As Americans, we go to bed and Santa Claus brings their presents at night. I’ve never understood how that works with young children, celebrating and opening presents the night before, the 24th. Do you know Santa Claus? And if so, how does he deliver presents when no one is watching, since they have to be there on the 24th? What do you tell your children, or did your parents tell you when you were little? As a kid, one of the best things about Christmas was running downstairs to open presents and playing with them all day while the adults prepared Christmas dinner, etc. I think it would have been unbearable to open a bunch of presents late at night and go straight to bed and try to sleep before playing with them. Merry Christmas!
Santa Claus usually came on Christmas Eve afternoon, shortly after my father remembered he’d forgotten something and needed a few things. No matter what, Santa Claus would knock on the door and sit with everyone in the living room. He wanted to know if they’d been good, etc., and usually wanted to hear a few songs. Then he’d start handing out presents. And then he’d have to leave again to have time to visit other homes all over the world. And soon after, my father would return, upset at not having seen Santa Claus that year.
In Austria, gifts are brought by Baby Jesus. Baby Jesus is the baby Jesus, but for some reason he’s a girl and has wings. In my family, it used to be like that. My parents would make up an excuse to leave the house, like making a snowman. Then my dad would come home because he’d forgotten his jacket or needed to go to the bathroom. Then we’d hear a bell, which meant Baby Jesus had arrived and all the gifts were under the tree.
It varies. Some families ask a member to dress up as Santa Claus and deliver gifts during the day or night. The reason why Father and Father Christmas have never been seen in the same room is almost a meme. During December, most children receive several small gifts, either one each Sunday or one each day. These usually come from the elf. In Scandinavian folklore, there is a small gnome who lives in the attic or near the house. Treat him well and leave him some rice porridge, just as you leave him cookies and milk. He will be kind to you. If you don’t, he might play tricks on you, such as leaving fir branches in your shoe or giving you an empty present. In some families, he hides the gifts somewhere in the house, so it always becomes a treasure hunt. Sometimes, elves collaborate with Santa Claus. And other families simply say that some of the gifts come from Santa Claus, or that Santa Claus is the creator of the gifts, and that the elf or the parents are the ones who distribute them in one way or another. There are also families in which Santa Claus doesn’t exist at all, or the parents only mention him very vaguely and don’t try to give their children the most intense experience possible. Some parents, but not most, make a fuss because they don’t want their children to truly believe in Santa Claus. However, I have the impression that many Danish children never truly believe in Santa Claus, or they stop believing around the age of five. The elf usually has a stronger influence. In my parents’ house, all the gifts were labeled with the names of relatives, but Santa Claus made them together with my parents. The elf delivered the small December gifts and also worked at the post office or in the Santa Claus factory, so he was something like a postman.
In the United States, there are two distinct traditions: the illuminated Santa Claus, who is essentially similar to the American Santa Claus, and the Christkind (Baby Jesus), which was originally a Lutheran invention but is now more common in Catholic areas. I don’t think there’s a universal story for how gifts are distributed; it varies for each family. Often, the children are distracted during the day, and the parents place the gifts in the living room under the Christmas tree. In the evening, when it gets dark (in the United States, quite early in December, around 5 p.m.), the family gathers and celebrates a kind of “Bescherung,” which means “exchange of gifts.” They usually sing traditional German carols, the children play their instruments or recite a poem, and then the presents are opened. Since it’s still early, there are a few hours left for playing with toys. People don’t go to bed right away. And then there are two full Christmas Days, December 25 and 26, when there’s even more fun. During these days, people often visit other relatives and receive even more gifts.
I grew up with the tradition that, in the afternoon, one of the adult men in the family, usually the father, would say he was going to the corner store to buy the newspaper. A few minutes after he left, Santa Claus would knock on the door and say, “Hey, are there any good children here?” Then he would hand out presents to everyone. I don’t remember if we opened the presents while he was still there. After he handed out the presents, he would leave. Afterward, the father would return and be surprised that he hadn’t seen Santa Claus. In case you didn’t know, he was the one who dressed up as Santa Claus.
The Christmas gang calls us. First we have dinner and then we open presents. As kids, my dad used to take us for walks while my mom and aunt put the presents under the Christmas tree. One day I saw them doing that, and that was it, haha.
