Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

Tree presents on Boxing Day?

85 replies

AnathemaPulsifer · 26/12/2020 19:16

What madness is this? I’ve seen two separate people on MN threads referring to opening tree presents on Boxing Day. Ours were all open by 9:30am on Christmas Day.

YABU = yes, we save presents for Boxing Day
YANBU = no, we open ours on Christmas Day or even Christmas Eve

Bonus points if you save ALL your tree presents for Boxing Day and can explain whyyyy.

OP posts:

Slightlyunhinged · 26/12/2020 23:51

As I child, some of our presents were always held back, stocking filler type things, and then in the days after Christmas we could choose to have a present or a chocolate from the tree until they had run out. I'd like to add that it didn't take me long to realise that the presents were labelled and so you had a finite number, but the chocolates weren't . This meant that I got more than my brothers if for the first few days I chose a chocolate and only chose a present when the chocolates had run out. All's fair in love and chocolate !

Witchend · 26/12/2020 23:53

I can divide our presents into 5 categories.

Stockings:
Presents to/from each other
Presents from people who are with us on Christmas day
Presents from people who aren't with us Christmas day

5.Tree presents

If we are at home we open:
Christmas day:
Stockings just after breakfast
Presents to/from each other and presents from people who are with us on Christmas day after lunch
Boxing day:
Presents from people who aren't with us Christmas day
Then:
Tree presents are opened 1 a day until they run out.

If we are away we open:
Christmas day:
One stocking present first thing in the morning.
Presents from people who are with us on Christmas day after lunch
When we get back, the day after we open:
Stockings just after breakfast
Presents to/from each other
Day after:
Presents from people who aren't with us Christmas day
Then:
Tree presents are opened 1 a day until they run out.

It suits us, we've discussed it (we now have teens) over the years and they prefer not to open everything at once.

Tree presents originated with my family. We always were away over Christmas with my gran who otherwise was on her own. We used to arrive back on about the 2nd January, tired, and with thank you letters to write but none of the fun bit of Christmas left and school coming up very shortly.
One year we came back to no heating or hot water as the boiler had gone wrong just before we'd left, and we couldn't get an engineer out for nearly a week after we'd got back. Dm realised the day after we'd got back that we were all pretty miserable, and she wrapped up something little-I think it was something like a KitKat each, and hid them on the tree, then told us that there was something extra on the tree.
She noticed how we cheered up really quickly, so after that she used to put a little present for each day we had home, with the last one to open on the first day of school.

It doesn't suit everyone (dh's family have normally ripped everything open by about 9am on Christmas day ) but we've gradually worked it out so we're all happy with it.
Having the tree presents (and they are generally very little things) just means that they don't have the anti-climax all-done feeling in the same way.

Original poster

AnathemaPulsifer · 27/12/2020 00:17

@BessMarvin

What do you actually mean by tree presents? Curious as you're referring to saving all of them?

Growing up we did tree presents on boxing day. This was one small present for each of us that was literally on the tree.

I just meant the presents that were under the tree, as opposed to stocking presents.

OP posts:

Original poster

AnathemaPulsifer · 27/12/2020 00:20

@TimeToParty

I think for some people a Tree Present is not just a present in the pile under the tree, it’s a completely separate present in the tree.

So as kids we used to open all the presents under the tree on Xmas day and then on Boxing Day someone goes hunting in the tree and pulls out all the small hidden presents and passes them out. Things like socks or a little book. My mum used to say they were a gift from the tree and the tags all said “To Johnny, happy Christmas, from Tree”

I’ve met a few people who do similar. Not sure where it’s a tradition from though.

Yes, I’ve realised that in the course of this thread. It’s completely new to me. There are chocolates on our tree and presents under it and that’s all.

OP posts:

Twobrews · 27/12/2020 00:23

I just meant the presents that were under the tree, as opposed to stocking presents.
Only the kids get stockings in our house. Everything else is under the tree.

Pipandmum · 27/12/2020 00:24

There's about five presents each for the kids so holding some back seems pointless.

june2007 · 27/12/2020 00:26

Yes someimtes when we were younger we would do this. Never christmas eve. I mean St Stephen day is the 2nd day of Christmas. (going on the 12 days thing.)

honeylulu · 27/12/2020 00:27

We always have one present (for each family member present) to open on Boxing Day "from the tree". The label actually says that, lol. The stocking presents (from Fathers Christmas obviously) and other presents under the tree (from other family members) are all opened on Christmas day. It's nice to have a little extra present the next day.

