Birthday present opening etiquette (spl?)

jaxxx15 · January 2012

So..DS's 1st birthday party is next Sunday...I can't believe the stinker will be one on Tuesday! Anyways, what is the etiquette these days on present opening. It will be a restaurant with about 50 people. Since he is my first I have no clue..will gladly open but does it get boring, does it bother people if you don't? Fill me in please:)

PepperStick · January 2012

I think it really depends on your family. My family would be really offended if DD didn't open any of her presents while they were there to watch. It might be different because you will be at a restaurant though.

Sorry that wasn't very helpful!

TriciaandSean · January 2012

We had the party at our house and did not open presents. We said no presents, but almost everyone still brought a present. I didn't want the ones that actually listened to feel bad for not bringing a present.

Wufroggy79 · January 2012

I've seen it done either way. I was recently at a shower where they didn't open presents, and I kinda wanted to see her open my gift. I bought a fab ooh and ahh gift and kinda wanted the love.

SammyJJo · January 2012

Like PP we told people not to bring presents, but of course everyone did. We however did open the presents (we were worried about offending those who brought presents and figured we knew those who didn't well enough that they wouldn't be offended).

I sort of wish we hadn't because it's super awkward to sit there and coax the baby into opening the gift, playing with the toy, etc. It took forever! If I had it to do over again, I would open gifts afterward and write an extra detailed thank you note. I don't know if that's the etiquette, but I definitely feel like it's less painful for everyone.

MNgirl326 · January 2012

In my family gifts are always opened at the party. So that is what we did. I honestly can't imagine not opening gifts at a party, but that is me. I would find it odd if I went to a party where they didn't open gifts.

nancy30005 · January 2012

My LO's party was a first-birthday-college-football-rivalry-party, so we had guests across the spectrum.
Some of our friends had kids that needed to stick to a schedule, some of our friends were single, some in a rush, some saw the whole game and stayed many hours.
We opened the gifts of the peeps that said stuff like "Little Julia wants to see B open his present" and the other guests made it clear they didn't care.
He's only a year old, YKWIM? We also had about ~30 people total, there's no way a one year old can fathom all of that.

To answer your question:
Opened some, saved some. Sorry for the long azz post. Smile

freeatlast2014 · January 2012

I am in the same boat - first child, first birthday, THIS Sunday, at a restaurant, 50 people - and I'm still not sure what we will do! I plan to see how it goes. I'd rather not, but if people ask then I will.

Kingston54 · January 2012

We didn't open presents for the 1st or 2nd birthday party. First party because it would have taken HOURS and he was more interested in the party than the presents at that age. Second birthday because I didn't want the presents getting separated from the cards and also didn't want his toys being opened, played with etc by the kids at the party. I'm not sure what etiquette is but that's what we do and many parties we've been to have done!

j&j060708 · January 2012

I hate watching babies "open" presents since they dont really get it, so what we did to appease family and get them open was cake first. We sang and passed out and while everyone was eating and after LO took her first few cute bites my hubby and I opened and showed her and put them off to the side. Luckily everyone was happy and it was quick!

MrsSR · January 2012

It depends on your fam.

I didn't want to open gifts at her first bday, but I know my fam would freak if I didn't... so we did.

spring_time · January 2012

Don't worry, you will offend someone :-) I have heard people complaining about having to sit through a party of a 1 year old opening gifts. It may have been me complaining. In my defense, though, one gift opening marathon pushed into 3 hours. On the other hand, my MIL was just complaining about someone not opening gifts. It is a no win situation.

At my DS's first birthday, we opened gifts. However, we sped up the process by having other kids at the party help us. If a family with a child gave DS a gift, their child helped open the gift. For some other guests that were not really "in" to the first birthday thing, but were attending because we are important to them, we opened their gifts privately with them. That way they were kind of free to go whenever the party thing was a bit too much.

greengirl0909 · January 2012

We gave the presents we bought for LO on his actual birthday. I asked my parents (who live close) and my sister and BIL ( who visit often) if they would be offended if we put their gifts til last in case LO tired out before we got to them. As soon as MIL and BIL arrived at our house, we had LO open their gifts. Then during the party he opened the other gifts that arrived. We did a few, then did cake, then did a few more. I didn't feel like anyone was disappointed at the way we handled it.

ANJ410 · January 2012

We go to a lot of children's birthday parties and usually presents are not opened at the party.

only1erin · January 2012

at ds's 1st b-day i only had him "open" presents where people specifically came up and said "can i watch him open my present?". it wasn't even him really opening it b/c i basically had to do it and he didn't care about it. it was more of a hassle to wrangle him and make him look at the item that he wasn't interested in at the time. he's much more interested in hanging out w/people who are at our house.

i did open the other presents later that night and sent people thank you cards thanking them for what they specifically gave him so they'd know that we knew what they had given him.

MarSamWhitney · January 2012

We opened them at the party, I just assumed that was the norm.

Bride2bMO · January 2012

I would definitely not have a 1 year old open that many presents, but only cause I know it would've overwhelmed mine. 5 -10 presents? Sure. If it annoys some people, oh well. There are plenty of others (like me) that would be bored to tears watching a baby open 50 gifts. Can't please them all, so do what's best for LO.

MamatoA2010 · January 2012

We also had 50+ people at DD's first birthday but we did not open gifts then. It would have taken way too much time. So we opened them while DD was napping after the party. She was too young to care about most of the presents anyway. GL with whatever you decide!

g8trkim · January 2012

We didn't open presents at Grant's party. We had around 50 people and I didn't want to make people sit there and watch us, plus Grant was much more interested in playing with the other kids. My niece (6 years old) and next door neighbor (4 years old) really wanted Grant to open their gifts, so we opened their presents but that was it. If people get offended by that stuff, that's their problem.

The main reason we chose not to was because I went to a friend's child's party a few months before that and it just seemed miserable for him to open all his presents, and honestly I got bored watching. Plus, none of the other kids there seemed to enjoy it either, so I just figured we wouldn't do that. At a small party, it would be no big deal, but with a lot of people I wouldn't.

frlcb · January 2012

We never open presents, nor do my friends. It is so boring for kids to sit and watch another child open gifts, they want to help or play with the gifts, kids who are older have no filter and may say 'I don't like this' or 'I already have this'. If you don't open it then you don't have to worry about this.

I never understand people who say they are offended if their gift isn't opened in front of them. Really? Do you only buy a gift so you can watch it being opened? I really don't care, I buy a gift for the child, not for the acknowledgement.

OliveBaby · January 2012

We just had DS's party on Saturday, and he opened all his gifts there. All the other kids helped, and it was kind of a mad-house, but if people didn't want to watch they just didn't watch.

melody921 · January 2012

We didn't open them at DS's first bday bc it would have taken a long time since he didn't really "get it." I also don't really like if one relative starts comparing what someone else got, which is bound to happen since some people go overboard. But that said, a lot of people asked us, "Isn't DS going to open his presents?" so I think some people were put off by it. I don't know what the appropriate thing to do is.

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