I love this thread. it is so much fun to listen to everyone tell of Christmases
We need to sticky this I think!

My DS is 4 and his stocking and one gift is from Santa. Everything else is from me and daddy. He's old enough to understand that now. It's hard because he's our only one and the temptation to spoil is overwhelming. We wait until Christmas Eve night (after he is asleep) and then put all the presents under the tree. His stocking and Santa's gift are on the fireplace hearth. He loves it. He usually gets one DVD, a CD, books, and dollar store items in his stocking. This will be the first year he gets T-shirts, underwear & socks under the tree (a tradition from DH's side of the family). He gets so much from his grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc that DH and I agreed it's time to cut back. He's also started selecting toys to donate this year and I'll have him help me clean them and donate them. We also donate a new toy to Toys for Tots. He loves doing that.

We buy one gift for each of our kids to open Christmas Eve and it is a new pair of PJ's. Usually all other gifts come Christmas morning from Santa. The big gift is put together and smaller gifts are wrapped in different theme paper for each kiddo. Stocking are also wrapped. We are trying to cut back, but I wonder if I will continue to buy as I am almost done...All I have left is stockings and a couple of odds and ends.

We also go pick Angels off the tree for each kid and buy gifts. This way they learn to give to the less fortunate even if they do not completely understand the concept yet.

I think your plan is good. It doesn't matter much how many from you or how many from Santa. They will still notice even if Santa leaves one. Sometimes I like to leave the Santa gift unwrapped and put a big bow on it and the gift tag.

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I have nothing to declare except my genius."
- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) upon arriving at U.S. customs 1882

As long as you can afford it, I say do whatever you want.

I don't put anything under the tree until Christmas morning.

I give the girls 3 presents from us, Santa brings 1 gift and fills their stockings.

I'm almost done except for the stocking stuffers. My husband thinks I'm nuts. What else is new ?

I liked the idea of putting the Santa gift under the stocking. That way the gift stands out if you're worried about it blending in under the tree. Our gifts were always wrapped and under the tree before Christmas w/ the rule that if we discovered what they were, they went back. And our stockings would be filled Christmas morning, but we didn't really do Santa even though we would sometimes go to the mall to see him or check out the cool displays.

We didn't do much for DS last year. He was only 9 mo old and of course was more interested in the wrapping paper and pulling ornaments off the tree! We got him two things I believe--a ball popper and a leap frog book. No stocking and nothing from santa. We had a nice quiet evening the weds before Christmas since we are always traveling over Christmas day. I cooked his then favorite meal--potroast w/ carrots :0) and then we did gifts. My husband and I exchanged two gifts each and DS opened his.

I'm trying to keep the gifts fairly simple because his grandparents, aunts, and great grandparents all have gifts for him too as he's the first grandchild and great grandchild. This year I have some gifts that I bought from garage sales--little people type things. They're probably nicer than what I would have bought him if I had to buy new.

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Blessed beyond measure