spending xmas with SIL and family..

[tyaca]

... and their kids and our kids will be opening pressies on xmas morning together.

Would it be very bad manners to ask in advance how many pressies they will be giving? and then all try to sync? Ours are 4 and 3, DNs are 5 and 7. Spent xmas with them two years ago and they bought their kids a lot more than we did ours, but that wasn't a prob cause ours were so little then. They don't spend that much money i don't think, but do buy a lot. i'm much more of a one big, one small and one book type present giver. i DREAD huge piles of pressies. it all becomes quite meaningless quite quickly IMHO. I am really looking to xmas, love SIL and family, just wondered what other families do in similar situations...

I think that's fair to ask.

i always ensure we have the same wrapping paper on the Santa presents too - that could be your pretext for asking!

we have to just ask, don't we?

i think when we spent xmas with them two years we looked really tight giving kids two pressies each or something. and then the two years before that, when dd was 9mo i don't think we bought her anything and it all felt a bit weird .

My sister gives her kids more and they get a lot more from grandparents. My son was a little jealous of a few of the presents his cousin got but got over it very quickly!

I do agree with my sister what is coming from santa and we get things for all the kids stockings so they have broadly the same.

Did your kids mention it?

My DS thought his "non requested" gifts were pretty superfluous last year.

In fact he seemed rather annoyed with FC for wasting his energy on things he didn't ask for.

In the frenzy of the morning won't they just be concerned that they got their wishes?

Nothing worse than enforced unwrapping, IMO

Just strike up the conversation of what are the kids having, and start mentally totting it all up.

Could you have Xmas morning separately & travel after?
Sounds hell a joint Xmas

morning frenzy of unwrapping? you savages! it's one at a time round our way. maybe that's half the problem... maybe we just all need to pile in.

kids were too young to notice last time. i suspect the main present we get our dc's this year might look quite big compared to their pressies, so this dilemma works both ways. of course i could have got it all wrong and they're thinking along exact the same lines as them.

i think dh can make the call. SIL would probably appreciate someone being savvy enough to bring it up.

right. just got to start the shopping now.

my DS' second christmas was spent with the in laws

we all sat in a circle and opened a present each in turn. I was out of presents a long way first and it was quite embarrassing. Especially when BIL and his girlf seemed to have bough each other hundreds of presents and we had to sit and watch them open them all

The frenzy of unwrapping is me...

DS opens his like he's defusing a bomb.