To ask if anyone else's parents did this?

[Storm4star]

All the Christmas threads have got me thinking! I grew up in the 70's and obviously parenting was different then so I'm wondering if it's that or if my dad was just mean! (He was mean in general so it wouldn't be surprising!). Basically, he would never let us open our presents on Christmas day until after the Queen's speech (which I believe was on about 3pm). If we asked in the meantime then half an hour would be added on to this time, for every time we asked. I honestly used to dream of being like other families and sit round the tree in our dressing gowns in the morning and opening gifts then. Needless to say with my own children, we've always opened presents first thing! So I'm curious if anyone else was subject to these kinds of rules?

We got everything first thing when we woke up, our presents were never wrapped tho, all in bin liners so just taken out of the bags.

I wrap all of my Son's presents now, most of them go under the tree in the run up to Christmas day and Santa only brings a stocking and a main present, if there's no main present he brings a stocking and a hessian sac with 4 or so wrapped medium size presents. Christmas eve we always go to my friends Christmas eve party after the crib service, then when we get home about midnight he is allowed to open one tree present before bed, which he usually goes to sleep clutching. Then all the rest he opens first thing Christmas morning.

We (DPs me and my brother) would always go to my DGPs the day before Xmas Eve until the day after boxing day. Had stockings from Father Christmas first thing (7am from what I can remember, this was early 70s) in our shared bedroom, then breakfast when Nan got back from church. We'd be up and dressed in Sunday best. Then grandad would take us all except Nan to church while she got on with cooking lunch. Back from church, we were allowed one present to tide us over. After lunch we'd watch Christmas TOTP while the grown-ups washed up. Then Queens speech in silence, then present time. All doled out by grandad one at a time while the others watched, and we had to not play with anything until everyone had had their presents and we were banished from the 'adults room' with the open fire (think old-fashioned ?smoking room) to the living room so grandad could smoke and drink without being bothered by small children.
Didn't bother me as I'd never known any different. And by the time we went back to school we'd forgotten the whys and wherefores of how we did Christmas, it was just excitement at telling friends what we'd got.
I tried to replicate this with my first child but was almost beaten into submission by my ExH and his family who have always been 'rip n go'. Everyone dives in and opens everything at the same time. I was horrified the first time I spent Christmas there, it seemed really disrespectful.
Anyway, now my kids have their stockings from FC first thing (4-6am) then go back to sleep until about 7ish. Once they've shown me what they got we have breakfast. Then the rest of the presents. I like it because I can then sort out the dinner and not worry about missing the kids opening anything. I don't usually get presents unless I buy them for myself from the kids. We had sausages and mash for Christmas dinner a couple of years ago 😁😁 then Queens speech, then a film.

Our stockings were always left by Santa on the end of our bed. We would often wake up and open them in the night - carefully trying not to wake anyone with the sound of paper rustling and tearing. Then back to sleep. The stocking gifts were usually ancolojrkng book and pencils, really coins, orange and apple, small things like underwear, socks etc. We then had to stay in our room until our parents were awake - or we’d woken them. We would then get up and open straight away, in pyjamas. Can’t recall if breakfast was before or after. With my own kids I try and get them to take a break and eat. I tend to do the same kind of set up. Once presents are all open then we got to play whilst mum went to cook dinner - she had usually been up during the night to switch the turkey on as we would wake up to the smell of it cooking. Family would arrive and eat dinner. Play/watch tv including speeches and film, usually the various Christmas specials like only fools and horses leading up to a picky tea.

As a adult I’ve had to split time witj being a single parent so we tried sharing for the first few years - he came to see the kids open presents but they’d struggle to wait til he arrived, another year they opened mine and then he came and took them to his to open his side of the family there and drop them back for Christmas. We’ve usually gone for lunch to my mum’s but the last few years I’ve insisted they come to me so the kids get a chance to play with toys rather than openeing and being whisked off the for the day. Usually on of their board games is played after lunch at the table. Last year they spent the day with me and dad’s Boxing Day. This year they go to him. I’m going to my mum’s. They’ll get their presents here on Boxing Day as soon as they get home then play with them before heading to mum’s for tea.

As a child of the 70s it was the norm to come downstatirs, open the presents and then have breakfast. It’s still this way for us now and DD5.

I don’t really understand waiting to open presets when they are sat there staring at you.

One gift in the morning, the Christmas Day mass, then lunch, then gifts!

We also didn’t have decorations put up till Christmas Eve, which HAD to be down by the 12th day of Christmas.

Still don't put up Christmas decorations here until Christmas eve.

I was born late 70's. No stockings but would wake up to a pillow case at the end of the bed which we'd take into our parents room to open. Then presents under the tree as soon as we went downstairs. I enjoyed it, but we never visited or had family visiting on Christmas Day so I used to find the rest of the day a bit of a non-event.
DH's Family are after lunch openers and I like that it keeps up the anticipation & excitement, but also sometimes wish they'd hurry things up a little bit,
We do a mix of the two now. I split the kids presents into 3 lots. Stocking fillers and one present from the santa list go at the end of their beds. The children bring them into our room and open them first thing. Any other presents are split into 2 gift bags one is given to them at the in-laws house after Xmas lunch and the other they receive after lunch at my parents on Boxing Day or New Year Day, depending on when we visit. It works well as both GP's can see them open some gifts and the kids don't get loads at once so tend to be a little bit more appreciative.

