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Christmas

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Original poster

if you are away from home at Christmas, how do you 'do' the kids presents?

18 replies

wahwahwah · 06/12/2011 23:11

Do you give them early, lug them with you or leave them at home until you get back?

OP posts:
BlueEyeshadow · 06/12/2011 23:13

Lug them all around the country, gaining and losing more for the rest of the family as we go...

CointreauVersial · 06/12/2011 23:15

Well, the stocking comes with us (the man in red knows where you are staying). If we are driving somewhere, we lug most things with us (unless they are massive), but if we are flying, they have them when we get home.

Never early, though (meany).

Sillyoldelf · 06/12/2011 23:15

We always lug them with us ... By the time the car is packed I am usually worn out and fed up with DH as it's always me who does the packing of everything !

Original poster
wahwahwah · 06/12/2011 23:20

Oh bugger. More crap to crowbar into the car!

OP posts:
LittleDragon · 06/12/2011 23:23

Atm we're without DC'sbut have discussed this as we're hoping to make Christmas away a tradition.

Our plans are to take the smaller presents and stockings with us and big presents will be set up by santa (aka nanna and grandad or godmother) if need be or opened when we get back and we will by sent email photos at some point through the day. We wouldn't go out the country so flying isn't a problem

winnybella · 06/12/2011 23:23

We're taking them all on Eurostar Hmm I would feel mean to make the kids wait til we get back home.

zippy539 · 06/12/2011 23:27

We pack them all up and send them in a box via parcelforce/similar to the destination then do then whole thing in reverse six days later to get them back home. (We're flying Easyjet and I'd rather pull out my own teeth than give them more money for excess luggage).

CushieButterfield · 06/12/2011 23:30

Lug them with us, but usually involves packing the presents in the middle of the night so that we don't have to explain why Santa hadn't delivered them to Granny's house...

CointreauVersial · 06/12/2011 23:39

Bloody hell, zippy, what a palaver! Is it really worth it?

zippy539 · 06/12/2011 23:47

Yes - it is a palaver. But given that we've got to fly I reckon it's cheaper than packing them all up into several suitcases and paying the excess charges for hold luggage.

reindeesandchristmastrees · 07/12/2011 00:10

By the way if you are flying Easyjet if you purchase sports equipment then you can get extra baggage qite cheaply

3duracellbunnies · 07/12/2011 06:57

I wrap them all here, carefully sort them into separate bags for each child with their name on, then dh packs them into the boot, rearranging them as he sees fit, muttering about how much money we've spent, and that they have far too much c**@ already. We then pack everything else around their feet and hope that they don't wonder why the boot is full.

At the other end we get everything out under cover of darkness, I have tizzy fit when realise 6yr old has rubber duck in stocking and 2yr old has enough hama beads to constitue a full meal. The children then dispense of all the packaging, we leave a few, gain a few, pack up again, move to next location, unpack the boot to find the 'favourite' toy which is inevitably a 20p stocking filler which has fallen to bottom of boot. Leave a few, gain a few, drive home and unload back into house they first started in.

Don't know how will fit dd1 scooter in, takes up half our bedroom as it is, probably 90 percent packaging though. Hope that has filled you with joy and excitement about being away from home for Christmas!

KinkyDoritoWithFairyLightsOn · 07/12/2011 08:25

When I'm at Mum's, which is over an hour's drive away, I get my presents delivered to her house in the run up (buy most stuff from Amazon). I then go over in November and wrap it all there and store it in her attic as she has far more space than me.

Snuppeline · 07/12/2011 09:12

We've been going away a few Christmas'es but as dd is only 3 so far its been fine, we've taken her main present and a few from important others but left everything else at home for later. Obviously where we go she gets more so she's not deprived. I figure as long as she doesn't realise (yet) how many presents she really gets (far too many!) then she wont miss any on Christmas day. I would never let her open up presents early though, that would be cheating.

Original poster
wahwahwah · 07/12/2011 12:12

We have usually have the presents from us early then cram whatever Santa is bringing into the boot. Last year we were snowed in, so it wasn't an issue but I think that this is the last year that DS will believe in Santa so I don't want to mess it up. then again, we may get snowed in again! what's the reports saying for central Scotland this year?

OP posts:
ilovespinach · 07/12/2011 12:21

We fly over to the UK every year. We used to take the kids presents with us but stopped when we had to buy an additional suitcase one year to accomodate them and the presents from our family. Now we sneak them under the tree so they are waiting for the kids when they come back. The kids are always very excited to find that Santa came to our house too!

CointreauVersial · 07/12/2011 12:56

Zippy - when I said "what a palaver" I meant why don't you just leave them at home instead of taking them back and forth? That would be cheapest of all. They must acquire a few gifts from family when you arrive.

Maybe take a few small things for the day, but a massive parcel-load that you have to pay for there and back again? DS got an X-Box last year; it would have been totally pointless to post it over to Ireland for him to open, then pack it up again to send home, given that he couldn't actually use it while we were away! He just opened it when we got back.

Rosa · 07/12/2011 13:06

SOme here some there-...Stockings there and then big things that we can't transport like a hula hoop and a bike are here as a surprise when we get back .
We do however write a note to Santa saying where we are just incase he is worried !!!!!

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