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?

@TheOrigFV45

Yes it’s a stupid idea. You don’t think it is and that’s fine, I do.

Oh I see, you meant to write "I think it's a stupid idea".

Fair enough.

From when we were old enough to go downstairs on our own our parents never saw us opening our presents. We were always up at around 5am.

One year my sister woke me up "come on, he's been". We went downstairs and our Mother heard us. Not because she was a light sleeper but because it was 1.30am. She'd only gone to bed half an hour before.

id say when we were younger we got up at stupid oclock and opened our sacks.mum and dad put them on the end of our beds.still do.
then we would all haul our presents into mum and dads bed where we would all sit.now only the kids(adults)can fit.
under the tree presents were done after breakie.but that was when there were actualy presents under the tree from all your friends and family.now there is barely anything so its just as and when we like.
when everyone is home even as adults we still do the same morning routine now.only we kick anyone that tries to gt us up before a certain time.and its later in the morning we dive into mum and dads bed.

remember your dads not making the rules anymore.dont add bad feeling to the queen.its over now.your free of that.
It obviously effected you somewhat so try and free urself of that.u make the rules now.make your own lovely traditions.

For my sisters my dad would have to check that Santa had been before they were allowed downstairs. Just in case he’d left an elf behind.

Stocking presents first thing (probably 6am!) in my parents' bed, big parental presents with breakfast downstairs, then family presents after lunch. No Queen's speech, I don't think I've ever watched it properly, though my nan has it on now (no idea why, she never did when I was a child).

I remember the wait after dinner while the grown ups ate pudding and boozed felt interminable.

@TheOrigFV45

No. I wrote what I meant first time

This reminds me of a friend I had... They weren't allowed to open their presents until after a cooked breakfast. Then, they were sent in one by one.. Seemed so strange to me & he wsd a right strange one in many ways. It was 100% a control thin imo.

Sorry, the father was strange & controlling in many ways.

First thing for us. We used to think it was 6 am BUT when older siblings were in their teens we realised that my parents used to change all of the clocks in the house and it was actually 8! My parents forgot to change eldest brothers's clock radio one year.

Have to hand it to them they were very comprehensive in their deception until then. All sibs used to gather together though and take it in turns to spy on our parents. Very very happy memories.

Watched the Queen's speech every year except when we we lived overseas. Never watched it as an adult.

We always did stockings on waking and then went down to ‘show’ mum and dad what we got. 😉 They did such a good job of looking surprised.
Then we would sit on the stairs until mum and dad had been into the living room to ‘check’ if Santa had been. The anticipation was just amazing.
We do the same with our children now and They open one present each at a time and watch while the other one opens it so there isn’t any greedy frenzy. It’s always in our pjs and we put on Christmas songs and we have a wee glass of Buck’s Fizz while we watch the kids. It’s just magic 🤩☃️

OP this is still the rule in my Mother in Law's house! Funny as she is a lovely lady - I think it's horrendously mean, although husband doesn't seem too traumatised. Wish I could show them both this thread to prove that it is a matter of near-universal consensus that this is basically abuse She can be quite amazingly old-fashioned sometimes, she's in her 70s but can seem almost Victorian with things like this.

I'm hosting Christmas for the first time this year. H and I will do our own presents before she arrives, and we'll do hers with her after dinner. (And I'll be drinking Prosecco and prepping dinner whilst she watches the speech to her heart's content upstairs...)

Yes mine did this. But we had a stocking to open first thing to give a bit of immediate gratification. Actuall both mine and DH's parents did this (not the half hour punishment thing) and now I do it. The reason is because I'm busy stuffing a bloody turkey first thing, them coooking and clearing up dishes. If the kids just rip everything open they've no idea who gave them what, we can't see what's been given and really it just becomes a massive ripped up crazy paper fest! Vouchers can get lot too. So that's why we just take a bit of time over it later on. It's nice to see people's reactions to gifts too or figure out if you need to give them the receipt!

No presents until after church, so around 11.30 - 12pm. Got stocking presents in the morning though. Church was always torture

When my DH was a kid he wasn’t allowed any until after church, lunch and a walk, so around 3-4pm.

That said, I’m glad my parents used to make me wait a bit. I think it’s good to teach kids a bit of self-restraint - it’s a vital skill for an adult.

