How do you do stockings with tree presents...

[HopscotchBanana]

Just wondering, if you have young DC how you do stockings when they just want to rush downstairs and see what's appeared under the tree.

Basically, DTwins (age 5) put their stockings at the fireplace, whilst I read the night before Christmas, then leave a mince pie and a drink for the jolly old chap, then go to bed.

I fill their stockings and take them up and leave outside their door for them to wake up too. Being smaller kids, their main presents tend to be quite large, so the main "wow" stuff will be placed under or around the tree downstairs. They wake up Christmas morn, open their door and squeal at the stockings, but virtually tuck them under their arms to bolt downstairs and see the tree presents. It's more the wow factor because inherently being twins, there's double presents plus we have other DC, plus that's where DH and I leave each others things.

They love the ritual of leaving the stockings, so I can't lose them. How can I navigate this that they open their stockings upstairs and enjoy the little gifts? Ideally they would open them in the morning, play with the little toys and then onto their main bits later. But I can't prevent them from wanting to rush down to the bit that's most magical to them. I can't bring the presents out later because it's really not the same with me lugging the whole family's presents into the living room in ten trips to carry everything, while they watch.

What do others do?

We leave the stockings by the fireplace and they see it all when they come down. They can open their stockings right away and there’s usually enough chocolate in there to keep them quiet while we make breakfast and coffee.
We then open the presents while we make our way through the croissants.

Our family has always had stockings in the morning and main presents after lunch. My mother did lunch earlier than I do so we watched the Queen’s speech and then had presents.

We just had a rule that no one could go down until everyone was up. Meant they brought their stockings in to our room to open when they found them as they needed us awake to go down. Which meant it was easy to convince them to open their stocking presents first. And once they got going with those they would be distracted and enjoying them before going down stairs for family presents from under the tree.

My two have an early bath, put on some Christmassy pyjamas, hang Santa’s magic key on the outside of the patio door (no chimney), then they pop their sacks out on the floor infront of the (faux) fireplace.
we then put put out a cookie, carrot and a glass of baileys for when the big man visits. Then it’s off to bed!

I fill their sacks in their places where they are laid, family presents and present from us are out under the tree. Main gifts are sometimes unwrapped, assembled just infront of their sacks depending on what it is (last year was new bikes so we’re just placed infront of their sacks with a bow on the handles)

morning come and the kids come up to our room, and as long as it’s past 5am then we’re up at the asscrack of dawn for the kids if they wake 🤣 none of this wait til 8am stuff! We’re all excited to see if he’s arrived!
they get to open sack presents in the morning, family presents after Christmas dinner.

although, this year we are planning on cutting down.. I got far too roped into the consumerism of Christmas (had very big Christmassy myself as a child so wanted to carry on the tradition but it’s too much tbh 🤣) so I’m trying to figure out a way of keeping the tradition of their sacks.. without having to fill them 🤣 I might try and order half size versions 🤣