Which Gifts Come from Santa and Which Ones Come from You?

Growing up everything was from Santa (and still is at my moms)...my husband always got mom and dad presents, and stockings from Santa. So we have compromised. Big "ticket" items come from Santa 1-2 a piece (depending on $$$, second one is usually a family gift, but this year no family gift) and all other items come from Mom and Dad.

yeah we do the COOL stuff from santa too :) i like the "wow" factor when they run in on christmas morning, you know..."the moment". :)

i usually just pick one or two things to wrap and call it good..no need to put his expectations of mom and dad too high! ;) plus he's 5 so he's at that age that it makes it REEEEAAL hard to look under that tree at a present with his name on it and WAIT. don't want to make it any harder than it has to be :)

Everything comes from Santa until they no longer believe.

I just want to tell you that the look on their faces when they realize you bought everything is priceless. My youngest actually asked how I did it because for four years I was a single mom. :) Kind of nice when they see the sacrifice, ya know?

big stuff comes from Santa in our home.

I have a friend who's kids believed in Santa for a LONG time, and she says it's because Santa always brought stuff that "mom and dad would NEVER bring!" I thought that was great :)

The COOL stuff comes from Santa... :)

The "big" gift comes from mom and dad in our home. Why should a fictional character get all the credit?! I don't care how cute he is, haha ;D

Santa gives the things our daughter asked for from Santa and a few extras and of course all of our stockings.. We tended to give her books, games and clothing.

In our household, the big ticket items come from Santa. Our reasoning is that Santa should be kept as special, and that Mommy and Daddy aren't made of money, but Santa can use his special elves to help make those really special gifts available.

If it's hard to wrap it's from Santa!

Santa brings each kid ONLY 1 gift each and it is always un-wrapped and put together, usually with a big red ribbon or bow....and usually it is a big ticket item.

All the rest of the gifts are from us.

whatever my kids ask santa for is from santa and they know they have to be realistic, no horses etc. ha ha. we write santa a letter and visit him at the mall so they think really hard what they want and tell him.

We have the kids give Santa options with a list and tell them that way Santa can choose and they will still be surprised to see which one he chose to get them.

Santa always gets the big ticket items, however I am seeing that was a mistake to start. Now that the kids are a bit older, they are asking Santa for big things and saying "I'm only going to put this one thing on here and nothing else." ugh! We were trying to tone it down this year.

Santa brings them 1 gift wrapped in special, expensive, wrapping paper with fancy writing on the to and from. It's usually a toy or electronics.

My hubby says all the good stuff comes from us. My daughter will ask for him and I to get her certain things now and she will ask Santa for items that she kinda wants. It seems if she really wants something she knows mom and dad will get it.

PJs, annual Christmas ornament, and maybe one other small gift (usually a Christmas themed book, as we buy one every year) are from us. All the other stuff is from Santa for now. Christmas Eve we open gifts from family and friends after dinner. But yeah we like the excitement and wow factor in the morning under the tree when they are beside themselves with the surprises. Sweet.

I just read a fb post from someone who said there is no way Santa is getting credit for the American Girl doll.

When I was younger the big items came from Santa. Just remember in a couple of years she will knew it was from you (not sure when kids stop believing). I was the youngest of 3 so my brother and sister told me early. I plan to have one item set up (bike and little tikes coupe) with a bow letting the kids think it is from Santa.

Usually the wow gift (big ticket item) comes from us and a toy/smaller gift from Santa. We try to tell the kids that Santa has to pack around a lot of gifts so don't ask for anything too big or that won't fit in the chimney :) Luckily, we've been able to get them their gift they ask Santa for every year! We also go overboard on stockings and Santa usually brings board games, slippers, bathrobes, wii games and other random items so the kids get 3 or 4 gifts from him.

Santa brings the kids some fun, (fairly) inexpensive items: pillow pets, pop guns, balloon rockets; and usually a family board game or family movie. Remember to include the grownups - we are dearly in need of 2 barstools so we can all sit as a family at dinner (I figure that's a nice gift from Santa, even if it is a little more $). Big ticket items for the kids come from Mommy and Daddy - with a reminder of how our jobs let us earn money to pay for the gifts.
Now that the kids are getting older, they are asking for things that they see other kids with: Nintendo 3DS, iPhones (!), puppies, etc. When I say "not this year" they say, "Santa can get it for us." I get to remind them that Santa does not bring the very expensive items, he leaves that to the mommies and daddies. After a couple weeks of this, my 5 year old has started talking about buying his own iPhone when he gets older and has money. :) I like keeping the expectations from Santa a little low - I hate to see them disappointed because they didn't get their "unrealistic" gift from Santa. They are always excited about their "fun" items.
Another thing to keep in mind: if you have kids at different stages of "believing", don't leave them out. I've never let my parents live down the year that they thought I was too old for Santa gifts (I was 13), and my 4-year old sister kept telling me how bad I must have been because I didn't get anything. I've made it a rule that Santa will keep coming to our house every year, no matter how old everyone is. :)

Much to my husband's chagrin, big ticket items always come from Santa!

Depends on the year and what our girls ask for from Santa.....Some years the big ticket item comes from us as they asked Santa for a "less expensive" toy, others the opposite! Good luck!

When I grew up, the big stuff came from Santa, and at my hubby's house ALL of the toys/fun stuff came from Santa. We have not decided exactly what we will do for our 1 year old.

Just one nice gift came from Santa. The rest was to/from all of us.

Toys come from Santa
Movies, books, clothes come from the parents
This year will be the first I have my kids buy each other a SMALL toy (under $10).