Wrapping your own christmas presents?!

[Thickums]

Am i being unreasonable to think wrapping tour own presents is futile and pointless?

A few people i know buy their own christmas presents from husband/parents etc. Then proceed to wrap them and put them under the tree, get the money back from loved ones, and then unwrap them on xmas day.

I just don't get it. Doesn't that take away the magic completley?
The whole point in them being wrapped is you don't know what your getting! So unwrapping them gives the excitement!!

Do you act suprised when unwrapping what you wrapped and bought yourself?
Doesn't it feel silly when everyone knows you wrapped and bought it yourself?

My boyfriends the same! One of my boyfriend's christmas presents he was with me when i bought it. Its come in a box. He helped me carry the box. Its been sat in my spare room for 2 months so hes seen it a million times. But yet wants me to wrap it and put it under the tree when he chose it himself and helped carry it in!

I'm no scrooge either. I love christmas and still do stockings etc. But theres no way id go buy my own presents and then wrap them up and then reopen what ive wrapped up and act all suprised. Its just bizzaire and i can't get my head around it!! Also its a waste of paper. But talking to people it seems pretty common!!

Please someone explain the mentally behind this so i can understand as it seems so illogical i don't get why anyone would do it!

Just potty

It's a bit silly.

To be honest I don't think wrapping presents you've bought yourself is any more pointless than buying your own presents from.other people?

What's the point? The whole idea is you buy people things they will.like, they don't need to know what it is.

If my other half asked me what I wanted for Christmas, handed.me the cash and told me to go any buy it I'd tell him to shove the cash up his arse!

If he doesn't know me well enough to have an inkling what I mite like for Xmas, and the wherewithall to get off his arse and go buy it I'm not sure I'd want to be in a relationship with him

YANBU.

Also pointless is providing lists. If you've chosen the item, you might as well buy it yourself and have it straight away rather than have to wait until Christmas for it.

See also families/couples who 'ban' everyone from buying themselves anything in November or December so they won't buy something that someone might buy them for Christmas. So they have to hope that the item doesn't sell out or go up in price and that someone actually buys it for them.

Proves that anything other than token presents between adults with their own money is totally pointless. Most people can buy their own stuff whenever they want and if they can't, they're not in a position to be exchanging presents with people.

Just exchange a little treat like a bottle of wine, box of biscuits or a plant with your closest adult relatives such as partners and parents and forget about the rest of the nonsense. Much less stressful and angst inducing and no-one has to feel guilty about the waste of money or find somewhere to store something they never even wanted in the first place.

I've done this before as I don't want to model to the dc the idea of mums as second class citizens in the family who don't get presents like other family members.

It was only one year when dp had had a family bereavement. I'd be cross if he didn't put in the effort regularly.

I did this last year. I know what I want for Christmas, it's just easier if I order and sort it out myself rather than giving DH a list of things. I actually prefer it this way. Though, it felt totally pointless opening them on christmas when I'd bought and wrapped them myself so this year I've just bought myself a few things but haven't wrapped them and will just have them as soon as they're bought/delivered. I'll still have a few surprises to unwrap on Christmas from extended family like the in laws.

But that's just shopping blooming. In no way does buying yourself some things you want weeks before Christmas count as Christmas presents from your DH.

If he doesn't choose something himself, buy/order it and wrap it, it's not from him is it?

I've bought my own Christmas presents from me to me this year. I'm a single parent and have no siblings, parents or grandparents.

I'll be wrapping them and putting them under the tree.

Judge all you want. But I wanted to have some things to open on Christmas day with my DS.

I wrap all the presents from my mum including the ones for me because she has health problems. I would love it one year if one of my sisters offered to wrap the ones for me but they never do.

My DH bought me a birthday present this year that I chose. He needed me there to chose it. He left it in the paper bag and just handed me that on my birthday. Me - and every friend I have mentioned to - think it is odd he didn’t wrap it. I knew what it was but would still have liked the thought behind wrapping it and then me opening it. I think the issue was the lack of thought, that it was like he couldn’t be bothered. So the meaning behind the not wrapping rather than the not wrapping per se,

Ps - I only mentioned it to friends as we were talking men and rubbish presents!

No one has bought me a present for years, not since I stopped buying my own on behalf of DH. I stopped buying him them a few years later when I gave up what hope I had left tbh. He didn't even get me one from the baby for my first Christmas as a Mum :( (we'd been ttc for 12yrs)

I have also done this

Back when me and my ex partner split up I was a bit sad about my first Xmas living alone so I bought myself lots of exciting gifts wrapped them and my tree looked great! I had a lovely Xmas with my family but it made me feel all the less sad and lonely with my new indulgent items as a distraction. I may add they were also much better than any gifts exDP would have gotten me

Aw, in 31 years my dh has never asked me to get my own present, I'd be really upset tbh.
Do people really do this and then wrap it themselves.

