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

To re-iterate for those not getting it- Santa does not wrap presents!

This makes even less sense to me than not wrapping everything.

The majority of people wrap presents, that’s beyond argument.

So if it’s the mythical Santa / FC who doesn’t wrap gifts why does he do it for most children, including everything single Santa’s Grotto / Christmas film / image

@DontbeaBabs
You've obviously not worked in a school/ been around a group of children from different socio- economic backgrounds where children as young as 5 do talk about these things and do get upset. They don't need to know the price but most children from age 5 know that a Nintendo switch is worth more than a jigsaw puzzle for example, otherwise if they were of equal value why wouldn't Santa give them what they wanted (a Nintendo switch!)?

There was something in the paper this week where a child wrote a letter to Santa asking for food and a house. That is truly heartbreaking. What can you actually say to a child who is in that predicament about why they are getting nothing/ very little from Santa??

My dc is very privileged imo but I try and be aware that not all children have that life, which is why I make a difference between Santa/ mummy and daddy.

DontbeaBabs - not sure why you take a lighthearted thread so seriously, none of my reply was supposed to be anything than lighthearted.

None of my previous comments were taking it at all seriously. However, your comment good for you, sound grim, might as well grab things in the shop! does not come across as lighthearted. It comes across as nasty.

If having an opinion that doesn't match yours is "nasty" you must be surrounded by a lot of unpleasantness 🤷

Different opinion is not necessarily equivalent to nasty. I'm capable of differentiating between the two.

Not sure why that makes you upset, but if I was to receive an unwrapped gift it would feel like a last minute thought when someone grabbed the first thing they found in a petrol station shop, so what?

Why on earth would I be upset at your attitude? i don't know you and so will never be at the receiving end of your ire if my presentation skills are not up to your standards.

I simply think you sound ungrateful. A thoughtful gift is a thoughtful gift, regardless of whether it is wrapped or not, in the same way that wrapping a thoughtless gift doesn't make it thoughtful

DD was 4 last year and they definitely did chat about who got what for Christmas at school. Of course they don’t really know about values, but when one child reels off a list of 20 things they got from Santa, and another child got 1 thing, its definitely noticed.

I am also aware that some kids pray for their dead sibling not to be dead or their terminally ill sibling to be better (I am talking about close friends here, not random sadness).

I can't do much about the unfairness, but I can give as much of a happy Christmas as I can to my own kids - even if Santa doesn't bring them a poney or a plane ticket to Disney world

having a close friend dealing with a very sick child is insensitive now?

Of course not. Using it to prove your point on a thread is beyond the pale though.

spacepyramid

that's disgusting, if you can't comprehend that you try to make the most of thigns and lighten up a very shitty time, it's bad.

Naked presents in stockings.

Bizarre image in my mind. Nice black, lacy ones?

Question for those of you whose Santa doesn't wrap presents ... When you take your child to see Santa at a Christmas Grotto and Santa gives them a gift, is it wrapped? Or do they get an unwrapped selection box? I'm just curious to understand the thinking ...

When I grew up (70s) all my presents were wrapped - the ones from Santa in a stocking at the end of the bed; and the ones from family under the tree downstairs. I've never had presents unwrapped. Part of the fun was tearning open a corner and trying to guess what I'd been given. So I maintain the traditions I had when I was a child - I wrap all the presents, whether from Santa or family. I prep our son's toys before wrapping, removing fixings etc, so he can just rip open the paper.

Question for those of you whose Santa doesn't wrap presents ... When you take your child to see Santa at a Christmas Grotto and Santa gives them a gift, is it wrapped? Or do they get an unwrapped selection box? I'm just curious to understand the thinking ...

I’d love to know this too. It was what I was trying to say above.

Literally every commercial image of Santa shows presents wrapped, plus most kids have theirs wrapped too.

I just don’t understand how you’d explain it to children who ‘believe’

And once they no longer believe it doesn’t sound like people suddenly start wrapping

I worked with someone who never wrapped her kids presents. They just came down to a pile of presents- each child had a different sofa to sit on. What made it even worse was there was no real surprises as they gave a list and always got exactly what they asked for.

I just don’t understand how you’d explain it to children who ‘believe’

None needed. My oldest is 11...it’s never been mentioned. If one of them mentioned that friends had wrapped F.C. gifts I think I’d say ‘hmm, that’s odd! I suppose F.C. does what he thinks different people would like and of course we already have wrapped presents under our tree’ 🤷🏻‍♀️

It’s really not that hard to grasp. For us, dc get a stocking on their bed of unwrapped small gifts/sweets/chocolate etc from FC.
Then we go downstairs and F.C has left the ‘main’ presents. All covered up, inside a big decorative Santa sack but not individually wrapped. And sometimes the odd thing poking out.

