Present opening in your house

[user375242]

How do you do it? Free for all? One by one? I am admittedly a total control freak in our house, and like to maintain some kind of order (in all other aspects of my life I am not an orderly person!) but it is only done in an attempt to maximize excitement. I found out last year that my older sibling does exactly the same with his family, despite us having different upbringings, which I thought was funny.

Everyone opens stockings on our bed, and during this time one of the adults will go downstairs and make tea/coffee to bring up and also turn on the christmas lights. Then we all go to the kitchen, and no-one can peek in the living room yet. We have a long drawn out breakfast of everyone's favourite breakfast foods, Santa pancakes, croissants, eggs Benedict etc along with Christmas music. Then it is on to the tree presents, the kids take it in turns to pick a present and open it or pass it on to who it's for, I deliberately don't use individual wrapping paper per person to add to the mystery.

If we have to visit family then I do speed it up a bit by passing them out myself a bit faster, or if someone wants to stop and play with something they can. I make sure I've put accessories that go with main presents right at the back of the tree so they aren't opened first.

Am I a total kill joy, or do others do this too? How does it work in your house? Separate piles, run down to the tree first thing? Breakfast after presents? I love planning these small things, and hearing how others do it, it gets me so excited.

We are similar to you op except we start opening presents and then break for breakfast.
Presents are mixed under the tree also.

Into the dining room first to see if Rudolph enjoyed the carrot and what the cereal is that Mrs Claus sent. There used to be a small pile or small sack of presents for opening in the excited frenzy (selection box, annual, colouring book and pencils sort of things) whilst the breakfast was gathered up. Nowadays is just the selection box and a stray present or two in there, still cereal from Mrs Claus and we still leave a carrot for Rudolph.
Into the lounge with the breakfast picnic and we all open our stockings together then whoever is sat closest to the tree passes presents along and the recipient will open. There is sometimes two lines of presents passed around, we don’t open these one by one.
Smaller gift exchanges throughout the day from dinner guests and people popping by.
Some years there might be another gift on pillows in the evening or on Boxing Day we’ll find one in the garden we vary it year to year.

One of the reasons why we wait until after the Queens (now the Kings) speech is to spread the excitement and anticipation through the day, otherwise present opening is over very quickly and the rest of the day is a bit of an anticlimax for the children. The stocking presents are enough to keep them occupied before breakfast/church/dinner and the excitement grows after dinner.

Your way sounds painful but I’m thinking from the perspective of a mum of three under 6.
I can imagine we might evolve into something more civilised like yours in time to come but at the moment, the older two open their bedroom door stockings (chocolate) together and eat their chocolate together in bed. Husband brushes his teeth, goes downstairs and makes himself a coffee, turns on the tree lights, puts on Christmas music. I have a wash, brush my hair and brush my teeth. I remember my mum having smelly breath on Christmas mornings but still insisting on kisses 🤮. I get the baby and feed him in bed and wait for the older two to surface after eating their chocolate.
Then it’s downstairs where Father Christmas will leave them a letter at the bottom of the stairs outlining why they are on the nice list this year and telling them which colour/ design their presents are wrapped in so they can find them.
Maintaining this little bit control until this point is about all we manage. Then it’s living room doors open, paper everywhere, squealing etc.
We’re usually downstairs for 6.30 but their stocking chocolate keeps them happy until breakfast at about 10 (the baby probably not).

Everyone goes to the living room together for the bog reveal.

Kids have a free for all whilst adults watch. This includes stocking which are left in the living room.

Then adults open theirs.

Then tidy up and coffee.

Then get dressed and breakfast

All up, washed, dressed, breakfast, dogs walked. DC hand out gifts, don’t do stockings but there are some stocking filler type gifts. Once everything is handed out we open showing as we go. Without fail DH will ask DC who gave them a gift the answer being - you and mum.

Now that my dc are a bit older, I think the way you do it sounds perfect op.

Up until now we have done stockings in bed, then present free for all downstairs, pause for breakfast, then open whatever's left.

I usually find it quite overwhelming as I have to make sure I'm focusing and interested whilst each child is opening something. It can be exhausting.

Your way seems so relaxed!

Stockings on our bed.
Into sitting room for main / big presents from Santa - two kids take it in turns
DH and I exchange our presents
Go back to bed for a bit!

We see family throughout the day and exchange presents with them when we see them.

Save one gift for each kid for later in the evening

Everyone goes to the living room together for the bog reveal

Well, that’s unique.

Stockings on our bed in the morning.

Then downstairs to the tree, and they're passed out one by one. But turns out eldest DD doesn't like being watched opening her presents so intently so I'll do one for each of the kids at the same time.

