When the fucking fuck am I meant to wrap the presents

[Cryingatthegym]

Toddler DSs wake up at the arse crack of dawn (and sometimes through the night).

Tween DD still rattling around til nearly 11pm every night regardless of how early I send her up.

They're with me all day long. Single parent. Small house. Work full time. Am I meant to just wrap through the night or something? I'm shattered!

Aarrghhhh. Just needed a rant really. Feeling inwardly very unfestive towards poor DD right now as I listen to her traipse past my room to the toilet for the 50 millionth time tonight.

I'm guessing these are Santa presents? So probably not wise to get the kids to wrap each others.

Unfortunately it requires one late night, I use to stay up day before Christmas eve, lock sitting room door and swear at the noisy sellotape !

My kids all believe in Santa but they also know we buy them lots of presents. Do your kids think you don’t buy them a Christmas present?? Just tell them you’re wrapping those presents - nothing to do with Santa magic at all. We don’t wrap stocking presents and Father Christmas only brings one big present from their list.

It's a funny one. She knows Santa isn't real but I think she still wants to believe. And I don't want to take the magic away for her just yet if I can help it, we've had a rough year.

Clearly from the responses I'm unnecessarily martyring myself though, oops. I appreciate the solidarity and space to vent my frustration at least!

I don't think her hearing you wrapping gifts will take the magic away. I watched my mum wrap gifts for our siblings and helped her sometimes too (usually tearing sellotape!). Was still magical!

Id do one of 3 things:

1. take presents to work and wrap in my break
2. tell DD I’m in the bath/ shower and wrap in there. Running water or an extractor fan will hide the sound of paper crinkling. Check the coast is clear before running the presents back to my room.
3. stay up til 2 or 3am Christmas Eve. I do not recommend this!

Santa should be more environmental no wrapping paper
I loved opening the door to see what Santa has left under tree never wrapped.

She's either old enough to be "rattling round at 11pm" or "young enough to still believe in the magic" but not both.

You either need to insist she's in bed and asleep early enough for you to get a couple of hours to wrap, or you tell her not to come down because you're wrapping presents.

When I was a child we didn't receive wrapped gifts, but we had a chair (or half of the sofa) each. I have to admit that I do wrap, but I hate doing it.

Aaaah see I wish she was, but she's still young enough that I'm trying to preserve a bit of the magic for her.

So does she think every single present comes from santa? And that you don't get her anything?

How can she be young enough to believe in Santa, and yet still wandering around at 11pm?

You're probably right.

I think my frustration is misplaced and what's actually getting to me is the fact that I'm trying to do everything single handedly, it's my first Christmas as a single parent and so far it's been bloody exhausting. I'm probably tying myself in knots unnecessarily to make it as magical as possible for the kids after a shitty year.

I could probably make it a lot easier for myself if I stepped back and took a deep breath.

As I said, appreciate the vent!

"Am I meant to just wrap through the night or something?"

Yep! I waited until the kids were all asleep (yes around 11pm) then wrapped all night in one night, it'd usually take until 3am or so, but it was the only way.
Now they're old enough to say bugger off I'm wrapping presents 😆

Why can’t you do them when the tween is up? I have 4 kids and a lone parent, I just do them and tell them not to come in the room 🤔 but then I’ve never told my kids all presents are from Santa

Also wondering this

Hilarious. I assume you're not being serious.

I used to end up wrapping presents until stupid o'clock on Christmas Eve, then be shattered all of Christmas Day! I don't recommend it.

You could wrap the tween's presents while the toddlers are up and about? Stick them in front of the TV, they will never notice what you're doing.

Actually the best way - and I've done it some years - is to wrap things as you buy them, but it's too late for that now unfortunately!

We never got ours wrapped, just a chair, still loved it. I now don't wrap Santa presents.

Take some to work & wrap at lunchtime ?

Do you have a car, wrap in car

Any chance you have a Christmas bed set you're not using? I'd be using the pillowcases and cutting up and the duvet to make Christmas sacks. Sew or staple them if you have time otherwise just lay the presents on the and gather the corners together and tie with ribbon. Tell the kids you're saving the planet this year.

To be honest the Santa logistics have never been discussed in any great detail!

As I said, she doesn't really believe in Santa anymore, but when I tried to not so subtly hint that I needed some time to myself this evening because 'Santa' had lots of work to do, she very clearly didn't understand what I was getting at so here I am at 11pm!

She's 10. And a worse sleeper than her little brothers...

@Tinselskirt gift bags/santa sacks are a godsend. Don’t have to wrap every present

I'm... mystified as to the issue. Your DD is at least eleven. She knows Santa isn't real. She also presumably knows you need to wrap presents to other people anyway, and she can't tell the noise of you wrapping presents from you from the noise of you wrapping presents from Santa. Just... shut your bedroom door and get on with it?

The idea of not wrapped presents is blowing my mind. Surely half the fun is unwrapping them?!

Santa gifts aren't wrapped in our house, they weren't in my childhood either. Was great waking up to the pile of gifts!

Only gifts from friends and family are wrapped.

Can you just pop some low volume music on to try and disguise the sound of wrapping? Or do it downstairs?

Au contraire, it was way more fun seeing the pile of things he brought for us!!! My children love it too. The thought of wrapped Santa gifts baffles me lol Having to bloody unwrap everything to see what he's brought!

If she’s young enough to still remotely believe in Santa she’s young enough to go to bed and a decent time and stay there. 10pm latest, got to loo, lights out and door closed.
I have two 12 year olds and they are always in bed by 10 in the holidays so I can rest or get a few things done. They don’t believe in Santa what so ever any more though 😢