We didn't have to watch the Queen's speech but we did have to wait until after Christmas dinner to open family presents as usually everyone came to us for dinner.
Santa presents could be opened in the morning.

My dad has never done that which sounds awful, but he has a tendency to do things a bit along those lines at Christmas. He would go outside first thing and say he had a job to do when we were desperate to open presents and he'd spend ages out there traipsing about knowing we were waiting for him. When he eventually came inside my mum would be trying to get him to cheer up and he would sit watching us open presents and moan about the commercialisation of Christmas and say all he got as a child was a nut and an orange (which his mother said was a load of bull).

He basically would try and suck the joy out of the day for everyone, sometimes he is still like this, sometimes he isn't.

Woke up at daybreak, so pleased Father Christmas had been. Stocking full of excitement to unpack. I went through to my sister's room so we could see what each other had got.

(My mother later remarked, wistfully, that the sounds of excited children 'opening their stockings' on Christmas morning was pure bliss.)

Then breakfast. Then the interminable (when you're 8 years old) wait for grandparents to turn up. Followed by the taking off of coats and making and drinking of cups of tea.

Come on, we've got presents to open here people !

Then, finally (oh about twenty minutes really) we would all sit round exchanging and opening presents with the relevant oohing and aahing.

Then it would be lunch of roast capon followed by trifle. Then board games with chocolate all afternoon until tea at 5pm. Which would be another feast.

I get the impression that presents in the afternoon would be considered posh ? Glad I'm not posh !

Queen's speech ? Couldn't care less, I'm chomping on chocolate whist invading somewhere unpronounceable - ever played the board game risk ?

I grew up in the seventies and we were another family that did stocking first thing, church then presents after lunch . We still do that now (minus the church bit) and even when we offered the kids in the family the chance to change it they refused :-)

And we had to wash and dry the lunch dishes first :-) Never had the punishment thing though.

We always opened everything on Christmas morning in my family at about 7 ish (only later in the extremely unlikely event the kids sleep in). When we go to the in-laws they do opening of the main present in the morning and then the opening of the Santa presents in the afternoon after dinner. We usually have to wait until after 9 when my FIL gets up before DD can open her presents. This irritates me because I think if he is that bothered about seeing DD open her presents he should get up earlier but it’s not annoying enough for me to make a real fuss about it.
Christmas is one of those days that everyone does differently but you don’t really realise that until you have to spend time with other families and they don’t do it your way.

I felt mean making my DC wait till after I got home from my night shift on Christmas morning before they could open most of their presents. I would leave a stocking that they could open when they woke up, that had things like colouring books, pens, hair accessories and little things in. The majority had to wait until I got in after 8am though.

My parents certainly let us open ours as soon as we woke, then we would all snuggle up in their bed and go back to sleep.

My husband signed I are children of the 60's. I am an only child and it was everything first thing before church. As a child my husband had a stocking first thing and everything else after the Speech.

When we had children we decided to wait until after lunch for presents.

We always had my elderly great aunt with us on Christmas Day and that meant someone needed to go and fetch her. And she would want to see the children open their presents. So we would do stockings and something suitable for church, and something to keep them entertained afterwards.

Since gt aunt died we have had all sorts of timetables including waiting until our son arrived with his girlfriend at 10 o'clock in the evening.

This year we have decided to do presents in the morning after croissants and pastries and Bucks Fizz.

I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness so had no Christmas tradition at all - just like any other day. Except it was associated with a lot of bad memories. Married with DC I have followed DH's lead but it still touchy for me. Obviously the day is religion (and royalty) free. Presents are opened in PJs when everyone is present. The next couple of hours used to be spent constructing toys but now that DC are older they disappear and play with their presents. Adults luxuriate in the rare peace, bathe, cook and get slowly pissed and then we reconvene to eat a feast. Followed by chocolate and TV or films.

We have stockings to open Christmas morning, the contents of which keep the kids entertained until after lunch at 2ish when we all sit down and hand out the presents. I'm an 80's kid. We always used to joke about waiting for the Queen's speech and standing up whilst she spoke but it never actually happened like that. By the time the lunch has been eaten and washed up it would be getting dark and it was lovely and cosy. The grandparents would always phone about 7ish and then it would be time for Christmas cake, mince pies and posh ham sandwiches.