Do you really differentiate who all the Christmas gifts are from?

GinandTonic · November 2011

I was thinking about this after reading some of the Santa posts this week...

In the rush of Christmas morning, there are just gifts under the tree. The kids are too little and too excited to care who they're from. I can't imagine stopping them before every present and saying "Hey, that one's from Nana, make sure you appreciate it!" I guess I don't understand the point of making sure you have equal Santa gifts vs. gifts from mom/dad. And by the time the kids are old enough to appreciate it, they won't believe in Santa anymore anyway.

Granted, when a gift is given on a separate occasion - like the week before Christmas - or when it comes in the mail, that's a different story.

DS did ask which gift was from us - well after the fact - last year. I made something up in the moment and said "the Hess truck". So, now he thinks that Daddy gets him his Hess truck every year - which is actually a nice tradition.

DandelionMom · November 2011

We always have. But we're slow gift openers and only one person opens a gift at a time so it hasn't seemed weird to mention who the gift is from as the kid opens it.

EastCoastBride · November 2011

I've clearly not been reading all those posts - I didn't realize people tried to make sure there were equal gifts from santa and the parents, etc.

In thinking about it - we don't actually do any gifts from Santa and the gifts from us vs my parents (we're together on Christmas morning) aren't labeled and we don't make a huge deal over who is giving what.

But then again, DS isn't even 3 yet. As he gets older and more aware, I want to make sure he knows what Grammie and Granddad gave him!

joseysbride · November 2011

We do, actually. We don't just let them rip into all the gifts. We open gifts as a family and everyone takes their turn, noting who the gift is from and all of that. That's how we did it growing up, and I think it is just as important (if not more) who gave the gift as it is what the gift is.

GinandTonic · November 2011

I think it is just as important (if not more) who gave the gift as it is what the gift is.

I agree with you as a general rule, but don't necessarily think it's that important to enforce on Christmas morning with young kids. As they get older? Sure...

joseysbride · November 2011

GinandTonic:

I think it is just as important (if not more) who gave the gift as it is what the gift is.

I agree with you as a general rule, but don't necessarily think it's that important to enforce on Christmas morning with young kids. As they get older? Sure...

We open all of our gifts from family on Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning is reserved for Santa gifts only, so it's just my two kids opening on Christmas morning anyway. It is known who they are from. So, I guess it depends on your own traditions.

CleoKitty · November 2011

Nope. Not at all. They don't know nor do they care in the slightest which gift came from us versus which came from Santa.

femmegem · November 2011

CleoKitty:
Nope. Not at all. They don't know nor do they care in the slightest which gift came from us versus which came from Santa.

This. I do tell the kids when gifts are from someone else (their grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc.) but otherwise don't mention anything.

GinandTonic · November 2011

femmegem:

CleoKitty:
Nope. Not at all. They don't know nor do they care in the slightest which gift came from us versus which came from Santa.

This. I do tell the kids when gifts are from someone else (their grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc.) but otherwise don't mention anything.

I try to do this too. I don't think it sinks in

When my brother and I were little (but I think older than my kids), we'd do the one gift at a time thing - and play with them in between. In retrospect, I think it drove my mom nuts

LeoChic · November 2011

We don't bother to try and have equal gifts between Santa and us. Santa gifts are wrapped in special paper (which always has a Santa picture on it) so its easy to know a gift is from Santa without having to read special labels. Plus, my oldest writes a note to Santa asking for certain gifts and he always gets her what she has asked for (within reason, of course). Plus my kids open their gifts from Santa and us on Christmas morning when we celebrate our nuclear family Christmas. Extended family celebrations occur on Christmas Eve and Christmas evening so Sanata presents aren't getting mixed in with extended family gifts.

I didn't realize that having separate gifts from Santa, parents, grandparents, etc was such an ordeal for some people. We have a large extended family but opening gifts is very organized.

j-w · November 2011

We do. Santa's gifts are unwrapped and set up. Everything from everyone else is wrapped and under the tree. And, for as long as I can remember, we go from youngest to oldest and take turns, opening one present at a time. The gift giving is as much for the giver as for the receiver and it's important to me that my kids learn that as well. The Christmas gift free for all kind of makes me uncomfortable. That's how it has always been at my IL's house and I can't stand it.

ETA: I do try to wrap an equal number of gifts for each of my kids to open. Sometimes that means splitting up something that could've been wrapped together. But, I do try to make sure that the number of gifts from DH and I are equal for the kids to open as we take turns.

summerbrideDC · November 2011

Absolutely. We dont' count gifts to make sure everyone has the same amount or anything, but we do open gifts one at a time & DS knows which ones are from us, from his aunt/uncle, grandparents or Santa. Its not about getting credit as much as its about instilling a sense of gratitude.

