Pressure on parents for Instagram-worthy Christmas

Christmas can be a difficult time for many, including for those facing financial pressures

Gone are the days when children would circle their favourite toy in the catalogue in the hope of getting what they want from Santa.

Instead, social media hauls - where influencers display items they have bought - are the now go-to catalogue, with some parents saying it heaps added pressure on an already stressful time.

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

"As the boys have got older, the presents have become more expensive," she added.

Charlotte said game consoles and concert tickets were the main items on the wish list, but it is not just presents on the big day that add up.

"The boys have asked for advent calendars that are about £25 plus, which to be honest would be a Christmas present in itself. But this is for the run up to Christmas."

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

Charlotte said social media played a big role when children make their Christmas lists, in particular "younger and younger" influencers who advertise products.

"But children don't know the amount of money these things cost... and the parents are really starting to feel the pressure of it."

Charlotte Harding believes social media hauls are responsible for driving up costs around Christmas

But it is not just Christmas presents and gifts that are costly.

Social media trends such as Elf on the Shelf and Christmas Eve Boxes, as well as attending events, are also driving prices up around the festive period.

"The latest trend I've seen is a plane and you go see Santa, and apparently it's amazing," said parent blogger Stephanie Handwell.

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

"You've got the Polar Express, the Santa experiences and afternoon tea with Santa. I sometimes have to check myself and think when I was a child, I saw Santa once and it was still magical," she said.

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

She admitted she has felt the pressure of social trends in the past.

"I've decided to keep my PR calendar minimised because it creates this expectation, and I don't like that because I feel that myself as a parent," she said.

Caitlin is an influencer who shares budget-friendly tips on her page

Caitlin Acreman, who is behind the Haul at 4 Instagram page, has also scaled back her Christmas-related content because of the cost of living crisis.

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

Caitlin said she loves to see people celebrating Christmas events online, but she believes "comparison is the thief of joy".

"I like to go on my stories a show there is a person there, I'm a mum of two and I'm constantly finding ways to be budget friendly and save those pennies.

"I like to come on there because people can relate to it a little bit better," she said.

Elf on the Shelf has taken off rapidly in the UK over the past decade

Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, a professor of consumer psychology at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, said Christmas can be a complicated period for many and with the added pressure "to be happy".

"If you don't have the ability to do that - such as having this massive Christmas meal with your family - then it often leaves people feeling inadequate or lonely," she said.

She added that financial pressures can sometimes change people's perceptions of the festive period.

'Bring it back to basics'

Fiona Barnard, who runs the Life of a Crazy Mum blog agrees that Christmas "can be a tough time for people with mental health and financial issues".

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

"Most of us work full time, some of us are single parents or only see our children at weekend.

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

She added we should "bring it back to basics" of what Christmas is about.

"It's about family. It's about sharing time and sharing love, as opposed to sharing pits full of money that we don't have."