To think no one does this - Christmas toys related

[EvilsElsasPetSnowman]

So MIL once did a judgy shock-face at me when, after asking if I take all the toys out the boxes and test them before Christmas Day, before wrapping them, i said “No of course not!”. She said “Oh I did with all of my kids’ toys! I made sure they had batteries in and that they worked because there’s nothing sadder than if a child can’t enjoy their present on Christmas Day”.

I pointed out that as a SAHM she probably had more time to do stuff like that than I do, and that if a toy doesn’t work I’ll replace it at the earliest opportunity, and the kids will have to live with the disappointment and that it won’t kill them, that’s life.

Anyway she went on to say that not only did she un box and then re box the toys, she would also read Lego instructions so she knew how to build the sets, and get this - if they were getting a computer game she’d set up their consoles and play the game so that if they needed help on a level she’d know what to do to help

She just kept (rather smugly) saying “I always made sure I was prepared when it came to Christmas and that my kids knew I was always there for them if they needed my help with something”. I REALLY felt like saying “Funny how you weren’t there for them when you left their dad and moved in with your new fella and his kids for a year, completely ignoring their existence and not even turning up to parents evening or their sports matches, emotionally scarring all 4 of them, but the real failure as a mother is me as I don’t play Animal Crossing before my son gets to”. But I didn’t.

I think this is totally bonkers? Does anyone actually do this?

Also how in the actual fuck would you ever get toys back in the box?! I asked this and she says “it’s easy they just go in the same as they came out”. She clearly hasn’t met vacuumed toy packaging of the 2020’s some of which needs a hacksaw to even open

YABU = Yep I do this you slovenly woman
YANBU = that’s bat shit crazy and no one does it.

I never even had time to wrap until midnight Xmas eve when my kids were young. Never crossed my mind to test the toys. Pointless Stealth bragging! Imo.

She knows she was a failure as a mother, and is just grasping at straws. Ignore it, it's not even worth trying to think of a reply.

I make sure we have the right batteries for everything and if it's something that needs properly setting up, we might do that then sort of half wrap it but already put together (looking at you, mario kart hot wheels racing track). I only do this to save myself agro on the actual day and to lessen the chance of my kids hearing a whole host of new swear words as things can't just be simple.

I would feel guilty playing their computer games first! There is something special about removing the plastic wrapper from a fresh game box 🤣.

I think doing it or not doing it is fine.

Judging from either side is not fine.

I think this is ott. Kids need to learn patience like waiting for batteries etc. I might set up a laptop or phone in advance, but if they are old enough to have them, they are old enough to wait.

And do you not think patiently waiting for Santa, counting down days to advent calendars and then actual advent calendar is being patient enough?

You want them to be even more patient on Christmas morning when everyone has got them hyped up to the absolute max?

I check all the toys/presents, but I don't put them back in the box unless it's something like a board game. A big part of why I do it is to get rid of the packaging before the birthday/holiday. Also some of those shrinkwrapped plushies need time to expand out and look terrifying still in their packaging.

We've never bought that much so it doesn't take that long to check & I often buy secondhand so there is somewhat more of a need to check condition.

I understand why many don't, it's similar to why I don't wrap presents, haven't in a long time. All my kids have a large zip up gift bag, each with its own pattern so back when they couldn't read they knew which theirs was (used to do different wrapping paper), and all their presents go in there. For birthdays and gift giving holidays, I have all bags in my bedroom and just check the item and put things in their bag when they come into the house/I go through parcels. It takes my husband or I very little time to check and sort it out, far less than when we were wrapping things. It came about to be easier on us and less time consuming with four kids, not anything special.

I never checked instructions for legos or played through their video games though. We do download digital video games before so they're "opened" when the child uses the device (they do get excited spotting new things), and do the same with ebooks, but that's also when we're buying them so to me it's the same 'sorting it when it comes in' thing.

Never did this. What a waste of time. we just set things up on the day.