It's usually something small. This year I had tumblers, H had flower seeds, son had a mobile phone holder, daughter had a slushie cup. It's something that's traditional from my family. I didn't realise until I was an adult that not everyone did this!

MrsKoala · 27/12/2020 00:28

@whoamongstus

What's a tree present?!

We opened all ours about 10am on Christmas day. My OH's family had a tradition of opening one present on Christmas eve, so we did that too. But I don't know of anyone who saves some presents til Boxing Day!

Thank god it’s not just me. What on earth are tree presents?

Twobrews · 27/12/2020 00:30

Thank god it’s not just me. What on earth are tree presents?
For us it's any present not from Father Christmas. For some though it seems it's a present from the tree which I love

MrsKoala · 27/12/2020 00:31

Just realised I only read the first page.

I just meant the presents that were under the tree, as opposed to stocking presents.

I don’t really understand the difference between tree presents and stocking presents either. Am I doing it all wrong?

june2007 · 27/12/2020 00:32

For me a tree preseant is a small preseant that goes in the tree. Father christmas just leaves stocking and larger preseasnt go under the tree.

Unsure33 · 27/12/2020 00:32

We normally do tree presents on Christmas Day . A little extra something silly for anyone who visits..just something from my childhood.

Ilovesausages · 27/12/2020 00:32

We used to get a ‘tree present’ with afternoon tea on Christmas Day. It was always a small token gift that was saved specifically for this purpose.

I must start doing it - I loved it as a kid.

Ilovesausages · 27/12/2020 00:33

I’ve got really bad PMT and it’s honestly making me cry to think of the tree giving us a present. It’s been a tough year.

Unsure33 · 27/12/2020 00:33

Ours actually have to fit on the tree.

MrsKoala · 27/12/2020 00:35

For some though it seems it's a present from the tree which I love

My exes family had the presents from all their old long dead pets. No one knew who really gave anything but the tags said things like ‘to John from fluffikins’ (a rabbit who died in 1975)

honeylulu · 27/12/2020 00:45

I don’t really understand the difference between tree presents and stocking presents either. Am I doing it all wrong? confused

Stocking presents = from FC, open first thing.
Main presents = from family members etc, open later on Christmas day. (Kept under the Tree but not to be confused with "tree presents").
Tree presents = small gifts from the tree itself, open Boxing day afternoon.

MrsKoala · 27/12/2020 00:50

Not here. Stocking presents come from us. There are 2 presents each from Santa under the tree and 4 presents each from us too. That’s it. No more presents. From anyone or trees. I feel like I may have just found out everyone does Christmas different without telling me!

Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady · 27/12/2020 00:54

In past years we have saved "family" presents until boxing day, because that's when we saw my family.

Santa presents (stocking) of course get opened Xmas day morning

A couple of years we have rented a holiday cottage for the week after Xmas and given the kids a couple of presents a day.

It makes it last longer and the kids don't get present fatigue on Xmas day.

Just because it's different to the way you do it that doesn't make it wrong

MrsKoala · 27/12/2020 00:59

The thing about stocking presents being from Santa doesn’t make sense to me as the things in the stockings aren’t on the letter sent to Santa. So it would be odd for them to wonder why Santa’s give them a load of small stuff they never told him they wanted and mum and dad gave them the things they asked santa for.

earthyfire · 27/12/2020 01:09

Who cares what others do, people seem so worried about what everyone else does...just do you!

Rosebel · 27/12/2020 01:22

When our children were younger we used to open some in the morning, some either before or after lunch and some in the evening. But we did them all on Christmas day.
I prefer to open them after lunch now they're older but my husband insistes on doing it on the morning.
If you have loads of presents and the children get bored then I can sort of understand it but not something I've ever thought about doing.

Catsup · 27/12/2020 01:29

I've honestly never heard of 'tree presents', but we always had a 'morning present' (the one from santa) which was shoved under our bed so my parents could fob us off for extra time Christmas morning 😂. So we'd wake up open that one at silly o'clock and then either played with it, or went back to sleep until my parents got up at the more reasonable 7am.

Justsocross · 27/12/2020 01:37

I’ve done it since I was a teenager !! Now mid 50s it started after I found a forgotten present on Boxing Day one year and it was so exciting o wanted everyone to have the excitement and now I also give my kids a small sack of stocking gifts on New Year’s Day !!! Have done it since they were babies to spread out the fun .

Flip

1 2 3 4

Swipe left for the next trending thread