Not to buy new wrapping paper for SC?

It's wrapping paper, who gives an actual fuck? Kids certainly don't.

Just write their names on the presents if it's that much of an issue and use the same paper for everyone.

When I was a child (skint DPs) we used to open presents very carefully so the paper could be re-used next year. I well remember ironing some of it!

It’s the treating differently that’s wrong. Can’t you see that? They will.

Crikey, how petty. If you do this with wrapping paper what else occurs ?

To be fair, I think the OP does use the same paper for them all. Makes sense to use what’s left after all.

The only way i can see this being an issue is if you buy wrapping paper with your children’s interests in mind. E.g if DS loves peppa pig, DD loves Bluey, and DSC is a teenager with no interest in either of those things.

But it doesn’t sound like that is the case, more that posters love to have a go at step mums on here! If it’s really that big an issue then surely the problem parent is the dad who stands by and lets this cruelty happen to save himself buying a roll of wrapping paper?

Don't get whether SC gets paper left over from wrapping her own kids present or old paper used last year and kept. The first is fine as sc not there.
The second is a bit mean. I never knew people kept used wrapping paper!It must be somewhat crumpled
I find it misery. Sorry ,just MO

Incidentally OP as my kids got older, my wrapping standards declined significantly - these days they get whatever is vaguely festive and nearest and I bought some posh present sacks so everything per-child goes into their named bag... the days of colour coordination are long gone.

Labels as long as I have some left - then it's a sharpie. The kids care what's inside the paper more - but I stand by the little gestures to make a kid feel equal thing - I'm equally shit as a parent with all of mine!

Of course it makes no difference. Don’t even think twice about it. Who takes notice of wrapping paper??!

Do you wrap your presents in OLD wrapping paper, then? Well, sometimes I do! I use last year's Christmas paper if I have a lot left over and buy some new (and also save nice paper from presents and re-use, a thing my late MiL did as well) - everyone's presents get a share of any of the available paper (tend to use children-type paper for children). I wouldn't wrap a DSC's presents in any other paper than the same as everyone else's.
Why are you treating your DSC differently? It's mean-spirited.
NB Late DH's preferred present wrapping was a bin-liner. It took a while to stop this - not mean, btw, but no understanding of how you wrap a presemt!

Well I presume that her children possess the power of speech so might well say something, especially if it’s an interest-specific paper like Minecraft or football and the other one is say unicorns (in which case it’s really obvious). Or photos of the presents. They might well find out and it’s also obvious to the DSC’s dad I would have thought. The OP’s friend specifically pulled her up on it as well. I wouldn’t be happy if I saw my partner doing this, all for the sake of saving £1.50 for a roll of paper or whatever.

Yeah - for such a little thing as the step child grows older - it's not a massive thing to buy another colour of wrapping paper so they feel part of things.\

My self esteem as an adult is shot to hell partially because of the cumulative effect of all these little things marking me out as "the step child" growing up - and whatever you think of a child's other parent - they don't deserve that if it's a little and avoidable thing.

I mean you wouldn’t want one of your dc to pipe up “that was my paper from last year” would you

The purpose of different wrappings for your children is to identify which presents are for which child. If you don't need separate wrapping doe SC for this reason then there is no need to buy separate paper. If they're not there on Christmas Day they won't know about it anyway and also I'm sure the children don't remember what paper their gifts were wrapped in the precious year!

Yes, it’s really about your attitude towards your own dc vs sc. Not logistics.

Just buy each kid their own paper and use leftovers for you/your DH/other people

if kids get new paper, your sc deserves new paper

I personally wrap everything in whatever I have/can find, including my own dc. I have infamously presented my own dc with something wrapped in white printer paper as I ran out of wrapping paper. We still laugh about it and occasionally I still wrap something in printer paper for them as a joke.

But how will they know? If I post one of my nieces a set of matching wrapped parcels and the other a mismatched set, which they open separately and never see, is that upsetting?

p thing wrong with what you’ve explained OP. So essentially same proper as your DC, just not separated. The SC is not there on christmas day to notice your DC get their own design.

I’ve wrapped my two in different paper because they’re under the tree on Christmas Day, saves me writing labels. Anyone that isn’t opening gifts with us on Christmas Day is wrapped in wrapping paper (doesn’t matter which)
with a label on it. If that’s what you’re doing OP then it makes no odds if SC gets ‘new paper’.

But when you frame it like ‘I’m doing this for my DC but SC gets whatever’s left’ it sounds mean spirited. But practically speaking of course it actually makes no difference.

Because my children aren’t tiny anymore and often the adults in the family unwrap theirs carefully. And I don’t use much tape so it’s easy to get into. No one’s policing the unwrapping and the kids can shred if they want but generally there’s enough decent sized pieces to reuse that I can get most of the stocking fillers and a few smaller things done the next year.

My grandparents were very frugal and it’s how I was raised with Christmas presents - they’d be astounded by piles of matchy-matchy gifts in new paper. I’m not quite as obsessive about it as my Granny though, she’d have the iron out carefully peeling off sellotape and flattening paper before Christmas lunch!

It’s not really about the paper or indeed the actions of buying/wrapping gifts, nor the logic/practicalities. It is the attitudes, intentions and perceptions underpinning these actions. No, kids probably don’t care about paper itself, but if the attitude of ‘leftovers’ is extended to the SC in other ways (which it usually is in these kinds of situations) then it can become a problem and is where the ‘different treatment’ comments are coming from.

No they won’t be traumatised because you treat them all the same. But if one is a stepkid and gets treated differently that will be picked up on even for very small things. Same as if you had one adopted child and didn’t do small things for them that you did for the others.

I don’t really like the way you worded it tbh. That your SC gets ‘whatever is left’ so like the scraps from your children. I don’t think they need separate paper or anything since the notion is you buy different ones to differentiate between your DC on the day. I just think you need to rethink the way you speak about your SC.

The only stipulation on paper in this house is that the stocking paper needs to be different to ‘my’ gifts

Oh good grief, let’s not make things worse 🤣