Do I give away all DCs Christmas Presents?

[OpenedPresents]

I won’t but it’s so tempting as punishment

All presents where wrapped and put in my wardrobe apart from Santa presents which are in the shed. I don’t put any presents under the tree until Christmas Eve apart from the ones that DC is given by school/activities.

DC is 7. I do it because they can’t be trusted to not open them.

I went for a shower and DC went into my room, as in opened my closed bedroom door, and has opened 2 presents. I thought they were on their tablet in the living room.

I’ve taken the stuff away and they won’t be getting it as punishment but I hadn’t got them much this year due to money being tight and they opened their main present from me.

I don’t want to have to get a lock for my door, DC never normally comes into my room, even at night if they wake up/are ill, they knock and I take them back to their room and deal with them there (they have a pull out bed so I can still be nearby if they need me) - it's always been the way.

Santa only buys 1 present and the stocking here, the stocking is done by my parents and delivered after DC is in bed on Christmas Eve (they do this for all 3 of their grandchildren and my own grandparents used to do mine, even when I no longer believed they still delivered them once I was asleep on CE)

So what do I do now? I can’t afford anymore presents for them as I don’t get paid again until 27th December. They’ll now have about 3 things under the tree from me on Christmas Eve and it feels pathetic or is that the consequence? They won’t care as ExH spends loads on them at Christmas so it’s even worse.

I do think that at that age a lot of children should know better but I wouldn’t withhold the gifts from them. Possibly wouldn’t rewrap and would consider getting Santa to leave them a letter (before Christmas Day) to let them know he was letting them off this year but would take a different view if it happened again.

Just wrap them up and give them on Christmas day. Not everyone like surprises.

Wrap them up again and say no more about it.

Next year, after you've wrapped them, put them in a big sack in the bottom of the wardrobe and seal it with a cable tie (if you don't have anywhere else to hide them).

DS got up at 3 am one Christmas and opened his presents by himself. We knew because he also decided to put the TV on maximum volume (I think he was about 3 or 4) and the scooby doo theme tune woke us all up - OMG it was loud! I shoved them all back in the santa sack and he opened them all again as usual at a more reasonable hour.

I don’t get all this “OMG Christmas is ruined” shit.

Maybe the kid doesn’t give a toss about being surprised. Some parents put way too much emphasis on presents as the bloody be all and end all. Most of it will end up ignored by Boxing Day anyway, and I bet most kids can’t remember what they got last year.

Totally agree! I don't get why it's an issue at all, let alone that would require a punishment.

Perfect opportunity for a 7 year old to go snooping, I'd say!! I found out that smaller Christmas presents were stashed in the only wardrobe in the house that had a key, and absolutely yes, I looked when my mother was otherwise occupied - was hardly going to do it in front of her, now was I? As pp have said, the punishment was having no surprises.

My eldest was hell for snooping for presents, even though I was so creative about hiding places (to the extent where I forgot where they were!!), she always managed to suss it!!! She was a LOT older than 7 when she found sibling's main present and spilled the beans!!! She's a teacher now...

Boot of the car was a good place for me. I'd also put stuff in my shoe boxes and then not remember which ones. Bigger stuff was in the garage under heavy disguise! Could your parents store them for you?

Feel sorry for the poor kid - he will remember this Christmas! Children are beside themselves with excitement and just can't resist! Just wrap it up again, act as though nothing's happened, and enjoy the magic. You get so few years between them understanding what Santa's about, and realising the truth! Ham up the excitement. Mine used to sprinkle reindeer food on Christmas, got Christmas PJs, and I read them The Night before Christmas every single year. Miss those days!😪

Rewrap in the original paper. Say no more about it. Any moaning about no surprises and you can say he ruined his own surprise. He's old enough to find out that actions have consequences. Find a more secure hiding place next year.

My parents and friend's parents left the four of us DC asleep on Christmas Eve to go to midnight mass decades ago. (I was the youngest, at 3 or 4 but the other three were all around 7-9 I think - clearly not something that would happen in most families these days!). We woke up and opened ALL of the presents, regardless of labels. Parents came back to chaos with one of the other family's DC's complaining of feeling sick after eating a whole chocolate orange. This was back when lots of extended family members would send presents for children too and the parents had no idea what present belonged to what family, let alone which individual!

Of course, what happened is still talked about now. Sometimes it's the things that 'go wrong' that can give us the longest-lasting memories. It certainly isn't about "quantity of stuff" - that is soon forgotten in childhood. Most adults remember a handful of special presents at most from their early years - not the costly but unnecessary junk. However, the fun, laughter and feelings will stick around for much longer.

