Why do people wait until Christmas Eve night to do the wrapping?

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So many people talk about having to get excited kids to sleep so they can do the wrapping.

Why leave it til then?

I hate early Christmassing and I don't start buying presents until late November at the earliest, but no way would I leave the wrapping until Christmas Eve! Are any of you Christmas Eve wrappers also tge people who are buying andceating Christmas pies in early November and putting trees up a month before Christmas? It would seem odd to be happy to start feeling Christmassy practically as soon as Halloween is over, and yet feel that wrapping doesn't feel Christmassy enough until it's Christmas Eve!

The big present the Santa magically left next to the fireplace was never wrapped , as Santa and his elves don’t have time to wrap all those presents for all those girls and boys in the world !! , also Santa only ever left on present per child in my house , as only enough room on his sledge for one present for every boy and girl, ( it was always the big many present) I really only bought a couple of things for my boys extra as all the family bought them so much luckily they alway asked me what to get the boys!! .

I only did one present from Santa because I really don’t think it’s fair on other family’s that don’t have a tone of money to spend on there kids, one of my friends was a primary one/two teacher and said she hated the first day back after Christmas as they were all asking what Santa had bought and obviously some had got very little and some had got so much and some poor little souls did not understand why they had got hardly anything compared to there class mate that had got a sack load from the big man.

If Santa only bought one present per child and if the children knew the rest were from Mummy and Daddy this would really help out family with less money. But still keep the Christmas magic alive.

Buy presents through the year and wrap in early December. In every other way though I am a completely disorganised person.

That level of disorganization makes me feel a bit ill, but I envy anyone who can live like that!

I don’t think it’s too hard to understand the various reason OP.

When my kids were younger the presents always seems quite big - new station for the train track, toy trucks etc. I don’t have a big house with a spare room, so the presents were stored in the attic. The opening to the attic is small, and if I’d wrapped everything in advance it would have ripped as I moved it in and out of the attic.

Also I tend to buy stuff through the year opportunistically, so it’s not till I get it all out that I can see exactly what I’ve got. I need to lay it all out in front of me and ensure there’s an even spilt. Sometimes things get put back till the next birthday.

If I had a lovely big spare room that the kids didn’t know about, I’d wrap it all in advance and keep it in neat piles, labelled with what's what and who it’s for. But life’s not like that!

@ShowOfHands

How the hell do you know in January what someone will want in December unless you're buying generic, meaningless presents?

My MIL and aunt and parents and children and so on are the same people in December as they are in January. I shop in charity shops or little independent places throughout the year and pick up things as I see them. I'm pretty sure my Dad won't stop being a big reader and MIL won't stop like European politics and quirky jewellery and DD won't suddenly go off feminism. I find it eminently easy to buy thoughtful, meaningful gifts throughout the year because I know my recipients. I suppose our house must be different because we don't tell other people what to buy for us, we all know each other pretty well and it works. My brother went on holiday in July and sent a gleeful text saying he'd found me the perfect Christmas present. Another year, he might spot something in November. But he's known me for 40yrs so early buying doesn't mean generic.

I don't wrap on the 24th because I like to read and eat mince pies and enjoy the quiet. I wrap one afternoon in December whilst watching a Christmas film. DH takes the children out somewhere while I do it which works because he gets some decent time just with them and I love wrapping. Before then, presents are stored in bags under my bed labelled by recipient and purpose if necessary (eg DD stocking). It's generally a lovely afternoon, most stuff goes straight under the tree and the children come back tired and happy to see parcels under the tree.

You might buy your Dad a book in January, and then he buys it himself in March !

My parents used to do this! I was always so confused why they ended up sleeping in on Christmas and still so exhausted.

When I was old enough to figure out why, I started wrapping all the presents for my sister and parents - so they only had mine to wrap. It stressed me out too much

Does no one pay a teenager to wrap for them? Slip me a tenner and I'd do it for you.

We use fabric bags, so it's piss easy to wrap and store as we go along. Not that I've started wrapping anything yet, that'll start in late December. It's all currently hanging in the utility room in a big Mr Tickle bag

Mainly because I don't want the wrapping to get damaged when they're stored away!

I do family gifts sooner and leave them under the tree upstairs but DSs get done on Christmas Eve.

It only takes me an hour with a glass of mulled wine

@Nanalisa60

The big present the Santa magically left next to the fireplace was never wrapped , as Santa and his elves don’t have time to wrap all those presents for all those girls and boys in the world !! , also Santa only ever left on present per child in my house , as only enough room on his sledge for one present for every boy and girl, ( it was always the big many present) I really only bought a couple of things for my boys extra as all the family bought them so much luckily they alway asked me what to get the boys!! .

I only did one present from Santa because I really don’t think it’s fair on other family’s that don’t have a tone of money to spend on there kids, one of my friends was a primary one/two teacher and said she hated the first day back after Christmas as they were all asking what Santa had bought and obviously some had got very little and some had got so much and some poor little souls did not understand why they had got hardly anything compared to there class mate that had got a sack load from the big man.

