The annual 'present pile' photo thing...

[turquoise88]

I want to start by saying that this discussion is out of genuine interest and not a dig at what anyone else chooses to post to their Facebook/social media pages. I fully appreciate that I can unfollow anyone if I'm not a fan of their content (as they can me).

It seems that this has become a 'thing' over the past couple of years, at least on my feed. Posting a photograph of a ginormous pile of presents with a caption along the lines of 'Santa's been!'

For anyone who does this, can I ask why you choose to? I first thought that it may just be a way of showing how excited/proud you are but it seems to be a quantity thing, i.e. there are masses of presents rather than just a few.

Just found it interesting as it wouldn't even cross my mind to post that sort of thing, but it seems to almost be a bit of a trend?!

I only have the teen's FB to go on so it seems to be 'look what a lot I got!!' thinly disguised as a thank you to their 'amazing' parents and feeling blessed etc.

It's quite entertaining.

DH and I were saying yesterday that’s it’s barely concealed bragging and it makes me think the people are twats. Really gross and vulgar.

I don't do this. I think its cruel to those families who cant afford much. And possibly my future self. If circumstances changed and we couldn't afford as much(not that we spent a fortune) then I can't think of anything worse than seeing something like that pop up on my memories.

I find it odd bit have seen less of these posts this year so maybe people are realising .

Fortunately nobody on my Facebook feed ever does this kind of thing. I think it's vulgar, tacky and show-offy.

I only saw one of these posts this year, sofas piled high with presents. The same person who posted it sells piles of 'unwanted, unopened' gifts in June.

I think it might be more about the age of your children than a recent trend. There was loads on my feed when my children were 3-5ish but they're a bit older now. I haven't seen a single one this year.

OTOH we are well into the phase of loads of people getting dogs, most of which seem to be part poodle. (Part of me wonders where all the poodle parents are, but that's another thread.) My feed this year is full of dogs, their Christmas outfits, their presents...

I only know one person that does this. She’s the mum of an American family and they are only over here for a few years with her dh job. So part of me wondered if it was an American thing?
Anyway it’s a very show off thing to do.

I took a picture of DD's presents yesterday morning. DP and I had enjoyed 7 child free Christmases before her arrival and we both sat in shock at the amount people had bought her. We only got her a couple of bits. Our picture is one to put away to show her how much she turned our lives upside down. It will not be going on social media.

I've seen this & some look crazy!

I usually take a photo as it's the culmination of months of fun, stress, effort & money that has reached this point. I would never share the photo with anyone other than DH but it's a satisfying photo.

I've also been known to take a photo of my DC's party buffet as it's taken me ages to make, bake, chop & organise lol (I don't share that on social media either )

If my son was here I probably would. Because I like to show people what he got. But I don’t concern myself with what other people think about me.

We take one to show the tree "fulfilling it's Christmas destiny".

We wouldn't post it anywhere through! We'd do it whether there were piles of presents or only a couple.

Oh, ours is with the presents unopened. Do people really post pictures of them all unwrapped?!

I think it’s pretty vulgar and crass, thankfully I can only think of one friend on FB who does this (and I unfollowed her ages ago anyway).

Didn't see much on Facebook but saw an almost constant stream of videos on Instagram stories.
Personally find it vulgar and a little bit strange but I understand if people want to show off a bit.

A couple of my fb friends post photos and they're the ones who boast about fancy holidays and new cars etc so I presume it's just their personality to like to show off.

Oh, ours is with the presents unopened. Do people really post pictures of them all unwrapped?!

I guess I understand a bit more if it's an actual gift you can see, although I still don't really 'get it.'

But yes, I also see piles of unwrapped presents.

True what others are saying, maybe it's just a personality thing. I do often wonder though whether the people who appear to have it all together on Facebook are actually the ones who are struggling the most.

It's been happening loads on a Facebook group I'm in for babies born around the same time. I have no issue with pictures of a child or children opening gifts or playing with presents, I think they're lovely to see. It's the massive piles of unopened presents which seem to be just to show quantity! Some of the piles I have seen on their have been 50 odd presents for a child under 1 who has no idea what Christmas is, I find it obscene to be honest.

I almost did it. My thinking was that we have been so busy leading up to Christmas and we hosted this year. Then Christmas eve, all the jobs were done, presents were under the tree. It looked all peaceful and pretty so I took a photo and was about to share it when I realised that it was a bad idea. I wanted to share it in the spirit of "we are ready!", rather than "look at all our stuff". I think others do the same.

I didn't share it by the way.

I quite like this one

Is it not the same as photo's of kids on their birthdays wishing them a happy birthday and declaring undying affection? Strange world I say !

The only one I've seen this year was whinging about the number of presents she's bought Plenty of people pointed out the obvious solution.

I always wonder where they put all the stuff when it's unwrapped. It stresses me out not to have things tidied away. Maybe they all live in huge mansions too with massive amounts of storage.

Few on my FB thread from school mums. Absolutely massive piles beside trees and extending over the couch. Must be at least 30-40 wrapped gifts. Utterly bizarre. My two had less than 15 parcels to open from Santa and I thought that was excessive.