batteries included?

[krismom]

in your house does Santa open the toys, untwist the wires, add the batteries and then wrap the gift? I have don ethat up until this year... it's so much work though- maybe this year they can add patience to their lists!

 

[alloyd1170]

It depends. Many toys now come with batteries already which is a plus. Those darn twist ties are a real pain. I usually just wedge a good pair of scissors in there and cut them as gifts are opened.

Now for the big items (ie kitchen for DD, tool workbench for DS) yes we take them out, and set them up. Depending on the size I either leave them out in the open, or put a huge gift bag or tree bag over the top of them. Smaller items-if it already has batteries, I keep boxed up unless it is something that could easily be wrapped alone. The twist ties keep the items from moving around too so I usually leave them intact. I like to keep things in the boxes (especially the smaller items) until all the wrapping paper is picked up and thrown out. I think we have lost toys in wrapping paper over the years.

alison

 

[Juliegirl1]

Santa always leaves the appropriate batteries in the stockings - he did that when I was growing up too.

 

[bellarella]

Yes, all toys from santa are in playable condition. This means batteries loaded and twist ties removed. Often they will go back in their boxes, though, for easier wrapping.

 

[I'mNoPrince]

I did it one year and ended up playing with all of DD's toys way to late into the night.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Most definitely! It's very difficult to remove those wires and get a toy running when you have an antsy kid sitting next to you (is it done yet???)! Santa always takes off the wires, puts in the batteries and puts the toy loosely back in it's package. That way, the kids can rip off the paper and start playing right away. I'd rather spend Christmas morning playing with my own new toys!

 

[monorailsilver]

No, when Santa wraps SHE takes inventory on all the boxes she is wrapping and notes how many & what size batteries go in each toy.

Some toys do have batteries but some do not.

And then we always have a few extra on hand too.

And I am lucky enough this year to wrap as it has taken me 3 nights so far & that is just for about 1/2 of my kids gifts.

I do it at night for an hour or two when all 3 are finally asleep.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

Batteries are usually a stocking stuffer for electronic gifts

 

[flying_babyb]

Santa wow Santa buys the batteries, santa wraps them. The baterys that are wrapped get plunked on the proper box. see you need two people christmas moring, as the kids open the gifts, they hand them off to santas helper (aka daddy whos got the screw driver, bateries and siscors) daddy takes them out of the package and puts the bateries in while the child rips open ohter gifts.

 

[ksloane]

Santa makes sure everything at our house is playable in about 10 seconds from opening at my house. It's just my daughter (6) and I and I want to be able to watch and enjoy her opening presents...not trying to get one out and working while she opens 3 more....Everything has batteries and has all twisties removed and are placed back in boxes...large items are put together and sometimes wrapped, sometimes if it's really large just "bowed."

 

[sskem96]

Our tradition is the kids only get 1 toy each from Santa. After all, he has millions of kids to visit and many are less fortunate than us. Everything else is from mom and dad. Ususally whatever they ask Santa for doesn't even require batteries, but I stock up on any we will need and just make sure we have a good supply on hand Christmas morning. I don't open any packages ahead of time. The kids enjoy dealing with all the twisties way more than I do.

 

[Hannathy]

Nope. Most of the time Santa remembers to at least buy the right size batteries but not always ! I guess my kids have learned a lot of patience over the years because sometimes we have had to go to the store the next day for a battery.

 

[kaw1218]

Wow...our santa is lucky if she remembers where she hid all the gifts!

so I guess that's a no, I normally have most batteries on hand(I can never remember 9v though..and there's always one) but dad spends plenty of time removing those twists....
oh, here's a tip: nail clippers cut through the twist ties very easily!!

 

[1Prince2Princesses]

I always stick the batteries inside the package or tape them to the outside of it. If I don't, I spend half of Christmas morning trying to remember where I put them all!

 

[Mickey1Fan]

Santa never wraps gifts in our house. He is way too busy flying around the world to wrap anything. Santa gifts are left under the tree in the box they arrive in. Batteries always magically appear as if from no where to be installed where required. Kids have never wondered where the batteries come from and like doing the whole process of building something and adding batteries.

 

[WantToGoNow]

Santa doesn't wrap in our house. He will be bringing each child 3-4 gifts and the rest are from us. Anything that needs assembly will be done - along with batteries added. I went to Target earlier and bought a pack of 24 AA's, a pack of 16 AAA's and a pack of 8 C's -- that should take care of everything. The gifts from us will not have the ties removed or batteries inserted.