If Santa only bought one present per child and if the children knew the rest were from Mummy and Daddy this would really help out family with less money. But still keep the Christmas magic alive.

It’s similar in our house, only Santa brings one medium sized gift and fills stockings. The big ticket gift and tree presents come from mum and dad to help explain why Santa might bring Susie a cuddly toy but Johnny a play station etc.

Did it Christmas Eve with my ex because he wanted to participate but wouldn’t do it any earlier.

He never had a clue what i had bought until that point.

Did it once with my first, never again !

Mine are teenagers now, so we mostly buy what they ask for and don’t need to hide them.
When they were little I used to get all the hidden presents out on Christmas Eve so that DH and I could could wrap them - and he had a little prior knowledge about what ‘we’ had bought for the kids.

Any presents we buy get put straight into my secret hidey hole away from prying eyes the minute I get them in the house. There's always wrapping sessions planned in the run-up to Christmas but things always get mental in our house with outings, rehearsals and other prep, so it never gets done. I send the DC's out for a walk with our Christmas house guests on Christmas eve late afternoon to look at the local lights and that's when DH and I get busy with the paper and sellotape!

I always do it early December, Christmas music on, mug of mulled wine or a baileys and make a night of it. I did it in November last year, I bloody love it!

Because it has become my tradition. Obviously some are wrapped beforehand as we have tondizteibute them before Xmas eve, but immediate family ones are left until then, we ppir some drinks, get some nibbles and get on with it!! Doesn't take that long!

to distribute them

I'll be leaving it much later than normal this year as i have an exam on 15 December and wrapping normally takes half a day and i'll need that for revision (on top of full time work). I normally take half a day, stick on a cheesy Christmas film and get it all sorted. Also do that towards the end of November when writing Christmas cards.

I have all my shopping and wrapping done by mid November each year. I find that way I can enjoy December and not stress; I love to bake and this frees up my time.

I am the chief buyer and wrapper in our house and I try to have it all done by 1 December so I can relax and enjoy the month. I like the idea of wrapping on Christmas Eve but in reality it wouldn’t work for us, and doesn’t it mean you all have to spend the evening apart or spoil the surprises?

I also really like the idea of decorating the house on Christmas Eve and then celebrating for 12 days - it would make Advent seem much more distinct. But I think my family would riot so we basically start Christmas at the start of Advent and finish on Boxing Day, same as everybody else.

I can't imagine anything worse than wrapping on Christmas Eve. I actually quite like wrapping presents but I do it as I go.

I like to have everything finished by Christmas Eve. Food shop done, presents all bought and wrapped, house clean and sparkling, then I can sit on my arse and eat all the chocolates, food and get merry without stressing.

I don't put bows or tags on the DCs gifts. I usually write their names on the wrapping paper in gold or silver sharpie in "elf writing". They're older now (10 and 14) so they know it's me but when they didn't know they used to be amazed by it. They still love it.

Sometimes there might be a rip in the paper on one or two presents but I'll just perform a bit of surgery on it - I.e put a bit of sellotape over the rip 😂. No shits are given by them when they're tearing the wrapping off on Christmas Day!

I am always wrapping on Xmas eve. I hate Xmas , not the day and the seeing family , but the rampant commercialisation and the expectation that everything else but Xmas must go on hold.

I have job which is very busy in the run up , nothing to do with Xmas at all, added to all the other things that need doing wrapping is always very low on the agenda.

Sometimes time is short for various reasons as above.

My top tips are
Wrap stocking presents in tissue paper, super quick and doesn't need to be tidy, or even.not at all (Dd loves opening her stocking pressure so still have to)
Judicious use of gift bags and tissue paper
An ironing board in front of the telly, lowered down is perfect height to wrap stuff and you have space for scissors, tape, paper, mulled wine...makes it a nice event.
Don't take on wrapping for anyone else in the household that can do it themselves. It makes you annoyed and resentful!

I agree it's not a good strategy because one ends up exhausted on Christmas day itself, but although I love Christmas, and buy presents throughout the year, I can't get in to the spirit until a week or so before. I like to shut myself in my home office on Christmas Eve and look at all the things I have and wrap with one design of wrapping paper per person, so I only need one label. If I wrapped beforehand, I would worry about forgetting what's inside, getting presents mixed up, and the wrapping being damaged. And it's nice to be able to make last minute adjustments between stockings and presents so everyone gets the same amount.

After a major stressful incident last year though, where I couldn't find a crucial present for someone, I am determined to be more organised this year!

DH mind you takes it right to the limit and in traditional "DH style" buys everything in a last minute rush and wraps things (badly) in record time on Christmas morning itself. For him it's all part of the fun!

Because despite wishing it were otherwise, I’m not a organisational superhuman.

Some of my fondest memories of Christmas Eve evenings as a teen/adult are my Mum in her bedroom secretly wrapping things and putting presents in piles surrounded by a sea of ribbons and bows (carefully hoarded from previous years). Last Christmas I really missed it. Sometimes there’s joy in chaos.