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Original poster

Kids found hidden Christmas gifts...what would you do ?

271 replies

Greenpolkadot · 13/12/2023 13:50

Talking with some friends yesterday.
One tells us that her kids (3 under 10 ). found all their gifts from where she had hidden them.
She says they must done a proper search as they were hidden in cupboards ' the shed and various other places.
She took the gifts away but then wonders if she should buy a whole new load of stuff as the suprise has gone .
Personally I would keep the discovered stuff and re-present it on Christmas morning...but she thinks I'm being mean and unreasonable.

OP posts:
SkaneTos · 13/12/2023 13:51

Your friend must be wealthy if she can afford to buy a whole new load of presents.

MondayBags678 · 13/12/2023 13:52

No way I’d buy more

15PiecesOfFlair · 13/12/2023 13:53

No way would I buy more, wtf?! The kids chose not to have a surprise, so that's what they won't get. They'll still get the toys.

FrozenGhost · 13/12/2023 13:53

Of course not, so what if they know what they are getting. The consequence of searching for your xmas gifts is that they are no longer a surprise.

Oreosareawful · 13/12/2023 13:53

Absolutely not! What if they find the new gifts? Does she replace them too? Where does it end?

LastYearsChristmasStamps · 13/12/2023 13:54

So Your friend is buying even more presents so they still get a surprise? Bonkers. It’s like a reward for sneaking about.

I’d just give them the things they found. A good lesson that you spoil your own surprise if you hunt for presents.

HAF1119 · 13/12/2023 13:56

Crikey this makes me feel my mum was mean! I found mine (things were more restricted back then, it was 2 presents) and my mum told me she took both back as you shouldn't look for them. I got one but not the other in the end.. I didn't search again!

DuploTrain · 13/12/2023 13:56

No of course I wouldn’t buy more.
They’ve ruined the surprise for themselves by looking when they knew they weren’t meant to.

Next year they probably won’t look.

Heyhoherewegoagain · 13/12/2023 13:56

I’m with you…otherwise it’s a free pass for them to do the same next year

Great big huge lesson in actions having consequences

FairyPolka · 13/12/2023 13:56

No, I wouldn’t reward them for snooping. That’s so indulgent. I would not necessarily tell them off for it (because I did it myself and think a lot of kids do it). It’s a lesson learned, snooping spoils the surprise.

Greydogs123 · 13/12/2023 13:56

Absolutely not - if the children have purposefully looked for the presents then, although they may not have fully understood the consequences, they will learn an important lesson. At those ages I imagine that they will be less bothered about the surprise and may even forget some of them before the big day. They will have new toys to play with and that’s what they’ll be bothered about.

JustWhatWeDontNeed · 13/12/2023 13:56

I absolutely wouldn't buy other stuff.

Did they tell her that they looked? Or did they pull the stuff out? I snooped once when I was about 6 but I kept quiet. In reality I only disappointed myself. But it did mean I was prepared for not receiving what I'd really, really hoped for.

A ruined surprise is the consequence of snooping.

Timeforabiscuit · 13/12/2023 13:56

Its a really important lesson to learn that the "surprise" will be ruined if they go poking about!.

Absolutely no to buying new presents! I'd have more sympathy if they stumbled across them, but this is a natural consequence.

SinnerBoy · 13/12/2023 13:56

I definitely wouldn't buy new presents. I would be giving them a telling off. It's silly to think of replacing them all, even if she's rolling in it.

spriots · 13/12/2023 13:58

How did she not notice 3 under 10s ransacking the house?!

InTheRainOnATrain · 13/12/2023 13:58

Gift them anyway. Most kids write Christmas lists or letters to Santa anyway and probably expect to get most of it so it really isn’t THAT much of a surprise anyway.

allofthelove · 13/12/2023 13:58

Nope . But I learnt the hard way and they didn't search for them , they just happened upon them . From then on , I wrapped them as soon as I got them , so if they did search or happen on them , they wouldn't know what it is .

MotherWol · 13/12/2023 13:58

I caught DD(8) red handed having found her gifts. Explained that I wasn't cross, but in spoiling the surprise it was only herself she was spoiling it for. TBH I don't think any of her gifts will come as a surprise to her, as she's been quite snoopy when I've been looking at stuff online too, so Christmas Day might be a bit of an anticlimax for her. Oh well, that's the natural consequence of snooping! I'm not going to get cross with her about it, but I definitely won't buy new/different gifts either.

Skyisbluegrassisgreen · 13/12/2023 14:00

Get her to get the elves to write a letter saying they’d run out if storage at the North Pole do they needed to borrow their cupboards! That they would be taking them back to the North Pole soon…

User1775 · 13/12/2023 14:03

I have never hidden them, I've just kept them in a big box in my bedroom. If they want to look and ruin it more fool them. They have never looked as far as I know. We also leave treat food in reach etc and money etc and have never had any issues. DD took a pack of chocolates and ate them all when she was about 8 and she was so upset and guilty afterwards she was distraught, I suggested she bought more with her bday money and since then we've had no issues.

CurlewKate · 13/12/2023 14:04

If they are old enough for them to search without her noticing they don't believe in FC any more. So just shrug and say "oh well, no surprises then. What a shame. Come on now, dinner time." End of discussion.

Socialyawkward · 13/12/2023 14:04

Tell her my rule I bet I'm an evil scrouge. That rule is if you find it it gets donated. ( gifts are all hidden in locations which would need intentional searching and unlocking ) and I can tell when someone has been near them 😈

44PumpLane · 13/12/2023 14:06

The thing that gets me most about this, with 3 under 10, if she is proposing getting rid and replacing, how many gift ideas does she have!?

Honestly I am struggling to think of something for the grandparents to buy my two as I have thoroughly exhausted all my ideas!!! Ridiculous!!!

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 13/12/2023 14:07

I had a friend whose child not only found all the 'wrapped' Christmas presents, they unwrapped theirs and those of the whole family, meaning that the surprise was gone and the poor parents had to go through wrapping everything up again.

I think they got a rather 'curtailed' Christmas that year.

WhichIsItWendy · 13/12/2023 14:09

Socialyawkward · 13/12/2023 14:04

Tell her my rule I bet I'm an evil scrouge. That rule is if you find it it gets donated. ( gifts are all hidden in locations which would need intentional searching and unlocking ) and I can tell when someone has been near them 😈

Seems overly harsh to me. Why do some parents really struggle with their kids behaving like kids. Did you not like to snoop? I know I did - it's natural. Of course, you can tell them off and explain that they have lost their surprise, but give away their gifts? That's just mean. I couldn't do that to my children who I love.

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