Same; Santas stocking in morning, lunch, queens speech, presents.
I do the same with my kids, minus the queens speech. They play with stocking crap all morning whilst we cook and then we all open gifts after late lunch. We always have guests arriving midday so it's nice to all open gifts together, plus we're a bit squiffy by then so the daft gifts are more fun. It also prolongs the excitement and anticipation for the kids which is nice.
I'd hate to have the gift unwrapping all done and dusted in the morning - all for delaying gratification in our home.

I really don't understand "Christmas over by lunch?"

Surely you play with gifts? The whole point of opening gifts is to play with them?

Otherwise Christmas is all over by lunch and all the anticipation and excitement is over.

Christmas is far more than opening presents though! Don't you have any other pleasant things that you do on Christmas day?

Same as many on here. Stockings first thing. Then lazy brekkie and sitting around and bigger presents just before late lunch.

I’m wondering if the difference between the ‘waiters’ and the ‘open when you get up-ers’ is simply to do with guests.

We never visited or had visitors at Christmas. No extended family who we bought for or bought for us (except for my mums mum who we saw every day and used to stay over for the Xmas period)
Didn’t go to church either. We were allowed all our presents when we got up and spent all day playing whilst mum and nan cooked dinner

If would all depend what time we woke up. Sometimes there wouldn’t be time to do presents before church, but generally we opened them first thing.

OP, I think your Dad was being really mean. And doing the whole adding a half hour thing on Christmas Day sounds quite cruel and controlling and must have sucked some joy out of it.

Fine for everyone to have a ‘time’ but clamping down do hard on a child ‘s excitement? Horrible.

As kids we were allowed to open presents as soon as we were up. We didn't get much as parents didn't have a lot of money to spare.
My dcs, they're allowed to have their stockings and usually whilst sitting on our bed, and then any gifts from distant relatives before breakfast and then after breakfast they could open all presents downstairs .
Why make them wait when they could be playing /using their new gifts all of Christmas day. Don't see the point in having to wait until after lunch or later.
Surely an over excited child who wants to play with their new toys they just opened late afternoon or evening is harder to get to bed?

Stocking gifts in the morning and then presents after lunch

No, we opened our presents in our pyjamas I'm sure, then washed and dressed. We were fairly poor and couldn't afford too much. My Dad was fairly mean-spirited at the best of times.

I think we probably watched the Queen's Speech after lunch. It's something I'd like to watch these days but as I visit my sister (I'm the childless widow wearing a paper crown in the corner) I don't want to impose my televisual preferences too pointedly so I catch up with it on-line later. Merry Christmas everyone.

In the 1970s me & my sisters used to get up & go in our parents' room insanely early, I remember once it was 3am & my mother sent me back out again. So me and my sister would sit at the end of our bed(s) for a few hours, tearing tiny pieces of wrapping paper off the corners of our presents & trying to guess what was in them. But as soon as we could, we'd lug them into our parents' room and a mad opening spree would begin. That would be our 'main' presents. We used to get 'tree' presents in the evening, after tea. We did watch the Queen's speech but it didn't have any bearing on when we opened stuff. Your dad does seem to have been a bit hard line... I mean who needs rules at Christmas! Christmas is the one time you can eat chocolate for breakfast. Or it was in 1975.

It's really interesting reading all the responses. It seem's as if this is more common than I thought (or variations thereof).

The main reason I always let my DC open them in the morning is because it was my dream for so long! lol. But also a lot of the reasons given by those who do wait until the afternoon are not relevant in my house. We don't have visiting relatives, nor do we visit relatives. We don't go to Church. We have Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve so there's no pressure on me to get out into the kitchen. So there is just no reason to wait. I personally agree with those pp's who've said that letting them open them in the morning means they can play with them all day. When my DC were small I could not have imagined not letting them open them till 3 or 4 and then trying to get them to bed at 7. Also I always tended the put the presents under when the tree went up (usually mid December) so they already had 2 weeks of seeing these presents under the tree! Would seem mean to then prolong it on the actual day!

Oh and to the pp that asked, no I never watched the Queens speech once I left home

My dad always used to choose to work and then when he did get home, I think around 3 or 4 pm, we could have our lunch! But we opened our presents as soon as we got up

I’d say it was a bit mean to add the extra time if someone asked but it’s nothing compared to my partners Christmas memories. He’s the youngest of 3 boys. Their father would get the horse whip out, walk them round the house asking who damaged this, that or the other. If none of them owned up they all got whipped! If one did own up just he got whipped! They were allowed to open their presents afterwards. Nice!

In my house we opened our presents as soon as we woke up, ate chocolate for breakfast, then went to nan and grandads for dinner.

With our dc we have one rule - don’t wake us up until at least 7am. Then get stuck in 😂 it’s Christmas, enjoy it.

leesylou OMG. That’s awful!!

The who's what?

as a child we had to wait til 7ish (after trying to wake mum up at 3am one year ) then as we got older had to bring her a cup tea :) tehn stocings and presents we dont do church - we always ate whilst the speach is on - have and will never watch..
now we do stocking in our bed with dc and unwrap - this to extend our bedtime as dc v early risers......
then see presnts but no opening until coffee made, 1st phase breakfast crossant/crumpet/chocolate eaten - then each open 1 in turn - then play /walk lunch board games/chill

we used to pick 1 thing to open on xmas eve as well- DM had a crappy childhood so worked hard to do a good christmas .... I have lots of great memories of it even if the presents werent huge... (LP low wage

Are u my sister? Same for me! Was ok though cos we had Santa sack, nibbles, lunch and something to look forward to later in the day