Yes they can wait more. They'll more than likely have something else new to play with whilst setting stuff up.

Our kids aren't hyped up to the max, calm low key Christmas is the way.

But yes, they can wait ...

I have never done this - my kids are 9 and 6 but Christmas is utterly magical and wonderful for them even so! A few years ago we gave DD a wooden barbie princess castle type thing that was unbuilt. It was fine - built it in 'twixtmas'. There were no tears. Not once has she complained. (And she would have!)

People really overthink Christmas planning these days. Talk about making life unnecessarily difficult for yourself.

Just make sure you have batteries ready. Building something up can be done by another adult if you're cooking the Xmas lunch. My 8 year old dgc is tech savvy already & can download games himself, or another adult can help. Easy. No fuss needed!

I think there's a big difference between opening boxes to make sure there is nothing missing or broken and putting batteries in and building a toy or adding stickers, which the child might want to do themselves. It would be really disappointing if a present has to be sent back to the shop because it's damaged, and just opening the box carefully to check the contents and then sealing it up again on my takes a few minutes.

It wasn't such as issue when I was a child because my Mum made all of my main Christmas and birthday presents but I always checked that the presents I bought for my daughter were complete and I damaged before I gave them to her.

I know that wasn’t directed at me, but yes I would expect patience while things are being taken out of boxes and batteries are being put in. They’re not savages, they understand having to wait a little while. Unless you have a full on Dudley Dursley. Patience is a virtue after all

Yes we have built football tables (bastard took us 4 hours for 3 adults so good job we did), built garages and put stickers on etc ahead of Christmas morning so that they could be played with immediately and not have to be put away until we had time to do it because of getting Christmas lunch etc. I would actually have thought that was more of a normal thing to do than make a kid sit around looking at something they wanted and they now had to wait another few hours for.

They can but why would you want them to? I would rather see their little eyes light up and them have the thrill of playing with their cherished item immediately (and it keep them busily occupied) while we got dresser and sorted lunch.

This 'holier than thou' parenting advice would be pretty hard to take from someone who abandoned their kids. She obviously had a lot of time on her hands if she could put the batteries in, test all the toys, play the computer games, learn how to put the lego together and have an affair. A veritable multi-tasker.

It takes literally seconds to put batteries in. People are hardly delaying cooking lunch because they haven’t taken a present out of the box before wrapping!

It can take more than a few seconds if you haven't got the right batteries, or the toy needs a screwdriver to undo the battery compartment and you can't quite remember where the screwdriver is, and then you need your glasses too ....

Different families, different children, different levels of organisation. It is all ok.

As ever the devil is in the detail. Popping a couple of AA batteries in, yeah sure, do it there and then. And NT kids can learn to do it themselves no problem, and cope with disappointment or waiting. But a complex building process that can take hours, like with the football table above will probably result in pissed off parents, whinging kids and a spoiled day. Why do that? Theres a big difference in a toy where building it is part of the process like Lego and when it's just an obstacle. Anyone want to be given a flat pack IKEA set for Christmas? So many posts here rubbishing the whole idea of a bit of prepping because it's easy to put in batteries. ...how about ND kids, single parents dealing with multiple kids who all need help at the same time, complex tech that isn't the same as an Atari. Nuance matters.

Allthenameshavegone1972

the tone was definitely off though (from someone who has done both). And yes I get offended over that sort of thing! I am extra tired and cranky at the mo and didn’t mean to derail the thread so sorry!

100%. I’d be pretty annoyed at any child above the age of about 4 who was sulking things weren’t ready or demanding I go quicker when I set it up. Christmas Day is not the time or place for ingratitude or demanding, when they’ve just been give hundreds of pounds worth of toys

Their little eyes can light up when it’s ready.

I’d want them to wait because, well, that’s life and patience is a skill. They’ve just got a shit load of toys they can have the patience to wait for it to be ready

I agree. Then again I’m not in the “Take 10 hours to cook what is essentially a big Sunday roast” camp