To think if family members / friends give your children presents before Christmas Day it’s fine to open them…

[ShirleyPhallus]

… instead of waiting for Christmas Day?

I thought this would be a unanimous opinion but I’ve seen another thread where lots of posters were saying they make their children wait and open all gifts on Christmas Day with the gift giver on FaceTime

id always let mine open them when they get them, if handed them personally by a family member or friend because:

1. it gives the gift giver the pleasure of watching the child open the present in person
2. it spreads things out a bit for the child so they don’t get completely overwhelmed by loads and loads of presents on Christmas Day

my husband and I both have quite large families so doing a “Christmas Day” celebration with part of the family where we exchange gifts and have a roast a week or two early is totally normal

obviously if someone is sending a gift and it arrives before Christmas it’d go under the tree to be opened on Christmas Day

YABU - all Christmas presents should be saved and opened on Christmas day
YANBU - it’s fine to open presents early if the child is with the gift giver

No presents opened in our house before Christmas Morning

Yes they are? If I meet with friend the weekend before by birthday and they give me presents I open them then. My friends do the same. I don't think it's that uncommon.

I don't think there's a wrong way to do it. Depends on the circumstances, situation and the people involved.

For us, we exchange presents with all our family but save them for Christmas day. We don't facetime the gift givers. We couldn't possibly organise that! But we do make sure we and the kids send a thank you message or say thank you in person if we plan on seeing them that day. To be fair, I think all of our gift givers would be very surprised if we suddenly started opening gifts when we're were given them and not on Christmas day! It's just not how we have ever done it.

YANBU

And I think the parents who take all gifts from others and say the whole pile came from santa are totally insane to.

I agree with you. If they are given presents before Christmas they open them. My dad called today (only time we'll see him over Christmas) and they opened their gifts, as did I and my dad.

It's nice to open them with the people who gifted them.

Amazing how different everyone does Christmas.

Isn’t it, and amazing how everyone who does it differently from me is WRONG

Not seen a single post saying you were wrong op.

I've been called nuts... I think by you? If my memory serves. But hey, keep winking

Yes open them whenever you like. No need for all these unwritten rules, it’s Christmas, people should do what they prefer. If I bought a gift for someone I’d prefer to see them open it, but if they wanted to wait to open it I wouldn’t mind. I’d respect their restraint, I don’t have that lol

I agree with you OP! Let the gift giver see them open it. It is sweet and a nice thing to have a present in the run up to Xmas. Adds to the excitement.

All presents under the tree here and nothing opened until Christmas Day.

We never FT to open them, but do call/FT later in the day to say thank you.
Everyone I know does the same.

I wouldn't ask people to open a gift I have given in advance either.

This is pretty much where we are. We have generous family and friends so there is a risk of being overwhelmed on the day with lots of presents and this seems like a nice balance.

I think it’s a real shame for grandparents (for example) to give the child a gift a few days before Christmas if they’re not spending it with them and then not get to see the child opening it, loving it, playing with jt etc

It didn't feel a shame for my parents or my PILs to not see DD open their gifts. It was the norm for them, as its what happened when me and dh were small, and what happened for them when they were little too. So, there was never any expectation to do so - in fact the opposite. They'd have found it strange if we opened them early.

They got to see dd enjoying and playing with her gifts after the event, and they received thanks on Christmas Day over the phone/FT.

So no - not a shame at all. Just different ways of doing things than you do thats all.

Christmas present get opened in the 25th here.
sounds like your kids get a lot though, so maybe your way works for you.
my kids get presents from Santa and grandparents. They used to get gifts from friends but we all agreed to stop that.

I made mine wait.

They should learn to wait and not get immediate gratification. Plus they will be fed up of opening presents and lose the excitement of finding out what they received.

It almost destroys the build up and excitement.

It really does not.

Plus they will be fed up of opening presents and lose the excitement of finding out what they received.

That’s exactly what happens if they open them all on Christmas Day so it’s better to space them out. I’m in your camp @ShirleyPhallus.

Just personal preference isn't it? No right or wrong answer.

See, when I give someone a present, it’s all about them, not me. So I want them to open it whenever works best for them. 🤷‍♀️

I think waiting is a really important thing for people to learn,so I wouldn’t open early. If you were seeing family in the few days after Christmas, they could save presents to be opened in person. But otherwise, open at Christmas, and send thank you letters, possibly with photos of presents being enjoyed.

This

As a multiple aunt and godparent I don’t want to be FaceTimed a dozen times! The gifts are bought for their pleasure so a thank you message at some point is more than enough.

My daughter opens gifts when she is given them, so last Sunday we were at my mums with all nieces & nephews and the kids all opened their presents as they won't see my mum on Xmas day, yesterday we were at mu dad's, same again and on Boxing day we are at my in-laws where we open gifts then.

Christmas day is when gifts from santa and us are opened.

This way the presents from GPs aren't overshadowed by the bigger gifts from santa

Always on Christmas Day here x