How do you open presents on Christmas?

[monkeypuzzlemaceplayce]

Is it complete chaos where everybody opens their presents all at once? Do you do stockings first or afterwards?

For us, we do stockings first and then have a nice breakfast and then sit down for presents. We then have each person open their gift one at a time and go round the family in order. It makes it last longer and it's much less chaos and less stress for me! But my friend thought that sounded too organised and rather boring

We do one at a time, kids pick from under tree and give to recipient. I find opening all at once far too overwhelming and sensory overload! And then it's over so fast. Present opening is our main activity of the day really, that and dinner, so we take our time!

Oh and stockings are opened on our bed in mornings before going downstairs.

We do it exactly like you, OP.

Everything downstairs. Kids' Santa presents first and then they love handing the presents out so the level of chaos depends on their enthusiasm for dolling out.

Stocking first, then breakfast, then tree presents with everyone taking turns to open one so we can all see what they got, then Father Christmas comes in the afternoon and those presents are again opened one at a time.

Growing up we had stockings and one present each in the morning, then the rest after lunch, taking turns and my mum always wrote a clue on the label and we'd have to read the clue outloud and then everyone would try to guess what the present was. Absolutely loved it but I am not so good at writing clues as my mum so didn't continue the tradition. Which now I feel sad about :(

It's just me and 2 children here. I always have Stockings downstairs as sneaking them into their room at night was far too stressful.
We come downstairs, I make a coffee then they look through their Stockings.
If needed I make another coffee and grab a binbag and then they take it in turns to open a present each until they're all gone, if I've got anything to open (some years I dont) then I open mine last.
We've always done it like this. The thought of them both scrambling and opening anything with their name on at the same time fills me with dread. I like to soak in their reactions and don't want it to be an open, throw and neeeext.. affair.

Stocking first then one at a time.

Stockings first thing ( ish) - now we are all adults it is much later - opened during and just after breakfast.

Main presents are opened after lunch.

We have a family tradition of selecting one present from under the tree to open on Christmas Eve!

If they are all opened at once then how do you know who sent them? It’s nice to thank people personally either face to face or a text or even a short letter.

Stocking first thing. Other presents under the tree and opened after lunch, about 4ish, one at a time.

Everything opened at once in a joyful hour, me with a glass of champagne. Love it and would never make the kids wait

We spend Christmas with my parents and brother.
We get to their's for 11, hot drinks and bacon/sausage rolls at the ready

We don't do stockings any more, DD was the only one that got one as she's the only child in the family and they stopped when she was 13 and we play a game in the afternoon noon instead. Although I do give DD anything remotely potentially embarrassing at home.

Youngest person is incharge of handing out the presents from under the tree. We open as a group (several autistics who don't like the pressure of everyone watching as they open). Ohhh and ahhh and thank the giver for the gift (we only get gifts from the people present so no need to write thank you notes etc. Then we ball the wrapping paper up and lob it at my dad who is incharge of the collecting of the wrapping paper - rips off the sellotape and puts paper into cardboard box for composting. Ready for round 2 and so on.

After lunch we play the present game in lieu of stockings, each person brings 5 wrapped gifts (£25 total limit per person).
A pack of cards is shared equally, a second pack is used to pick a card 1 at a time, if your card is picked you take a gift from the middle or 'steal' from another player, generally gifts of interesting shapes become highly covertable and it becomes quite competitive.

We don't have a strict routine of how we do things yet, as our family is only just beginning! But we'll probably do it similar to how it was for my childhood - waiting until parents and siblings are awake, all bundle onto mum and dad's bed, open our stockings together. Then wait until mum and dad say they're ready for us to go downstairs. There we had a sack of presents each from Father Christmas. These were opened all at once. Throughout the day we got more from Father Christmas, parents and opened relatives gifts from under the tree, opened individually, taking turns. We'd be opening until the evening as my parents tended to spread it out over the day. This I loved!

There's just adult DD and I here on Christmas morning. She opens her Santa presents including her stocking and then she hands me my presents. Her stocking was always left downstairs in the sitting room. There's usually the odd present from a neighbour, and I've a present to open from my friend.

As I meet up with family over the next few days, we exchange presents there and then and open them.

We do a family kriskindle and exchange presents on St. Stephen's Day, once dinner is over. We usually start with the youngest and work our way up to the eldest. One year we started with the eldest and worked our way down the youngest. One year we started with the overlooked middle children - that year was a bit messy though.

Are you familiar with gift tags?

Stocking first in our bed, all presents inside are wrapped so it gives us time to wake up.

Then downstairs and we watch dc open theirs from Santa, no constraints/control on how. dh and I will usually pick up bits of wrapping paper/packaging that has been discarded while watching their reactions and stick it in a big bag to keep the place reasonably clear. Eventually we'll say is there anyone for us and dc will give us ours.

If we have visitors or gifts from other people they are kept aside and opened after all the "Santa" presents are opened so they know who gave them.

Then dh will usually go for a shower while I play with dc, he'll come down and start on breakfast while I shower. we'll all have breakfast, then dc will get washed and changed and back down to play with presents.

All very free flow, casual but doesn't feel like chaos, just fun.

For the last 70 odd years the family tradition is that stockings are opened in the morning, they have the small gifts from Father Christmas. Then after lunch, the gifts under the tree are opened and we all take in turn to open as see what each other has.
I have never know any different and my DC always had this tradition at home and still do. No more stockings as they are adults but still gifts after lunch.

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We do the exact same as you OP (we have two dc age 3-7)

At my in-laws' we do presents one at a time and I cannot say how much I hate it. I hate everyone watching me open a present and I feel like my reaction is fake because I'm so aware of it. I love reading so get a lot of books (which is great), but often books I haven't heard of (again, great) which means everyone just watches me while I read the blurb and then say something about how interesting it looks but it always sounds so forced in my head. Stresses me out just thinking about it.

I do it the same way my family always did it. Watch the stockings
being opened over a cup of coffee, then get dressed and have breakfast before taking turns opening the rest of the presents. I like it this way, but I could totally understand how other people might hate to be watched as they react to their gifts, or find it boring and rigid.

My ex done one present at a time, hated it! We do stocking first then all presents from us. Santa leaves a gift under the tree & then open any other gifts from friends. My side have lots of kids (nieces/nephews) so we have a gift exchange on Xmas eve. Always exchange gifts with mother-on-law on Xmas when she visits 🥰

Get up…go to sitting room…let the dc open their gifts. No stockings in my house. Any gifts from other people we leave til last or later in the day. (which is not many as they receive them in person over the few days of Christmas)

i couldn’t do the take turns thing sorry, that would make my eyes bleed 🤣

Each person one at a time.

Have one child. We do presents Christmas Eve (from and to in-laws), Christmas Day (from Santa and from us to each other) and either later on Christmas Day, or this year, Boxing Day (from and to my family).

Christmas Eve is usually done where we all open a present then whenever one of us isn’t opening we’re looking for someone else who isn’t opening to give their next gift to. It’s not a frenzy but not ordered one by one either. DD loved handing out the gifts last year to a point but at 2 got a bit fed up, will be interested to see how she is at 3.

Christmas day, plan is stocking in our bed then come down and DD will get to open all her presents from Santa, then we will probably do presents from each other (us to DD, me to DH and DH to me). Then maybe any extras DD has from friends/ nursery etc.

Then finally on Boxing Day it will probably be similar to Christmas Eve with my family.

Stockings after breakfast (never before not even as tots) then other gifts gradually