I don't like the "piles per person" approach, because I like to see people opening theirs. I've spent a long time and a lot of money on it, so I want to see people enjoying the unwrapping.

Stockings all in our bed. Then downstairs and the kids open their sacks with our presents in all together. The only presents done one at a time are their main presents. Partly due to time constraints as we have to leave early. Partly as that’s how we always did it growing up and partly because 2 of my three are autistic and struggle with waiting and with other people receiving presents. Birthdays are a nightmare especially as we had a DS with a Boxing Day birthday. The other two really struggle.

Pillowcases by fire first thing (Dc would come in to us and ask if they could go downstairs yet) but we’d make a cup of tea while they go excited at the fullness of the cases. Then they’d take it in turns to open each gift inside. The other family presents were opened after dinner around 4/5pm. The DC would make piles for each guest and we’d take it in turns.

@JustFrustrated the piles are just to organise. We open one at a time saying who it’s from.

One year I taped cheap Santa wrapping paper over the open living room door so the Dc could burst through it to see whether ‘he’d been’ and they loved that. Now 18&22 tbey recall that as being really exciting

In my family growing up it was one by one and you did have everyone watching you. I realise to that the spotlight was very much in the gift giver as well as the opener and there was quite a bit of Anxiety about how the gift would go down, did they have it already etc etc. it was exciting and nice but a bit obsessive. Also everyone had to be present and if someone had to go to the loo or make tea the opening would have to be paused!

DH is from a large family and with four boys and granny off in the kitchen doing her thing half the time it was all a bit more of a free for all. More relaxed and less obsessive definitely but perhaps also less special than in our house.

Swings and roundabouts.

Do you wrap all of the Santa presents? That seems like a lot of wrapping paper!!

I really like the idea of stocking in bed. My DS is only 5 months old but I think I will start that this year. Then Santa presents will be under the tree un-wrapped.

Growing up Santa left our toys at the foot our beds, but I am one of a HUGE amount so it was def the easiest. Then presents between family were wrapped under the tree and opened after lunch. Gave us something else to look forward to.

It's a free for all here. Get up and dive into the piles.

@Irishfarmer yes i made that rod for my own back! My parents never wrapped Father Christmas presents- just put them in a pillowcase so I thought it would be nice to wrap them…… ejit!

We open tree presents after our Christmas dinner so around 4.30 normally. We have a designated Santa who reads the labels and hands the present to a child elf to pass to the right person. We all watch the opening but then it all starts to overlap a bit and get more chaotic. On the third generation of doing it like this now

We do similar! Me and my sister and one of our brothers will be at our parents’ this year (my sister and I always go). We’re all spending the day away from partners which my sister and I always do.
My sister and I share a room on Christmas Eve and then wake up and open our stockings together in bed, then we go and “show” our parents what we got 😂
We have a Christmas breakfast and then do a bit of prep for dinner before starting to open presents. We do “rounds” where everyone gets a present and we open them one by one. It’s really nice because it lasts into the late afternoon, and it also means we can enjoy and appreciate each one.

Stockings on our bed. DH or I will make tea/coffee, one of us will switch Christmas lights on and put Christmas music low on in background while we wait in the lounge.

We all have individual piles, I’d love to do one by one however we have big families and the children get very spoilt so it would take us all day. The children dive into their piles from Father Christmas then usually in laws come over with more plies. We have a family breakfast and then children open other families presents which I make sure children read. I do a quick tidy up as DH washes up and in laws play with children. In laws then leave and we then get ready for the day if we’re going out to families for dinner or just brush our teeth and slob it in pjs and set up all the things the DC want to explore while cooking and drinking.

I’m completely different we do stocking after Christmas dinner, we do presents in the morning have older dds are 11 youngest 18 oldest, go in laws for lunch, home for Xmas dinner and after that Christmas stocking and what the dds have bought for each other and what the have bought for up parents, they absolutely love doing it this way

Much like you. I was horrified at my first Christmas with my husband's family that they all just opened their presents ALL AT THE SAME TIME 😱

I grew up with it all being a bit of a free for all which I found really overwhelming so have done it differently with mine. When the DC wake (not early, luckily!) we go downstairs and they find their stockings hanging in the fireplace are full. They open them and then we have breakfast. After breakfast we open gifts from each other, taking in turns. Then after lunch we open gifts from other people.

@Benjispruce4 I don't think I'll take that rod! A pillow case is a sweet idea. A friend from uni said they used to decorate a chair each in the kitchen on Christmas eve and Santa would leave their gifts on/ around their chair. Unusual but really sweet I think