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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:
Catza · 13/12/2023 14:14

She is definitely the one being unreasonable. And potentially mean as kids would be expecting to get what they found on christmas day and might be unpleasantly surprised by the set of entirely different gifts.

GMsAWinner · 13/12/2023 14:14

If they've totally gone out of their way to find the presents, they'll have to deal with the consequences that the surprise is spoilt. Only positive, they can look forward to having whatever it is they're getting. Cost and time wise, no way would I be buying more.

Rosscameasdoody · 13/12/2023 14:15

Absolutely wouldn’t buy new gifts. The surprise has gone, but hopefully that’ll teach them not to go snooping next time.

LiquoriceAllsorts2 · 13/12/2023 14:16

SkaneTos · 13/12/2023 13:51

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

I guess it depends on if she can return the things they found. If bought fairly recently that might possible.

Silverbirchtwo · 13/12/2023 14:18

They won't know they will get the same until they unwrap them.

I remember finding (after searching hard) my Christmas presents as a small child. Unfortunately my Mum was working Christmas Eve night and didn't get home until about 8 am. My Dad put out the presents, but he didn't find the ones my Mum had hidden, so I was in tears that I hadn't got them when my Mum got home. She was pretty mad both at my Dad for not putting them out and at me for obviously having looked for and found them. A very fraught Christmas morning, my Mum was really not in the mood for a huge upset having just finished a night shift.

Original poster
Greenpolkadot · 13/12/2023 14:19

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.

Edited

All the stuff was out. One toy had been taken out it's box.
I think she walked in on them playing with it.
Like most people I haven't got the funds too replace all this and I don't think she has either. She talked about 'looks like I'll have to borrow some money to sort this out ,'. And just laughed...like kids will be kids..wtf..

OP posts:
viques · 13/12/2023 14:20

I wouldn’t say anything, but I would ask a friend to look after all the presents until Christmas. If the little sneaks go searching again it might be a shock to find the presents have all disappeared, especially if the OP’s friend refuses to talk about where they have gone to. Make them squirm a bit!

WickerMam · 13/12/2023 14:21

To be honest - I'd probably buy an extra thing or two for the youngest of the three. Clearly, there is a big brother/sister there leading them astray, as they must be pretty young still, and it's a pity that it has been ruined for them.

Switchandflake · 13/12/2023 14:21

They’ve ruined their own surprises by deliberately hunting for the gifts, so now they can live with the disappointment of not having much anticipation for Christmas morning.

They’ll probably not go hunting again!

Socialyawkward · 13/12/2023 14:21

WhichIsItWendy · 13/12/2023 14:09

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.

Show quote history

Well I've never ever in 13 years had to actually give a single one away yet 🤷‍♀️ they ask for and chose out a huge majority of what they get so the rest should be suprises imo keeps the magic alive. They know absolutely where they are kept and actually make fun out of the situation themselves.

ManateeFair · 13/12/2023 14:22

She took the gifts away but then wonders if she should buy a whole new load of stuff as the suprise has gone

But the flipside of that is that her kids might then be colossally disappointed on Christmas morning to receive a bunch of gifts that were not the ones they'd seen and got excited about. They might be absolutely buzzing at the thought of opening presents on Christmas morning and finally being able to play with that amazing toy they'd spotted in the hidden gifts pile and desperately wanted, only to be massively disappointed to be given something completely different that they didn't want anywhere near as much.

BananaPyjamaLlama · 13/12/2023 14:22

Ridiculous to buy more. As someone else said "a ruined surprise is the consequence of snooping". If she buys more they wont have learnt anything positive from the experience. They will have learnt that they can snoop, steal, lie, do whatever and no worries cos mum will cover it up and they wont get into trouble. Cue massively entitled badly behaved kids and later on teenagers who are a nightmare.

CharlotteBog · 13/12/2023 14:22

We used to snoop as kids. I'm sure my Mum knew. She never said anything. We learnt our own lesson.

FirstTimeTTC989 · 13/12/2023 14:23
  1. How much time does this woman have to go buy new presents??
  2. Why are so many parents here so bothered about the surprise element? The kids looked for the gifts, they ruined their own surprise but clearly they're not that bothered by the surprise anyway? They might even be more upset when not getting the gifts they expected.
Ittastesvile · 13/12/2023 14:23

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.

This.
If you don't want to spoil the surprise, don't snoop.

BlueberryVelvet · 13/12/2023 14:24

Madness.

It’s a life lesson for them … actions have consequences

Week54 · 13/12/2023 14:25

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

IveOnlyEverHeardOutwithONHere · 13/12/2023 14:25

So your friend wants to reward her kids for deliberately searching the house to find out what they’ve got? Well, if she does she’s daft, and her kids will grow up to be right spoilt brats. And, you know, kids who are allowed to get away with it can be manipulative, so next year, if something they’re disappointed with, they’ll just make it known that they’ve found it so they get something different. That’s what you encourage when you reward bad behaviour.

TurkeyTrotToXmas · 13/12/2023 14:26

Nope. Natural consequence for snooping is that the surprised is ruined.

IME plenty of kids snoop, they're just not always caught

Macaroni46 · 13/12/2023 14:28

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…

No. Then they don't learn the consequences of snooping!
Get the elf to write they're sorry to hear that the DC were snooping and Santa says, hope you like the presents!

Dragonbed · 13/12/2023 14:29

Bad idea all round to buy more.
Mine came across some their presents by mistake one year and I did swap them around with their cousins’ presents but if they have deliberately looked that’s different.

Sugarfree23 · 13/12/2023 14:29

WickerMam · 13/12/2023 14:21

To be honest - I'd probably buy an extra thing or two for the youngest of the three. Clearly, there is a big brother/sister there leading them astray, as they must be pretty young still, and it's a pity that it has been ruined for them.

I think that's what I'd do too.
The older kids have spoilt Santa for the LO

WeeOrcadian · 13/12/2023 14:29

I would've been about 10 when I opened every one of my presents and then resealed them

It was the worst Christmas ever

I'm 40+4 now and I've never peeked since

CustardySergeant · 13/12/2023 14:29

She should tell the children that, as they've found the presents, she's going to buy all new presents so that they'll still have a lovely surprise on Christmas morning.

Then on Christmas morning she should give them the presents they found (not having bought any new ones).

When they open them, they'll be surprised won't they?

Mission accomplished! 🤣😂🤣

😋

PossumintheHouse · 13/12/2023 14:31

No chance. As has already been said, if she laughs this off and goes out and buys them a whole load of new presents, they’ll make it their mission to find the ‘first’ presents every year. I can’t believe she hasn’t told them off for snooping.