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?

Presents first thing. Me & dsis used to run downstairs first thing- parents stayed in bed, which seems weird looking back.

My in laws did this and DH is a 90s child. My own family are very much a first thing in the morning family so we will have to compromise this year.

Cheerbear23 Surely it depends on the time? I'd be tempted to stay in bed if DD declared it present time at 4am or similar

It doesn't sound mean to me more like set in Victorian ways.
I don't remember getting any gifts from my father after my parents got divorced. I was 6.
Not a card, call, present nothing. I'm 50 now still nothing.

My dad was a policeman and so it depended what shift he was on as to when we opened our presents 🎁 normally he was on 6-2 so we would open presents after dinner about 5, if he was on nights we would open them around the same time and if he was on 2-10 we would all open them in the morning!

We got presents from Father Christmas in the morning, then family presents were opened after lunch and Queen’s Speech.

It spread it out a bit and kept the excitement levels up all day. Also allowed those cooking to see children open some presents.

We do the same.

No Queen's speech (parents v anti-monarchy, though my mum seems to have mellowed in her old age, though not to the extent of ever watching this) but we always opened presents after lunch. Stockings when we got up, Santa's sack of presents after lunch.

My dad always worked on Christmas Day. He had his own business which was 24 hours so he would work a reduced day of 8am-3pm. He'd be there to watch us open our stockings in the morning and then go to work. My mum would cook Christmas dinner for when my dad got home and then at about 5pm we'd eat truckloads of chocolate and open the pile of presents under the tree. My have nothing but perfect memories of Christmas though and obviously there was nothing nasty or controlling about this arrangement.

I have carried on this tradition with my own children, as has my brother and his family, even though none of us work on Christmas day.

We don't watch the Queen's speech, I doubt my DCs have ever seen it.

sorry, should have said also child of 70s. We also went to Mass in the morning as children, though that stopped once we were old enough to go to Midnight Mass in our teens, where all the fit boys were in attendance.

We had to wait until after Christmas lunch, and we couldn't start until everyone was there. Our dad would take ages to come in so we could begin, I do think it was a bit unkind and a bit of a recipe for tantrums & upsets.

We did our presents at about 12.15am, after getting back from midnight mass.

• Christingle and carol service.
• Dinner.
• Christmassy stories and shows.
• Bed at 7, woken again at 10.30.
• Stockings checked for emptiness, carrots left.
• Get back just after midnight, stocking already filled.
• Hour of madness opening gifts, took presents up to room with us.
• Parents got a lie in because we went straight to our toys in the morning.

Genius, really.

We don't celebrate Xmas, but I have definitely heard of some families where there was the same rule about after queen's speech. Doubt many do it anymore!

Nope. My older brother would be up in the middle of the night opening his! I'd get up in the morning and his would be gone, parents asleep. Very non eventful actually. I hope my dc's Christmas is much more exciting.

Nope first thing. Its mean making kids wait. Imo.

Stockings first thing, all in our parents room.

Breakfast then church

One present on return from church and before lunch

Presents after lunch, then sit down to watch James Bond or Mary Poppins (or whatever the Xmas film was), then the Queen's Speech.

We did stockings first thing then presents mid morning after breakfast. My dh has memories of Christmas when he had to sit and watch his friends playing out on new bikes etc and he was made to wait til late afternoon when it was too dark to go out with his new bike or whatever. Unsurprisingly he wasnt very keen on Christmas til we got together, now we have lovely indulgent Christmases with presents in the morning and lots of time for the kids to play with new toys.

I've never seen the queen's speech in my life!

We weren't allowed to get up until after 7am but we'd all go downstairs together, dad would check if Santa had been (right up until the last Christmas morning I spent at their house, so I was 22 ) and open presents in our pyjamas. Dad would make bacon rolls while mum got stuck into the bucks fizz tidied up, and we'd eat biscuits and chocolate.

I had a friend who wasn't allowed to open presents until after lunch and as a child I always felt terribly sorry for her

No - we opened them first thing.

However, there are things we try hard not to do my parents did - the annual row in kitchen mid-morning as they cooked huge meal as stress and money worries got to them - and the disappointment we couldn't eat the ridiculous huge Christmas meal with huge portions and everything.

Other things like the light eveing meal we like and copy.

Nope they were opened first thing in the morning, late 70's born and 80's raised, even sneaking open a piece before Christmas. My dad though, was so kind and generous, I only had him before he died when I was 11 . Still remember those special Christmases.

We waited until after the speech for family presents too! I loved that though - otherwise everything felt a bit flat after lunch.

We did have stockings in the morning though, so it never felt mean or like we were missing out.

We weren't allowed to open presents until after the neighbours and DPs friends had been in for their "Christmas Drink", had all left, we had tidied up and the turkey was in the oven. So about 4.30pm at the very very earliest!

Then again, we didn't get fed until (late) evening, and we actually used to start betting on when we would be sitting with food in our mouths (anyone earlier than 9pm usually lost out - one year, DD (then 4) had a tin of beans and went to bed, while we all had starters at about 10pm!).

My dad wasn’t allowed to open his until after Christmas dinner, which they had as an evening meal - so usually after 9pm. He hated it! Growing up we opened stockings first thing, but kept main presents for after church and walking the dogs (so usually about half eleven). We all feel we have to ‘earn’ the presents, which is probably a hangover from my dad’s strict upbringing!

Aeroflotgirl It is so precious to treasure those special memories.

We weren't allowed to open presents until after Church, when everyone assembled together before lunch.

The point of stockings is to tide the little ones over until then.