Please tell me how you organise the opening of presents on Christmas Day....

[PinkPaeonies]

Every year we have the same fiasco. The whole extended family - about a dozen of us - gather around the Christmas tree for the grand ceremony of present opening, some time between breakfast and lunch, and usually after a few too many bucks fizzes have been consumed. It starts off ok. I will find and distribute 1 present from the mountain to each family member, we all open them at once and lots of thanks and hugs and kisses ensue.... then, as I try to continue the good work, everyone gets impatient and it all descends into carnage, with everyone delving in at once. Paper flying everywhere and I can't keep up with it all. By the end I am exhausted and not sure who has given me what and also whether others realise what I have given them! There has to be a better way.... please share!!

"Can't be doing with the whole delayed gratification, is it a middle class thing?"

Yes delayed gratification tends to be a middle class thing and normally explains why people are mc - lots of evidence shows that people who can delay gratification are much more financially successful!

Stockings first thing in the morning, then we go to church. And then after church the children get one present each before lunch. Then after lunch (and the washing up) we all sit in a circle and take it in turns to open one present each. After several rounds we will have tea and cake or biscuits. And then we will continue till all the presents are opened. One person has a piece of paper to write down who got what, so that thankyou cards —emails— can be written.

We don't have guests around for the opening of presents so it's just us which I love. Gifts from family and friends go under the tree and ours and DC go in piles the night before just before bed. They wouldn't fit under the tree so makes sense to sort and easy to do so as I use a different wrap for each to save on labelling.

I’m amazed at all this restraint!

Kids wake up around 5am, we try and send the back to bed for as long as possible. Open stockings in bed. Downstairs and open all the presents, in no particular order! The madness is all part of the fun for me.

I also can’t fathom kids being made to wait to open their gifts till after breakfast, lunch or church. Part of the joy is having at them.

Ours are always seperate onto piles and kids open theirs first. Adults after.

Bluntness I think it’s a mumsnet thing never met anyone who waits like that IRL (and yes, we are MC and are all able to exercise restraint at other times!). DH was made to wait until after lunch as a kid and hates the idea for our own - despite being the least materialistic person I know. MIL moans about every year...

Interesting how everyone does it differently. We've always had presents under the tree, given out (usually by children) one at a time, then we all watch while it's opened before moving on to the next gift.

I like seeing what everyone else has received as much as I enjoy opening my own.

We were made to wait until after church and lunch when I was growing up (though stocking and one present were opened after breakfast), it felt like forever, especially when mum wanted to get the dishes done first! And then we'd have to stop for the Queen's Speech. I remember one horrible year my parents decided to have a nap before we opened presents or part way through opening the presents!

That's why I split the presents with some being opened in the morning when DD can then play with and the rest later in the afternoon with the rest of the family. But we open on Christmas Eve so DD is a whole day ahead of the rest of you (which I shall tell her if she moans about having to wait!)

IME for working class families saving up for most of the year and going without other things to give the kids a special time is enough of an exercise in delayed gratification without a show of it on the day.

You have to do what works for your family, the main thing is that everyone is happy with it. My ds would be stressed out by a long drawn out affair and his behaviour and overall enjoyment of the day would suffer, but it’s happier all round if we follow a bit of a routine so we’ve landed somewhere that suits us.

I’m working class but live a middle class life now I guess, so I’m doing it exactly right, apparently

Satsuki - I agree with every word of your post.

6am 3 children pile into my bed and each emptied their stocking of chocolate and swaps what they don't like and start eating.

We then venture downstairs and the children organise all our presents into piles while me and dh make a cuppa and have a fag.
Normal starting with ds2 well take it in turns to open a present each until they are all gone.

We put all the presents into a pile for each person in the main sitting room on Xmas eve then we cover the door with wrapping paper.
The stockings are hung on the fireplace in the family room.
The kids (12,7,4 and3) wake any time between 6 and 7.30. They are not allowed to go downstairs until everyone is up and on the landing then we all (me,dh,dcs,my mum and dhs brother) go down to see if he's been.
Then the kids all get stuck in and we make coffe and try and keep track of who gave what whilst opening our presents.
We open all the presents before breakfast
Then we have breakfast get dressed and go to mass.

DC bring stockings into our room first thing. Then go downstairs and open one large gift from Santa.

After late lunch, about 4pm, the DC take presents from under the tree and sort into piles for each person, then we take it in turns round the room opening one st a time each so everyone can see what each other gets.

DHs family do it differently. They hang onto gifts and hand them out to everyone and all open everything at the same time. I hate it as the best bit is seeing people’s reactions to the gift I’ve bought - which is impossible if everyone opens at the same time.

People are really over thinking this...