If there’s a big big present, like a bike, that’s artfully displayed in front of the tree with a bow on. Instant oohs and ahs from that, then they open their sack.

Wrapped presents are from family...and they’ll have been under the tree for days. They get opened after breakfast.

It’s fucking magical and much bloody easier 😁

Question for those of you whose Santa doesn't wrap presents ... When you take your child to see Santa at a Christmas Grotto and Santa gives them a gift, is it wrapped? Or do they get an unwrapped selection box? I'm just curious to understand the thinking ...

Santa in the grotto was never the real santa. He was a helper and, like all who are not santa, he wraps presents. The real santa never wrapped the I was growing up. Part of the fun was seeing everything together and not having to wait to put things together or get them out of boxes, or even just unwrap them, before playing with them.

Nobody I knew (bar one english person) had their presents wrapped by santa. TV santas who wrapped were just a weird american or english way of doing things that didn't match reality.

Like you, I also maintain the traditions I had as a child. Nothing from santa its wrapped. Presents from parents etc are wrapped.

I just don’t understand how you’d explain it to children who ‘believe’

My children are very clever. They understand that things are done differently by different people and in different circumstances. They also understand that what they see on tv isn't necessarily real.

I saw unwrapped presents on a sofa on Facebook one year and a I thought it looked dreadful ( and cheap and tacky ) to be honest.

However so many posters have said its magical that I have to believe it’s probably as much fun for children as the wrapped way .

Toy shops are wonderous and nothing us wrapped there. Guess it relies on big piles of presents though.

@SpinySue we’re exactly the same and also, I’m pretty sure that One Ted Falls Out if Bed is a true story

It is the fact that some children get lots of gifts from santa and others get one or none that gibes children their first clue that their family and friends have been lying to them. Unless an older sibling clues them in that it is all make believe and they should play along so as not to disappoint mum and dad.

When I was a child the presents from Santa were all set out on the sofa unwrapped. All the presents from grandparents, aunts uncles etc were wrapped up under the tree.

This is what I do with my own children, Santa presents unwrapped, family presents wrapped. Stocking presents aren’t wrapped either.

I don’t have time to be wrapping all the presents plus I feel it’s a waste of paper.

I don't really understand the point of Santa bringing gifts at all when gifts are already given by family, friends and whoever to be honest.

I do love all the wrapped presents under the tree with only the tree lights when the kids wake up
and how they display them , unpacked, in their bedroom when they finally go to bed that night.

On a boring note, wrapping present makes it easier to show who is getting what when you have several kids and you use a different colour for each

Santa loves to wrap presents here. The wrapping needs his face on it though.

I put anything in the stockings just to pad them out. We don't want to waste money on pointless tat, and decent presents are under the tree, so stockings are just for fun first thing in the morning. DD (11) actually asks for socks, pants, hairbands, deodorant etc on her FC list as she knows that's what goes in stockings. Along with ridiculous amounts of sweets, mini games/toys and maybe a bottle of J2O .

We've never done toothbrushes in stockings, but did give them both an electric toothbrush (as a 'proper' present, under the tree, a couple of years ago. But they had asked for them...…) I am a child of the 60s but not of the 40s as a PP suggested.... We just like unwrapping stuff on Christmas morning, so anything anyone wants in the run up, gets put aside and becomes a Christmas present! The more the merrier. Anything worth more than a fiver is a proper present and goes under the tree.

Also - haven't RTFT but I understand that paper itself is a very sustainable product and it's fine to use it. Don't make it the bad guy - just avoid the shiny stuff and glitter!

Santa wraps presents in this house. Then again santa doesn’t bring the big ticket items - he brings a few smaller gifts. They are always the fanciest, perfectly wrapped presents under the tree. Santa and his elves are very good at wrapping and like to add fancy bows and ribbons to presents.

Big ticket items are from parents. It’s not fair on the children who don’t get much at Christmas to hear of Santa bringing a dolls house/ PlayStation/ toy kitchen/ bike etc. to some children when they received a smaller, cheaper toy. They must wonder why Santa doesn’t like them as much or think it must be something they have done. I find that heartbreaking. So in our house Santa wouldn’t possibly bring big expensive toys that require setting up and left out unwrapped. Santa does also fill the stockings and he likes to wrap most things too. They get left at the end of the bed so when children wake up they are occupied for a little bit and DH and I can wake up, make coffee, stick the heating on before the main presents on the livingroom get opened.

"what's weird? It's true - if DH pops in a shop and brings me back something it's not the same at all as him giving me a wrapped present - even if someone else wrapped it"

As I've already said I've NEVER had a present from "Sabta" (my parents) that was wrapped. Does that mean I'm neglected? That my parents don't love me? That I had an abusive childhood because my old barbie dolls weren't presented to me in wrapping paper? Of course it doesn't. So yes, it is weird to me that someone would turn their nose up at a gift just because it isn't wrapped.