The traditional Scandinavian “Santa Claus” is not a mysterious man who is never seen, but a group of gnome-like creatures called Nissetomte who live in the barns of every farm. Wikipedia. According to tradition, the Nisse lives in farm houses and barns and secretly acts as their guardian. If treated well, he protects the family and animals from harm and misfortune, and also helps with household and farm chores. However, he is known for his bad temper, especially when insulted. If insulted, he often plays pranks, steals things, and maims or even kills livestock. Christmas tradition says that we leave a bowl of rice porridge for our local “Nisse” on Christmas Eve so he will come and bring us presents. After Christmas dinner, the family gathers around the Christmas tree and begins opening gifts from friends. During this time, a relative often sneaks in, disguised as a Nisse, and knocks on the door. The children open the door, and the nisse says, “Ho ho! Are there any nice children here?” and hands out gifts. Then he leaves, and the missing relative finally returns, missing the reunion with the nisse again.
In Iceland, children stick their shoe out the window, and the 13 Santa Clauses come, one each night for the last 13 nights before Christmas, to place a small gift in the shoe. On the 24th, gifts are only given from friends and family; Santa Claus doesn’t participate in the gift-giving under the tree.
In the United States, we simply wait until January 6th to receive our gifts from the Three Wise Men. 
Some people even receive their gifts from Santa Claus on the morning of January 25th, and religious people simply say that Baby Jesus brought the gifts. My family is very religious, so we only receive gifts from the Three Wise Men.
This is where Baby Jesus delivers the gifts. And, apparently, he works his magic while the whole family is sitting around the Christmas table in the dining room. I think it must have been stressful to open a pile of gifts late at night and then go straight to bed to try to sleep before playing with them. Oh, it’s worse! One of our traditions is to attend Christmas Mass at church at midnight. Imagine, you’re a kid, you open your gifts, and shortly after, you have to sit in church for an hour instead of playing with them. As a kid, I hated it. I wanted to play with the toys I had, not listen to a priest for an hour.
It’s Santa Claus. You’re a child, eating with everyone at the Christmas table. Then the children are told to look for the first star, because it signals Santa’s arrival. You go to another room, where there’s no Christmas tree, not even outside. Meanwhile, the other parent takes the presents and puts them under the tree. You see the first star, or your parents tell you they saw it. If the sky is cloudy and you look, you see if Santa Claus is there. Of course he is.
Santa Claus comes on December 6th. He’s a man who looks like your father, but he can’t be your father because, of course, he’s working, and at 5 years old you don’t ask questions. And your father doesn’t have such a big white beard. On the 24th, depending on where you live. In my case, it was Gwiazdor Starman, and I opened my presents right after waking up.
I didn’t grow up with Santa Claus delivering presents. My parents would put a few small gifts under the tree, and we’d open them on Christmas Day. Christmas is about spending time with family, eating good food, and, for some, going to church. I think our celebration of Saint Nicholas focuses much more on gifts and the story of how Saint Nicholas and Black Peter brought them to children.
In Hungary, for most children, Baby Jesus arrives in the late afternoon or early evening. Typically, one parent takes them for a walk while the other places the gifts under the Christmas tree. When everyone returns home, the parent in charge of the gifts pretends to be in the kitchen or somewhere else and, unfortunately, has not yet met Jesus in person. The children forget this and hastily open their gifts. Then they have dinner with their families. The next day, Christmas Day, most people visit their relatives, and sometimes the visiting children receive additional gifts from Baby Jesus, who “got lost along the way” and left toys with Grandma. Santa Claus, on the other hand, arrives on December 6, St. Nicholas Day. Sometimes called “Father Winter,” of Slavic origin, he has less significance but is widely celebrated throughout the country. Children leave their boots on the windowsill before bed, and if they behave well, they receive a bag of chocolates and sweets, as well as a bouquet of birch twigs decorated with gold decorations. The more sticks you receive from Santa, the naughtier you were last year.
In families with children, it’s customary for Santa Claus to come and bring gifts. Often, it’s a man in the family who dresses up and plays the role, but there are also those who do this professionally and spend Christmas Eve going from house to house as employees. In the past, it turned out that at least the hired Santa Claus was drunk, as he usually received a drink at each house as a thank you, or sometimes he was just drunk, haha. So today, it’s perfectly normal for advertisements to deliberately promote him as a “sober Santa Claus.” Although Santa Claus is a real and friendly person, the event is often extremely exciting and even a little frightening for children. In the past, Santa costumes could also be quite frightening. I remember at least once hiding under the covers of my bed for the entire visit because I was so scared. Sometimes, parents don’t want to or can’t arrange a visit for whatever reason, and then, somehow, the gifts appear. At our house, our mom would sometimes “find” the presents outside and say that Santa was probably so busy he just left them there.