Christmas: Parents say pressure is mounting on Instagram

Gone are the days when kids would rummage through catalogs hoping to get their favorite toys from Santa.

Instead, social media Hallis — where influencers display the items they’ve bought — is now the go-to catalog, which some parents say adds to the pressure at an already stressful time.

Parenting blogger Charlotte Harding said she found the cost of Christmas presents “quite stressful” this year.

As the boys got older, the gifts got more expensive, he added.

Game consoles and concert tickets were top items on the wish list, Charlotte said, but it wasn’t just the big day gifts that added up.

“The boys have asked for advent calendars which are about £25-plus, which would be a Christmas present in themselves to be honest. But that’s what Christmas is for.”

She said she had also heard of teenage girls asking for hundreds of pounds worth of beauty advent calendars.

Charlotte said social media played a big role when children made their Christmas lists, especially with “younger and younger” influencers promoting products.

“But kids don’t know how much these things cost…and parents are really starting to feel the pressure.”

But it’s not just Christmas gifts and presents that are expensive.

Social media trends like Elf on the Shelf and Boxes at ChristmasAlong with participation in the events, the prices also increase during the festival.

“The latest trend I’ve seen is an airplane and you see Santa, and apparently it’s amazing,” said parent blogger Stephanie Handwell.

Stephanie is behind the blog Welsh Mummy Steph and has felt the pressure of social trends in the past.

“You’ve got the Polar Express, Santa Experiences and Afternoon Tea with Santa. I sometimes have to check myself and think, when I was a kid, I saw Santa once and it was just now. It was magical,” she said.

“It was probably the things we did as a family that I really remember.”

He admits that he has felt the pressure of social trends in the past.

“I’ve decided to keep my PR calendar to a minimum because it creates that expectation, and I don’t like that because I feel like a parent,” she said.

Caitlin Acreman, who is behind the Hole in the 4 Instagram page, has also put her Christmas content behind due to a life crisis.

“You can still have an amazing Christmas and make lots of memories in a budget-friendly way,” she said.

Caitlin said she loves seeing people celebrate Christmas online, but believes “comparison steals the joy”.

“I want to go on the show with my stories as a person, I’m a mother of two and I’m looking for ways to be budget friendly and save that money.

“I like coming there because people can relate to it a little better,” she said.

Kathryn Johnson-Boyd, professor of consumer psychology at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, said Christmas can be a complicated time for many people, with added pressure to “be happy”.

“If you don’t have the ability to do that — like having that big Christmas meal with your family — it often makes people feel inadequate or lonely,” she said.

He added that financial pressure can sometimes change people’s views during the festival.

Fiona Barnard, who runs the Life of Crazy Mum blog, agrees that Christmas “can be a difficult time for people with mental health and financial problems”.

“More often than not, all kids want to do at Christmas is spend time with their family and loved ones.

“Most of us work full-time, some of us are single parents or only see our children on weekends.

“So when it comes to Christmas it’s not about running around full of presents or slaving away in the kitchen for half the day, where they don’t see us.”

He added that about Christmas we should “bring it back to basics”.

“It’s about family. It’s about sharing time and sharing love, as opposed to sharing pits full of money that we have.”