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HSartteach
member
Santa's presents poll-stolen from 12-24 sorta
HSartteach
member
So, I read this post the other night about how a couple should deal with presents from Santa. The husband wanted it to be like his experience where Santa's wrapped presents were put under the tree mixed in with all the other presents. Wife wanted Santa's presents unwrapped and together for each child in a pile.
The whole discussion was foreign to me...I couldn't believe that people put unwrapped presents under the tree. (Some say Santa doesn't have time to wrap, but I say the elves do it.)
So, what's your tradition for giving Santa's presents? Wrapped/ Unwrapped? Mixed in/ Separated? Given or opened separately from family presents? Do you open any the night before?
I'm just curious because the concept was something I had never heard of or even thought of.
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Re: Santa's presents poll-stolen from 12-24 sorta
Growing up all of the presents under the tree were wrapped. Gifts that were mailed to us from relatives were under the tree prior to Christmas Eve. The rest of the presents, either from Santa or Mom and Dad, did not appear until Christmas morning. All the gifts were mixed in. You had to read the tag to see who it was from. I liked hunting around the tree to see who gifts were for. I think that way I never noticed if a sibling got more or less than me. I never noticed that Santa's gifts had the same wrapping paper. The only unwrapped presents were things like bikes. Once we knew Santa wasn't real, it was still fun to sit in my room (with my brother) and watch Mom and Dad bring the presents down the stairs on Christmas Eve all wrapped and try to guess which ones were for who and what they could be. (I don't think they knew we would quietly watch them.)
I think we are going to do the same tradition. I think half of the fun of Christmas morning is actually opening the presents. There is that anticipation of what is under the wrapping that is so great at Christmas time. I think that would be lost if there was a pile of un-wrapped gifts for a child...all nice and neatly set up.
We do open some family gifts at my sister's the night before.
When I was growing up my parents did a mixture of both. The bigger presents didn't get wrapped (they had a big bow) but the smaller ones did. They were pretty much in a pile close to the rest of my presents but keep in mind I am an only child so they didn't need to do separate piles.
We'll probably do something similar with DS. I did buy this giant santa bag from PBK and we'll fill it with some of Santa's presents and leave it out the night before. This year it's the wrapping for his high chair becuase he's 4 months old, I'm lazy and I didn't want to waste paper.
DH's parents numbered their presents and went around opening each one and then moved onto the next person. They could only go in order so they didn't open the "big" present first and the others were in that ones shadow. He's not really a fan of that becuase he said it took forever so he doesn't really care if we do that while Jack is young but might come in handy when he gets older.
Growing up we always had family gifts unwrapped under the tree Christmas morning, like a board game, or outdoor/sports thing. When were older this was great because we were allowed to play with that new family gift while my parents got ready to come downstairs and open presents. The rest of the presents were wrapped and mixed in.
We're pretty much continuing that tradition. This year Santa is getting the kids a plasma car so that will be unwrapped under the tree. The individual Santa gifts will be wrapped under the tree Christmas morning.
It was a combo. Usually stocking stuffers and a few smaller gifts were left unwrapped in hopes that I would let Santa and Mrs. Claus sleep in. That never lasted very long before I'd start hopping on their beds.
As far as traditions, my parents would let me open one present on Christmas Eve and then we opened the rest on Christmas.
Neither DH nor I can remember if we got Christmas presents from our parents as opposed to just from Santa, so we decided to give Kate one thing from us which she will open on Christmas Eve and the rest from Santa. In my family, we open everything except for Santa gifts on Christmas Eve. DH's family does Christmas Day. We're going to have her open everything except stuff from his family (who we will see on Christmas Day) on Christmas Eve.
My parents wrapped Santa gifts and left them in piles sorted by kid. Each kid got a separate wrapping paper which I think was brilliant and will continue if we ever have another kid. DH's parents didn't wrap Santa gifts but that makes me sad. Kate's will be wrapped.
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my parents didn't put any of our presents under the tree until christmas morning -- and all of the presents santa gave us were wrapped and under the tree with our other presents. some of the little presents in our stockings were wrapped too. one exception to this rule was that we drew names for sibling gifts and we were allowed to open that gift christmas eve. my dh and i are continuing this tradition but for now our xmas eve gift is pajamas to each other and to our son.
We each had a stocking Santa would fill and there would be overflow present, unwrapped, around each stocking. No presents from Santa under the tree and Santa gifts were never wrapped.
DH had stockings filled and wrapped presents under the tree.
We are doing all Santa unwrapped in/around the stocking this year, but we talked about wrapping. I liked the idea of Santa having his own paper and all that, but we decided the excitement of having all the presents sitting there waiting was the way to go.
Growing up in my family Santa's gifts were always wrapped and under the tree. We did all the family gifts on Christmas Eve and then stockings and Santa gifts on Christmas morning.
In DH's family Santa gifts were always unwrapped and set up already. He really wanted to stick to that tradition so we did it his way. I really enjoy setting up Santa gifts after the kids go to bed on Christmas eve. In past years we have done little scenes and fun stuff. Plus we have given Abby things like a doll house, a play kitchen etc. I can not imagine her having to wait for us to put stuff together.
We also open 1 gift each on Christmas Eve, it is always a set of PJs for everyone.
When 3 Became 4
Growing up, there was a mixture or wrapped and unwrapped from Santa. The assembly-required presents would already be set up. Like the year my sister and I got a kid's table and chair set with our new cabbage patch dolls sitting there having a tea party.
We do the same. Last year, the Guitar Hero drum set was ready to go with a Webkinz holding the drum sticks. One year, DH created a battle scene with the GI Joes and and helicopters.
The kids get to open one present on Christmas Eve. Everything else is on Christmas Day.
We open gifts, one at a time, on Christmas Eve. Santa gifts were the next morning, always unwrapped. Our stockings would hang on the mantle with little things in them with the big Santa stuff at the fireplace and floor underneath.
My sister, brother and I would always sleep in the same room on Christmas Eve when we were little. One year we ran out of the bedroom on Christmas morning to see our neighbor hanging out on the floor playing Space Invaders on our new Intellivision that Santa brought us. ha ha!
It's so sad, I've been to the IL's at Christmas several times now, but I can't remember their traditions.
I don't know what we'll do with our kid(s), but I am not one to easily let go of my family traditions, so I hope we don't have a battle!
"The House We Built."
A journey of building the dream.
Growing up all of our gifts were unwrapped in our spots (we each have our own side of the tree) and they were all from Santa. We are doing pretty much the same thing with our family but I think we will have a few things be from us and wrapped and then Santa's unwrapped.
DH's family had Santa gifts wrapped in different paper from parent gifts, but when he heard that Santa didn't wrap at all in my family, he was like, "Hell yeah! Less work for me!" Honestly, I loved running in the living room on Christmas morning and getting to see everything right away.
I figured out there was no Santa pretty young (I think I was 6?) so the Santa "traditions" went out the window pretty quick in my house. DH says that his Santa presents were wrapped under the tree growing up.
Last year & this year DD's Christmas presents from us have been big and therefore left unwrapped under the tree. We'll probably distinguish with specially wrapped Santa presents starting next year when she's truly old enough to understand the concept.