I just write a list or we have a group of me, dh and kids.
Only relatively cheap things go on the list and they take their pick. I don't get everything off the list though, only first few things.

Shumway and mia

I'd never judge either of you. I'm sorry there's nobody to wrap them for you.
At least you don't have one of these men who couldn't care less.

@Mia1415 but doesnt it feel worse to wrap your own presents and then reopen that present?
You know exactly was is in it as you've bought and wrapped it.

Wouldn't it be better to treat yourself to something nice online with the delivery day on xmas eve or something?

The palavar of doing the wrapping and what not seems like unnecessary stress to me and just bizzaire as it defeats the object?

I’m in the same position as @Mia1415 although this year I probably won’t bother even that as my daughter also sees no point in Christmas decorations . I’ve wrapped hers though.

Also i do think its a bit different to have no one around to get you a present so you buy your own. I do get it and would 100% buy myself gifts if i had no one. Its just the wrapped bit i dont get!

However having people and knowing exactly what your getting and wrapping them just seems odd. Loses the magic i think.

A wrapped gift = oh i wonder what this is?

Self wrapped gift = i dont see the purpose here?

@BarbaraofSeville Well, yes, that's true, I suppose. DH has always been happy to go out and do some shopping, buy my presents, wrap them himself, etc. He genuinely tries but honestly, he aims for quantity rather than quality and I ended up with a load of cheap tat that I really didn't want. The following year I gave him a list so he didn't buy crap but it almost feels the same as just ordering these things myself because giving him a list left me without any surprises to open on the day so I might as well have just ordered myself the bits I wanted when I was ordering bits for other people.

Aw, in 31 years my dh has never asked me to get my own present, I'd be really upset tbh.
Do people really do this and then wrap it themselves.

Yes, I do. I hate, hate, hate surprises, I always choose what I want my partner to buy me, and he chooses what he wants from me and then I buy (by which I mean order online) all the presents and do all the wrapping.

I am really fussy about wrapping. In all other respects I'm least girlie woman on earth but when it comes to wrapping presents I come over all 'must have bows and ribbons and be colour coordinated' (only silver, gold, red and green are acceptable for Christmas wrapping). My partner, quite reasonable, thinks I'm stark raving bonkers and leaves me to get on with it.

Never wrapped me a present in best part of 29 years and I love him for it

However having people and knowing exactly what your getting and wrapping them just seems odd.

I freely admit to being odd, but I enjoy wrapping presents.

It's my favourite bit of Christmas.

@Thickums I’m presuming @Mia1415 does it for the same reason I did, it’s not actually for us it’s because my daughter used to be excited about seeing me open a present so it was for her pleasure not mine. Otherwise she would be sad I hadn’t opened anything.

I wrap presents for myself for the same reason that another poster mentioned. I don't want my young children to think that mums shouldn't have/don't expect presents.
I also help the young one to wrap things that they buy/make for me.

Husband is still pretty clueless and we've been together 25+. What I do is send links for a few things and anything from the list would be gratefully received. Daughter helps cause he's not tech savvy either.
I would NEVER wrap my own gift, I bought, that husband then refunded, I would tell him to shove it up his a&*e !

It does seem silly to wrap your own presents but sometimes it is understandable if you are with family who want to see you open something, especially if they don't know what your presents are. I get as excited to see what gifts other people unwrap as I do when I unwrap my own, for instance I enjoy watching my daughter, son inlaw and grandchildren open their presents from each other, it is fascinating to me to see what other people get each other for Christmas.

So when people give their partners/loved ones a list and price limits.. E.g. don't spend more than £100 and i want this perfume that costs £30 and handbag that costs £70. Then your partner does the same (wants book costing 50 and game costing £50).

Why don't they just go buy it themselves and have done? You both are spending the exact same amount and getting a specific gift? Then wrapping them yourself and putting under the tree. So no surprises or sentimental value?

I think maybe it takes away the spirit of giving for me. I want to buy see something i know someone will love, buy it, wrap it and then see their faces on christmas day when suprised with it.
Its so nice to think 'omg so and so remembered i love that book/album etc' or 'so and so knows me so well, ive always wanted to do such and such, how did you know?'

I guess to me that is the spirit of gift giving and i want to give that and recieve that back.

Actually staying 'i want this exact bag. Buy it from this shop. Now give it to me to wrap'
Entirley takes away the spirit of giving/receiving. Its about the thought/sentiment behind it.