MrsStubbs · November 2011

We still do Christmas at my parents with both of my sisters and their families and my brother/SIL. It would take us all day if we did one at a time with 14 people.

I make sure and let them know what is from the grandparents. I don't care if they know what is from us/santa.

We open our brother/sister gifts on Christmas eve and everything else in the morning.

jen5-03 · November 2011

Santa gifts are unwrapped. It's not what i did growing up, but i like it. Because those are the things they asked for and they are all set up and ready to go they get to play with them and the rest of the unwrapping is less frenzied. Dd asked who things were from even last year at 3. I can't imagine doing a free-for-all unwrapping! The best thing we did last year was to setup all toys before wrapping - i took them out of the box, undid all those stupid zipties, twisties, and screwed on things, added batteries and put it back in the box. So we weren't hunting for screwdrivers and batteries on christmas morning.

jettagurl · November 2011

Ours are differentiated, because Santa gifts are unwrapped and set up around the tree with a nice tag that says the recipient's name. We get up and see those, they play during breakfast, then we unwrap the ones from Mom/Dad. Usually we hold any from out of state friends/family (that were shipped to us) for the evening, both to spread it out and make them special. Any from other family members are opened at other gatherings....the weekend before, Christmas Eve, etc.

I've thought about the kids picking out for each other, and we may start that next year. that will add 12 gifts to our routine, so I may lessen what Mom and Dad do. As of right now, they each will have 1 Santa Gift and 3 from us. They will each get new slippers and a Christmas book on Christmas Eve from us.

DevonPow · November 2011

We do, but we also take our time opening gifts. Everyone takes turns and does one gift at a time, so when we hand DS a gift we say "here is one from G Pa!" or whatever. Then on the 26th he writes all of his thank you notes, so we go through it again. I don't get rushing through gifts...too chaotic and no time to appreciate/focus on family/friends and giving, which is what Christmas is about.

DevonPow · November 2011

Oh, and we certainly don't care about who gives more gifts. Santa gives whatever the "big" gift(s) are and the are unwrapped in front of the tree, and fills the stockings. DH and I usually give two gifts to DS and the rest are from family and friends.

lmdbww · November 2011

All gifts are from Santa in our house (and with our families, as far as i'm concerned). I never thought to do it otherwise, that's how my parents did it growing up until Santa was outed.

They are all wrapped and labeled.

Bride2b2004 · November 2011

We are still working on our traditions. We decided last year that not all gifts are from Santa... underpants from Santa = a little weird... and some gifts have a chance to be seen and same thing with wrapping paper and I don't want that to prematurely out Santa. Last year, the big gift(s) were from Santa (not wrapped) and the rest from us (wrapped). We didn't make a big deal about it, but if DS asked, that's what I told him... also, when I had to return things here and there it would have been hard to explain why we are returning Santa's present to Target.

We usually open other family presents separate, but if someone sends something and it is under the tree, I will make sure I specify who it is from. It really isn't a big deal or a hassle to acknowledge who the gift is from, and I think it is necessary.

peekaboo716 · November 2011

joseysbride:
GinandTonic:

I think it is just as important (if not more) who gave the gift as it is what the gift is.

I agree with you as a general rule, but don't necessarily think it's that important to enforce on Christmas morning with young kids. As they get older? Sure...

We open all of our gifts from family on Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning is reserved for Santa gifts only, so it's just my two kids opening on Christmas morning anyway. It is known who they are from. So, I guess it depends on your own traditions.

This is what we do too. Santa presents are the only ones opened Christmas morning. Everything else is opened at other gatherings (or just us), so the kids are well aware of who gave them what. And DD is constantly asking who gave her what toys. She is cute about thanking them well after the fact (even years later).

J&A2008 · November 2011

The boys pick out which presents they open, so they read all the tags outloud and see who all the gifts are from.

veloelle · November 2011

DevonPow:
We do, but we also take our time opening gifts. Everyone takes turns and does one gift at a time, so when we hand DS a gift we say "here is one from G Pa!" or whatever. Then on the 26th he writes all of his thank you notes, so we go through it again. I don't get rushing through gifts...too chaotic and no time to appreciate/focus on family/friends and giving, which is what Christmas is about.

Agree. I think it's really important to acknowledge who sent the present, but we certainly do not care who gave the most. That isn't the point of making sure they know who sent the gift, it's that the kids learn to appreciate that family/friends thought of them during the holidays. I try to take a picture of them w/ the gift and send it w/ the TY note to those OOT. DH's family rushed through gifts; I found it so stressful and not fun. It's not about quantity; we limit the # of gifts we give to the kids, as do my parents (IL's are deceased) so we don't have 100 things to open.

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