking downstairs last year to fill out the stockings for my husband’s family 🙂
We did presents exactly like you guys did. We got presents from both Santa and my parents, and we could open our stockings (from Santa) before my parents got up and had their coffee. That was actually my favorite part of Christmas, sitting on my brother’s bed and opening our stockings. We were getting little presents but still had the anticipation of the big ones. (And we still do stockings for my husband, me, my mom, and the kitties).
I got present from both santa and my parents and I got (and still get :)) a stocking from santa. Although I did start to catch on a bit when santa started using the same wrapping paper as my parents… hmmm….
You’re the most attractive Santa out there. Yeeeep!
I was like you, a mix of both! definitely got some presents from good old “mom” and “dad”! I’m not sure why I felt the need to put that in quotations. lol.
We only got gifts from our parents! And grandparents, and uncles, and family friends. I guess we were pretty happy to notice the lack of santa claus in there 🙂
Kim, we totally did the same thing — some gifts from our parents, some from Santa. I think it’d be sad to have NO gifts from your parents before you knew the truth about Santa. Sad to think they got you nothing, when really, they got you everything!
Ha ha ha – such a good point! I need to ask people who only do Santa gifts if they have thought about that!
Were we up at the crack of dawn, or the crack of butt light?
HA HA HA HA, I was totes going to write that, snister, but decided not to. It was the crack of butt light though!
we weren’t Christian, so we were raised knowing that the whole christmas thing was a commercial gifting time. We still got a few presents though, because telling your 7 year old they get nothing only leads to temper tantrums. The funny thing is, i totally believe in santa now! Crazy things happen around this time, ya know?
We’d have a couple gifts from Santa and then some from our parents. Our stockings were always from our parents. It’s fun to hear all the different approaches!
We do a mix and, of course, lots of presents come from aunts, uncles, and others!
I got a mix of both presents from parents and santa. I havent done stockings in a loooong time 🙁 I need to bring that back for next year…
I think CB needs a stocking… no? 🙂
When I was little (as, in, before the age of 8 or so) I would get gifts from both my parents and Santa. Typically the Santa gifts weren’t wrapped! I remember one Christmas morning coming downstairs to find one of my dolls sitting under the tree on a brand new doll bed that hadn’t been there the night before! Santa had come!!
I was surprised one year when I realized my SIL wraps all her kids’ “Santa” gifts in different paper that she hides the rest of the year. I didn’t know anyone else who did that!
This year I wrapped a gift for my brother and wrote “From Santa” on it since I was really supposed to get him anything.
Interesting that you were one of the “unwrapped” families! I feel like I need to investigate this more!!!
I’m not even sure. We do one present from Santa, then the rest from us.
I got presents from both my parents and Santa. I also pretended I stil believed in Santa for a few extra gifts because I knew I would get less if my parents knew I didn’t believe anymore. Spoiled only child. 🙂
Ha! That DOES sound like something you would do 😉
That photo is amazing. YOU are amazing.
We used to get gifts from both:) My mom still thinks it’s funny to give gifts from Santa, even though we’re all so old…
LOL, thanks 🙂 I don’t think that is funny… I think it is AWESOME!!!
We never got gifts from my parents – I think pretty much everything was from Santa. Even now, gifts from my parents are from Santa (my mom’s a kindergarten teacher, so it’s her job to keep believing in Santa, so she just brings that home with her, I guess).
I’m sorry to say, the beard really takes away from the Sexy Santa look. 🙁
I should’ve shaved for that one. Sigh. Sexy Santa let herself go 😉
That’s cool that your mom teaches kindergarten! My mom has her early childhood associate and used to be in aide in that age-group of class, I think!
My parents were both born in China where Santa Claus is not nearly as big as he is here in the states. So our Christmas celebrations never really involved Santa.
That Santa photo of you is awesome!!!! Did you run a race dressed like that!?!?!?
Interesting! I would love to hear what your celebration was like 🙂
Aww, thanks! That is from the Rotary Santa 5K (http://www.ilaxstudio.com/blog/2011/12/03/rotary-santa-5k-run-race-report/) in Arlington Heights! I ran it last year with Kayla, with Erin the year before, and with Steven previously 😉
I got presents from Santa and my parents and because my parents were divorced, I got presents from Santa at both houses. (Wow, that sounds super spoiled when I type it out.) Teehee.
I remember getting one of the two biggest gifts from Santa each year until I was about 10 when I figured it all out. The biggest gift was from my mom, so Santa didn’t get top billing.