No small children here now but we still do things the same way we did, stockings come upstairs at bedtime and are left at the end of the bed (not on the bed), presents are already downstairs those from me are in a sack, presents from other people are under the tree. Stocking fillers are all wrapped and hidden in my room, to be stuffed into stockings once everyone is in bed.

Stockings are opened on my bed with a cup of tea, teenagers may have to be woken up, then we go downstairs and open presents, interspersed with breakfast and more tea. My Mother arrives at some point. We'll be in our PJs until after my Mother leaves and we get ready to go out for lunch. All fairly calm, with the exception of the dog and cat who get overexcited opening their stockings.

My sister who still lives with my mum organised all the presents under the tree into piles for each person around the front room. We all then sit next to our pile and my mum makes us all go round the room and open a present at a time while she takes pictures.

Fyi I'm now 26 and this routine has been going on since I can remember. It literally takes hours for us all to finish opening our presents! This year will be worse as it's my dd's first Christmas and as she is the first grandchild she is already ridiculously spoiled!

Everyone has an individual pile here and filled stockings are hung on the backs of dining chairs around the table.
Presents are opened after breakfast youngest to oldest so everyone gets to see and thank whoever bought them. Stockings are opened at the table between main course and pudding again youngest to oldest.This started years ago as a means to get ds who has ASD to join us at some point at the table as he found it difficult to be surrounded by food he didn't eat. He still doesn't eat the food but he is happier to join in the occasion now but there would be uproar if the stocking routine altered.

Dc come into our bed when they wake to open stockings.

They downstairs and open a few presents at a time, in rounds so either everyone gets one or the dc both get one. Anyone who's run out of their own presents is allocated a pet's present to open with that pet. There are lots of breaks for coffee, breakfast and to play with toys that have been opened. At any point any family member can say "Let's do another present, shall we?" But there is a ban on opening more than 2-3 presents in a row (to avoid the dc just opening everything without really appreciating it).

This probably works for us because we're a family that give quite a few presents (the dc will have 20ish presents between us and family members).

We also have a special extra family present that will be secretly delivered either during xmas lunch (if all presents are open by then) or tea which is a family board game to play together.

We always got stockings to open in the morning. Then breakfast and much later lunch, at about 3pm after the speech. Then, after lunch, youngest children/children would hand out presents, everyone would see the person open, express pleasure about it and move on. Maybe a couple of presents opened at the same time if they're adults.

We still do it that way and it's always been done, even when kids were younger.

I like it, as the adults aren't faffing around with getting lunch ready, all the stress of that is over and everyone can just relax on the sofa with present opening going on

I remember as a child we weren't allowed to open our presents until after church, but when we got back we had to wait for the grown ups to make a pot of tea and then it was a one by one system. It was total torture!
I have 4 dc and our Christmas morning is utter carnage! They open stockings on our bed about 6-7am as dh and I wake up, then we all go into the living room and they dive into the tree finding gifts, handing them out and opening. There's is wrapping paper being tossed everywhere and screams of utter delight and it is just wonderful! Then we have breakfast and unbox the presents.
Mid morning the in laws pop round with more presents, then we have lunch, then my parents pop round in the afternoon with more (and we go back to the one present at a time system).

We've not really got into the swing of how we do it yet, as the DC are still young (3 and 4) and are only really both 'into' Christmas this year.

I that we will do stockings in our bed (though I'm not sure where they will be left as I'm not sure whether a) DS will last the whole night in his own bed and b) DD is that keen on the idea of Santa in her room dropping the stocking off. Maybe they will be in our room waiting!

As for main presents, Santa gifts are in their sacks and other gifts will be under the tree. We tend to eat breakfast while opening the presents and I can't see that changing this year. They can take as long as they like, but we won't make them wait.

The DC open their stockings in bed while we're still asleep (with any luck! ), then I distribute the rest gradually throughout the day, so the DC don't get overwhelmed.

Children bring stockings into our room and open in bed with us - husband goes downstairs and sets up video so can capture the expressions and shout up if Santa has been - I don’t wrap the children’s presents I arrange the boxes in a display and put batteries in everything that needs them,construct things that need building - so there is the wow factor and they can start playing straight away whilst me and Hubbie enjoy strong coffee - the we open our presents - at lunchtime grandparents bring more presents then in laws bring more on Boxing Day to keep the excitement going 💝

We go for the utter carnage option - stockings on the bed with me and DH.

DH runs to put the heating and Christmas lights on. We all go down together and do the ‘he’s been’ routine.

Presents have been arranged in to piles and they just descend on them like a swarm of locusts.

The ‘main’ present will usually be elsewhere in the house, which we try to convince them Santa has left.

My dad then comes over after breakfast and then we go to mu mums for lunch where we have more presents to open.

One at a time and go in a circle, obviously more gifts for kids than adults so circle narrows haha. I think it's important for everyone to see and to have a chance to say thank you. Every gift is thoughtful in our home.