Opening presents. Early morning free for all or more reserved and spread throughout the day?

[ENormaSnob]

We normally have a mad hour of opening first thing.

With 3 dc it's difficult to see who got what from whom

what do you do?

Stockings first on our bed.
Other presents usually still in the morning but we might spread them out if we felt it necessary (maybe if they were so busy playing with one gift that they'd barely notice another one).
The only real 'rule' is that only one present is being opened at one time so everyone else can see.
Really don't like the everyone-dive-in frenzy where everyone rips them open at the same time, as I like to see what everyone's got and how much they like it :)

Stocking first in DD's room, as we put it at the end of her bed, then into the living room where DD opens hers first, then me, then DH. Them I make breakfast while DH constructs all the fiddly toys DD plays.

Stockings in bed. Then presents in morning whilst i drink coffee and keep note of who gave what. And one person at a time taking turns so we can all see what you got and if you liked it.

Stockings in my bed with tea for me
Then all get dressed and have breakfast
Then dc hand out presents one at a time so I can record who had what from who until -i'm too drunk on bubbly to care-- and we can all see what everyone has got.

Hmm. I like the idea of slowly opening one at a time so we can all see what everyone got.

But I also have horrendous memories of childhood Christmases where we spent the entire afternoon sitting around the living room, slowly opening the presents. We'd all get one each to open. And then we were supposed to appreciate it, apparently, and not dive straight on to the next one. So we'd sit around for a bit. Me, my parents, my brother, sometimes my gran. And then after a while my mum would say "ooh, shall we open another one" like it was a big surprise that we'd do that, and either my brother or I had to find a present for each person from under the tree, and hand them round (heaven forbid that Mum or Dad left their armchairs for the whole of the afternoon). If you were lucky the present was something you could immediately play with. As we got older, this was less likely. I do remember being so bored I wanted to start gnawing my arms off ... As a teenager I realised that there would always be a book for me under the tree somewhere, so I'd find it and open that first. Then I could properly appreciate my present - aka, spend all afternoon reading it. Wouldn't have been allowed to read any old book, but this was a present so that was alright ... Oh and we never opened presents till the afternoon, either. Very boring morning too. [bitter].

So, now, in my family, we all have a pile of presents and dh shouts "go!" and there's a flurry of wrapping paper and lots of squeals. 7.3 minutes later they've all been opened and we can all start to look at everything that everyone's got. And then we have breakfast . And my parents don't come .

stocking (with little bits and bobs) opened in our bed - all cuddly and we have to only open one eye to admire what is going on.

Main presents we do after we have a cup of tea (or 12) in hand and we take our time opening them.

Stockings opened whenever they wake up. Then they come into our bed, dp makes some breakfast and DS1 gets the presents which we open one at a time. Takes most of the morning and is lovely.

We spread over the week .

I have to admit I shudder at accounts like puffin's.

In our house, DC wake and bring in their sacks from Father Christmas. They open their presents on our bed, whilst we watch.

Then we have breakfast / shower / tidy up a bit whilst DC play with toys they have been given and put on their new clothes that FC bought them.

Then we open presents from us (Me, DH and DC) from under the tree (about 5 each). Then children play with those toys and find homes for things etc for the morning.

Before lunch we go to my mum's. Eat Lunch and after lunch we open presents from the Grandparents. Again, taking turns etc. Then we have a buffet and play games etc. Just enjoy the day.

When we return on Boxing day, we will invite over various family members / friends or we go to theirs. Each day will usually involve swapping over at least

Then over the next week we have various people over and as they are family / close friends, we / they will give presents. only a couple each.

I like it this way because then it stops Christmas being all about the presents / it stops it all being over in one day / it means that we get to enjoy the day and its not all over in an hour.

Stocking first then free for all

Then at 9 we go to my parents where its another free for all

Then on boxing day we go to mil who hand out the presants and each one is opened in turn, i takes about two hours and is agonising for the poor kids.

Free for all. I can't be doing with sitting around, arsing about waiting for people to slowly unwrap their presents. SIL is a sellotape peeler, she takes the paper off so neatly it could be used again (it gets bunged in with the ripped off paper though!)

Ahhh i should add that dd is allowed to go through hers first, opened, noted then on to the next adults take turns and we choose for each other so it goes ooo mum no not that one, save that one oen this one. Then we all watch her etc. Then no dh open this one first. Gets all giggly as evidently big presents get steered til last. And we never make homes for toys til well after boxing day. They stay sat in piles in the lounge to be played with at will.