Enjoy the day - maybe create a treasure hunt for your DC to find the present that won't be a surprise, so they have to 'work' for it by following some clues first or something? You could wrap the first clue to go under the tree in an empty cereal box or something and I'm sure the Christmas board would help with some simple ideas for a chain of clues. Your DC would probably enjoy the hunt if finding the present was too easy while you were showering!

I don’t think it is driving the point home. Driving the point home would be removing them 🤷🏻‍♀️

It’s not a big deal. I used to do this all the time. As I got older I used to carefully unwrap and re-wrap! My parents were pretty strict and controlling so I used to delight in the mild rebellion! I have grown into an upstanding citizen with a good job, mortgage and not so much as a parking ticket! Just tell them off and re-wrap!

Not the worst thing a 7 year old could do , just rewrap and put under the tree on xmas morning and find a better hiding place next year

Well, what have you already said? What did your kids say

It's not driving the point home, it's just the natural consequence of his actions. If you look, you don't get a surprise on Christmas morning. Passive aggressive would (imo) be taking away the presents even though he knows what they are.

I always snooped - I never liked surprises even as a child, so it never ruined anything for me anyway.

There's just no need. Wrap them up again. Instead of the -look at what you did?- shit on Christmas morning. Kids, little ones especially, need an opportunity to row back on stupid shit they did without it being held against them later.

Just wait.... come back to me when your DD is 24 😁

My 5 year old was desperate to find his presents, he thought they were on the top of my wardrobe. I was downstairs when I heard a crash from upstairs, he had climbed on top of a chest of drawers, the tv went flying and broke and he fell off. He was sorry, but I had to show him those presents weren’t for him (they were in the loft), as I’m sure he would have tried again. He was so excited for his presents, now 20 years later, he only gets out of bed before lunch on Christmas Day and we don’t do big presents anymore.

Your children really won't care about how much their dad gives them compared to you! I used to have 2 Christmases - one at my mums which was very scaled down and one at my dad's where I had a lot, I never judged my mum or wished she could get me more because firstly - I just wanted her attention really and secondly - I understood that some people have more money than others.

Rewrap the presents and give them on Christmas day, it's hard being so excited when you're little and all young children make silly decisions. My 7 year old is just as impulsive! Breathe, give yourself a break and aim for a better day tomorrow.

Me and my brother used to open the side with the tape and tape it back down! Not sure if mum cottoned on, I made the mistake of telling my 2 kids that’s what we did as kids!

I know some have been opened and stuck back down! Fine by me! No surprises for them! 😂

“I’ve taken the stuff away and they won’t be getting it as punishment”
The only time I did this, after one of my sisters found them, on Christmas morning my mother took my unopened presents and threw them on the fire, telling me I had ruined Christmas for everyone. My sister went unpunished because ‘You are the oldest and should know better’.
Needless to say I have hated Christmas ever since.

I really don't see how it's held against them, though. They're still getting their presents, it's just mum isn't going through the bother of re-wrapping them for no reason.

I wouldn't be angry with my children for doing this, I'd be angry with myself for not hiding the presents better.

Because it's right there on Christmas morning, sitting under the tree, a visual display of 'you fucked this bit up, kid'. There's no need for it for the sake of a bit of wrapping paper and ten minutes.

There will be plenty of opportunities across a childhood to teach them that everyone's time is precious - including and especially their own mother's. But I think you can also cast a well timed -blind eye- and afford an over excited kid a free pass.

There's no need for this either - even if you believe you made a mis-step, what's with the anger? Why the fuck is everyone so high strung on here?

Not read all the replies, but it's a lesson in delayed gratification! Just rewrap (in same paper if poss) and go ahead as planned.

I thought I'd hidden some chocolates that the neighbour brought my 3 year old (now 14), left the room for about 30 secs and came back to find him very pleased with himself and covered in chocolate, the lot gone...it's Christmas, they are excited...don't overthink it.

Congratulations on having a child with healthy curiosity. Of course, now they’ll be about to discover the joys of trying to look surprised when they aren’t, also that the specialness of opening gifts with everyone else will now have the edge taken off it. That’s just life. Gifts can be quite aggressive things in themselves, or rather the giving of them can be, in terms of expectations and indebtedness to the giver. If you make a point of withdrawing the gifts now, or withholding when they get them, a 7-year-old brain will conclude the punishment is about curiosity rather than having infringed an unspoken social rule.