To think not wrapping Christmas presents is thoroughly bizarre

[Bearbehind]

I’ve literally never heard of this before being on MN.

I genuinely don’t understand the concept of giving a gift and it not being in some sort of wrapping.

It seems so clinical not to do so

Santa doesn’t wrap presents.

He does in my house!!!! it takes him hours, several Christmas films, and a few glasses of G&T but it all gets wrapped.

Santa doesn't wrap in our house because you need to see the items all set up - not in a box which has to be opened and set up. So a doll's house is fully set up and twinkling with lights and furniture - that cannot happen if it is wrapped. My favourite part of Christmas as a child was opening the door and seeing lots of toys set up as if they had walked into the room!!!

U can wrap after its built!

You obviously haven't seen the amount some of us buy for our kids! I'd be wrapping for weeks.

This could be the subject of a whole other thread.

What child possibly needs more presents than you could physically wrap.

There must be more waste there than some wrapping paper that others are worrying about

I put everything in gift bags that are taped shut.

Can't see what's in them so still as surprise and they can be reused.

Depends what it is - hampers etc look better unwrapped. toys often look better set up, ready to be played with rather than in the box with time-consuming assembly to be done

Wrapped presents look so beautiful under the tree especially when they are colour co ordinated with your Christmas colour scheme. Would look so messy not being wrapped. (Fully aware how irrational this sounds)

We have previously wrapped in this format too!

The thought of unwrapped presents makes my eye twitch. I collect wrapping paper in the months leading up to Christmas to make sure I have the right balance of colours and textures so it has the wow factor when the kids come downstairs, it's an important moment IMO. Presents are all mixed up under the tree with each one marked with an initial so the kids are peering round the pile trying to work out which ones are theirs. Then we all open our stockings together, which have a few wrapped special things and lots of unwrapped trivial stuff. Then everyone picks their spot on the carpet and DH hands out the tree presents one at a time. We wrap everything on Christmas Eve while watching the carol services and eating the first of the Christmas chocolates, it's magical :)

It's definitely not an Irish thing. My presents from Santa (Santy) were always wrapped, as were my husband's, and my kids presents are wrapped now.

That only person I know who had santy presents wrapped as a child has english parents. He now wraps for his kids. When I was growing up Santy stuff was not wrapped. Same for my kids.

Maybe it depends on what part of Ireland you're from.

I've never seen anyone post about putting a toothbrush in a Christmas stocking.
I honestly don't know how you managed to avoid that!
There was a thread recently about a child not given anything all all apart from the mega-expensive gift he was getting for the next 5 years of Chritmas, birthdays and everything poor kid-
cue tens of posters explaining how to "give" toothbrushes, pants and essentials at Christmas.

Though I am sick to the back teeth of the patronising 'something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read'
i find that one more depressing than patronising, how to make the most miserable Christmas ever

Yeah I think naked presents are a little strange. We re-use wrapping where we can

@Bearbehind - I guess it would be odd if we were all the same but I honestly can’t get my head round this!

I can't get my head around the fact you can't get your head around this . I don't wrap but I can get my head around the fact others prefer to wrap.

Like all the pp's who also do this the proper way, I think that seeing everything unwrapped and displayed is much more magical. I remember getting a doll's house one year. It was put together, with little dolls and furniture set out in it. Another year I got a Sindy doll (anyone else remember her?) with clothes and furniture. She was dressed in the best of the outfits with other stuff laid out beside her. i was able to get straight down to playing, rather than having to open a load of stuff separately before I could play. Much better to my mind.

I think the magic of seeing the toys all set out is for the first night after Christmas, when you fall asleep looking at your new toys.

I love the excitement of my kids when they see the wrapped gifts.

All those people whining about wrapping paper not being eco -friendly. I have a stash as I kept forgetting where I'd put it. If I don't use it, it has to go in the bin and I need an alternative. If I do use it, it has to go in the bin. Might as well use it!

Yes, definitely use up wrapping paper rather than chuck it away unused. You can then decide whether to use reusable sacks or brown paper or whatever.

I love the excitement of my kids when they see the wrapped gifts.

And I love the excitement of my kids eyebrow they see the unwrapped gifts, set up and ready to go....

good for you, sound grim, might as well grab things in the shop!

I would find it pretty shit to receive an unwrapped present, if the giver can't even be arsed to wrap it, they shouldn't bother giving it in the first place. Just odd.

Completely bizarre and very sad for the kids. We use recycled wrapping paper and always try to recycle but I can’t imagine giving my DD an unwrapped gift, that’s half the fun!

Never has Santa gifts wrapped. It helped distinguish what was from Santa and what was from everyone else. There may be a small bow, but no wrapping paper.

My in-laws also don’t wrap gifts from “Santa” either and husband and I are from different countries and cultures.

I stopped wrapping gifts and just put items in a gift bag with a bit of tissue. Saves on the mess and bags are reusable.

my kids love to wrap and give their own present

I honestly never even knew it could be a thing

The thing is, in my house, we don't have "non santa" gifts on Christmas day, so we can happily wrap everything

I've never known anyone not wrap Christmas gifts- you learn something new every day! I set up DDs presents if needed (more when she was younger!) and then wrap, so the dolls house would be set up ready to play but wrapped. Part of the excitement is trying to guess what it is, I also use lots of different boxes so it's much more difficult to guess (so put a small present in a big box type of thing).

the good thing with wrapping as well, is that when they are older, it doesn't matter so much if they end up finding the presents, they still won't know what it is!

works for DH too!