All in our bed to open stockings after dh has made me a cuppa.
Then down stairs for the dc to open presents from under the tree. We try and take it fairly slowly so dh and I can see the children's reactions (5 of them). Then it's the childrens turn to give dh and I our presents from them.
DC usually disappear then so dh and I have a quiet 20 minutes to have a glass of champagne and exchange our own gifts.
At about 11am my mum, 2 DBs and sister and her family come round so we all do family presents. Mum and DBs stay for lunch joined by FiL.
When my family leave after lunch we will open FiLs presents.

In the distant days before MiL decided I was not worthy and stopped talking to us we had to take turns. Everyone sat in a circle and the first present was given out by MiL. Everyone then had to spend a few minutes guessing what it might be. It was then opened admired, appreciated and on to the next person. MiL also had a tradition of buying lots of joke gifts. So much of the time was spent admiring a plug or a pack of cinnamon sticks it was hell.

Free for all here. My children do stop to appreciate presents though. Drives me barmy

When we're with my parents, stockings on the bed delivered by FC in the morning.

Then presents after lunch, mostly more or less one at a time (because we all want to see what everyone else has got & whether they like it!) but not particularly strictly so. The 'after lunch' has mellowed with the generations (and the advent of dishwashers). In my childhood it was after we had finished washing up Christmas lunch. In my Dad's childhood it was after they had listened to the Queen's speech - all standing up respectfully!!!

With DH's parents (ie at their house, they haven't ever been to ours on Xmas day) presents are opened in the morning roughly one at at a time. As a cook I don't like that so much as either I miss out on the fun or I have to dash back and forth a lot & something invariably gets missed.

Stocking in the morning with a big present from FC.
In the afternoon all the presents from under the tree are given out one at a time. That way I can make sure that everybody knows who gave them what and they can thank the right people.
We leave one small present on the tree until tea time.

I'm a free for all, DH is a one at a time. I must admit I find it a struggle at ILs when we do it their way (nothing is opened till after lunch anyway and then one at a time...how appreciative can you be when everyone is watching you open a basket of shower gel/soap etc???

i much prefer the free for all, but understand that it is how you are brought up and DH thinks it is a bit vulgar the way my family just go for it??!!

I'm not sure what we will do with DDs (3 and 8 months) I think probably a mixture, stockings first, breakfast, then free for all for the kids. Then we (DH and I ) will probably open ours when DDs have done to bed.

We have stocking upstairs first thing.
We go down stairs a gawp at all the pressies, and the children stand and whine because Iwon#t let them touch them until me and dh have made a cup of tea. Then we open them all! I give out the presents from us first so they can rip open the pressies and I know they are from us. With the others from aunts and other people, we are a bit slower so I can write down who got what.
In the afternoon we open more at mum and dads house (usually from them, and a couple of my aunts).
We also have a tradition of keeping some back for Boxing Day, last year we saved dd1s guitar, ds1's Lego, and Playmobil for dd2 and ds2 and opened them Boxing Day after lunch, just so there is not too much in one day.

stockings all in parental bed

main presents after breakfast and on strict rotation so we can all see what everyone got and I can write down what they got

tree presents after lunch

Stockings in our bed first thing. Other presents after the first after-lunch dishwasher load is on, about 3.30-4ish? One person at a time. If family are coming after Christmas, we open their presents with them on that day.

Oh. We appear to be rather mean. Fortunately our poor children have never known anything different

Stockings in the morning, then a cuppa and then presents spread out throughout the day. Love it! Also have to write down what everyone gets and who it's from to write thank yous.

Stockings in their rooms to give us extra 5 minutes with them running in and out to show us what they have then all downstairs for the free for all pile from santa, it still takes an hour or so as theres often so much

hen inlaws over so their presents, then my dad, so his presents, then we go out for dinner, then back to ours for presents from my sis...its a massive present fest and I love it :)

At home or when staying with my family...
Stocking from Father Christmas first thing.
Then special Christmas breakfast. Then church. Then helping to cook Christmas lunch/ going for a walk. If someone has been bought a particular present that it would be better to open in the morning (ie a new bike to take on the walk, new clothes to wear on the day) then they can be given in the morning, otherwise presents are opened after lunch has been cleared away.
We open one at a time and everyone watches .

When staying with inlaws...
Stocking from Father Christmas first thing. Breakfast, Church, then mid-morning coffee and present opening. Everyone gets handed a pile and opens them all together. I'm not so keen on this as I can't keep an eye on what DD is opening and open mine at the same time, so then I'm not sure who gave her what.

We always had stockings first thing, then breakfast, church, lunch and washing up before we were allowed to open presents. Although it was hard waiting until the afternoon, with hindsight it made the day more exciting because we were looking forward to the highlight (for us) for longer. It also meant we appreciated our stocking presents more and were marginally more willing to help with the washing up. I think we'll do the same with DD and any future DCs.