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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
Twobrews · 27/12/2020 08:48

@MrsKoala
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.

For my children Father Christmas brings some of the things on the list and some surprises. The lists they do are just as much for family members who ask for ideas as they are for Father Christmas.
FC hangs a stocking on their door handle and fills a sack in the living room. None of the presents come from DH and me.

All the other presents from friends and family and each other are the tree presents, we open them on Boxing Day.

MrsKoala · 27/12/2020 10:32

Nothing on the kids lists would have fitted in a stocking. That was just extra things we bought. The things under the tree were from the list and from Santa and us. We don’t have presents from anyone else apart from my parents who bring them over in person when they visit. I think they’d start questioning why Santa brought them stuff not on the list but that they’d seen in a shop with mummy. I’m sure my oldest would twig then.

I’m loving the idea of a present from a tree tho. May start doing this next year.

PoppyOppy · 27/12/2020 10:42

As a child we had Stockings in bed, a small present from parents at Breakfast, then immediate family presents after the Queen’s Speech. We went to various aunties and uncles on Christmas Night for more presents, some of which were brought home for Boxing Day if the pile was too high (10 children and and 14 adults was a lot of presents!)

On New Year's Eve we had a small present from the tree, something to keep like a piece of jewellery or a watch kind of thing.

It spread Christmas out so no one got overwhelmed. Plus we had two birthdays and a wedding anniversary in between too so we had parties almost every day from Christmas to New Year!

Fun times. 😊

Trivium4all · 27/12/2020 11:00

German traditions here, so much different! Altogether fewer presents, even when I was a child.

St Nicholas Day (6th December), St Nicholas comes overnight to leave chocolate and a small present or two in your shoe/boot, which you leave out for the occasion.

Christmas Eve, after the late-afternoon church service (a modified Vespers), either the Christmas Man (pretty much the same as Father Christmas) or the Christ Child comes to leave the presents under the tree, and he/she rings the best-sounding bell on the tree to summon the children (and magically disappears before they arrive). All these presents are opened Xmas Eve.

The Christ Child is rather peculiar: it's, I gather, a post-Reformation thing, meant to replace the Catholic St Nicholas, and it's somehow simultaneously both the baby Jesus, i.e. a male baby, and a young girl with long curly blonde hair and a gold dress. For some reason, this made perfect sense when I was little. I guess I figured Jesus can appear however he wants!

The presents were never "from" the Christmas Man or the Christ Child, though (my parents sort of mixed them up all the time, and I think we figured the job of getting all the presents out into the world was big enough that there could be a job-share). They just distributed all the gathered-up presents from the parents and extended family!

We started trying to make/buy presents for our parents and each other from quite a young age. I remember taking the bus into town when I was 9 to spend my collected pocket money. My mom got 3 wooden cooking spoons that year, I think. She hates cooking, but I think at least one of those spoons has still survived.

thethoughtfox · 27/12/2020 11:15

We do stockings straight away on Christmas morning then dc opens one or two presents while we adults open one each. Then we open presents here and there when we fancy it. That way dc has time to enjoy and play with presents and it keeps the fun going over a few days.

Nowaynothappening · 27/12/2020 11:32

Ours are all opened within an hour so by 7am on Christmas morning. The DC just dive in and look at them all properly afterwards. I did this as a child too. Seems a bit joyless to insist they reserve some for the next day.

Twobrews · 27/12/2020 15:03

I think they’d start questioning why Santa brought them stuff not on the list but that they’d seen in a shop with mummy. I’m sure my oldest would twig then.
I understand that, but I also think once they start questioning then it's time to stop. My younger two are just turned 10 and 8 so I think this is probably our last year.

Twobrews · 27/12/2020 15:06

Seems a bit joyless to insist they reserve some for the next day.
We don't insist presents are left, it's not questioned because it's what we've always done. As I said upthread for us it was a joyless Boxing Day the year we saw everyone on Christmas Day so we had nothing to open on Boxing Day!

Gottalovesummer · 27/12/2020 15:13

4 of us here.

Stockings opened in bed then all downstairs to open all our presents. Takes ages but is fun and it's Christmas! We never save any for the next day, never occured to us to do that.

Topseyt · 27/12/2020 16:56

Everything just bunged under the tree here and all opened in one go on Christmas morning.

I must be a boring old fart, but we like it that way.

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