How does opening presents work in your home?

[scrapquitler]

We open presents by the same rules as when I was growing up: Stockings first, everyone opens them at the same time, then I make breakfast and we start opening the 'real' gifts. When we open gifts, I sit next to the tree and I pass them out, one at a time. I read the tag and the recipient opens the gift while everyone watches. This is nice because everyone gets to see the gifts that everyone else is opening, and the giver gets to see his/her present opened by the recipient. It takes longer, but not forever.

On the other hand, my husband says that growing up his MOm separated presents into piles for him and his brother and they just tore into their pile at their own pace. ...I can't imagine this to be as much fun because it would be over way too fast and I wouldn't see how everyone liked each gift.

How do you do it in your house?

 

[KristiMc]

We each open 1 gift Christmas Eve which is new PJ's and a Christmas book for the kids. Christmas morning we start with our stockings and then get coffee/tea for mom and dad. We then take turns opening presents. Sometimes the kids even want to take a break to play with something so it can take a few hours to get through everything.

Then at 10:00 we watch the Disney Christmas Parade and have cinnamon buns.

 

[NHdisneylover]

After dinner (out) and sometimes church (we do not always live near a church we would attend--like now) on Christmas Eve we go home and turn on the tree lights and put on jammies. Then the kids pass out all the family gifts into piles for everyone while the adults pour wine and "kid's wine" (sparkling cider) for everyone. We go around in a circle opening one gift at a tiem (one person at a time) and admiring, taking photos, etc. When all family gifts are open we call the grandparents and tell them all about the evening and thank them for their gifts, etc. Usually by then the relatives who live near the grandparents are there and we get to talk to everyone. Then we set up the gifts like a display on the kitchen table and set out cookies and milk for Santa.

Christmas morning we come down the stairs to find that Santa has left one showy gift for each child all set up and ready to play with under the tree (unwrapped) as well as having filled all of our stockings. We get out a plate of cookies (on Christmas only we have cookies for breakfast!) and fruit and pour some juice and then go through stockings more or less all at the same time but with many stops to admire each other's little items.

I really agree with you that opening gifts one at a time and taking the time to enjoy and see what everyone gave is really nice. I cannot imagine all going at it at once.

 

[princessmom29]

We do both. Christmas eve is at my Mom's and there is an organized gift hand out for gifts from family members. We do it after we have had a nice dinner. We go home, put the kids to bed, and get ready for Santa. Santa leaves the gifts in piles for each child (there is only DD for us, so that makes it easy). Santa gift piles are opened as soon as everyone is awake Christmas morning, and then breakfast is seen to. No one would be interested in eating with all those gifts sitting there waiting. Then the grandparents make the rounds to see what Santa has left for the various grandkids.

 

[mjkacmom]

Our gifts aren't wrapped, so they're all sqealing like crazy! Then stockings, then breakfast. At my parents house on Christmas Eve., the kids hand out the gifts, and we open one by one, youngest, oldest, next youngest... Takes a while. Then on Christmas afternoon, my IL's come over, and we do the same.

I can't imagine having to wait until after breakfast - my kids are racing down the stairs in anticipation!

 

[starsweeper]

Santa leaves his big gifts unpackaged, ready for play, so the kids go wild for those for a little while. I make hot cocoa for everyone, then we open gifts. Each person gets a gift and we open them together, then repeat until all gifts are gone. Last is stockings to see what else Santa may have left. Then it's breakfast and get ready for Ghee and Pa's house.

 

[ebtbmom]

I only have 1 child, so for the last few years we have done something a little unusual.

I leave 1 present under the tree, this present has a clue attached that he must solve that will lead him to the next present, and so on.

The clues are sometimes riddles, descriptions, jumbled words, word finds. Whatever my brain can come up with Christmas Eve. This is pretty easy to do with one kid, might would be more difficult with more than one if you wanted them to see each other's gifts. DS really loves it though and he's been bugging me all month about going ahead and making the clues, he must be scared that I'll be too sleepy on Christmas eve to get it done.

 

[emma'smom]

At our house, we don't open the presents until Christmas NIGHT. Christmas eve is at the grandparent's house with a fondue dinner and then off to church and then home to put out cookies for Santa.

Christmas morning- Santa arranges a display of unwrapped gifts, assembled and ready for play, for each child to find when she comes downstairs. They squeal of all of these toys and check each other's piles out. Then we do stockings (more unwrapped little things).

By now the grandparents will have arrived (we call them when we are getting up to tell them to come over--only live 5 minutes away). So we have a nice breakfast that I prepare while the girls play with the new toys.

Then Grandparents go home to start Christmas dinner and we watch the parade (on the DVR by this time).

Mid-Afternoon we go to Grandparents for a big prime rib dinner.

Then after dinner BACK to our house to open all of the wrapped gifts under the tree one by one with everyone watching, pausing to take a break for dessert half-way through the evening.

This makes Christmas seem to last so much longer and gives the girls a chance to play with their Santa toys before getting overwhelmed with more things.

**This all started accidentally when I was a child and my father (a minister) fell asleep after Santa gifts when we took a break for breakfast. He had been up all night having done a midnight Christmas Eve service, cleaned up at the church, and then came home to assemble Santa gifts 'til the wee hours of the morning. Just as he finally made it to bed, the kids were waking up and ready to see what Santa brought. Not wanting to spoil our fun, he got back up and we did the Santa thing.

Anyway, this became a tradition (not the skipping sleep, but the Christmas night present opening) because everyone thought it was so much fun to keep the anticipation going a bit longer.

 

[pixiedancr]

I grew up in a house where we handed out all the presents and then we opened them youngest to oldest. One present at a time with everyone watching...then the youngest could play with their presents while the oldest opened theirs.

Now in Dh's house they handed out presents and then opened them like crazy people. Usually what happens then is you have no idea(with small and sometimes older people) who in the world to thank for what. Dh's parents still do it that way but when we are at our home we open presents the way I grew up.

 

[Erica09M]

My kids are only 4 & 18 months, so we're not so strict on how things go right now. As they get older, I'm sure I'll want it to be more organized.

When we get up Christmas morning, the girls open their stockings first. DH and I always sit on the floor with them while they open. Then we move onto the other presents, DH and I take turns taking pictures/helping the girls open things. No real order or anything.

Then we get ready and head over to my mom's house for our big family Christmas and breakfast. The kids can open their stockings when they arrive, don't have to do it as a family or anything. Then we have a big breakfast, and head to the livingroom to open gifts. Each kid gets one family's gift at a time (like all gifts from grandma are passed out at once), and they take turns opening. Starting with the oldest child, going down to the youngest. When all 6 kids have opened that one present, they get their next present, until they're all gone.

When we go to DH's family's Christmas, it's chaos and no organization at all. The older kids rip through their presents barely reading the tag and sometimes opening someone else's presents because they didn't read the tag. Then they have absolutely no clue who gave them the gift, and the gifts are opened in about .2 seconds flat. I can't stand that LOL

 

[AliceinHalloweentown]

My mom has seperated our piles since my brother and I were little.

Every family member has a designated "spot", then we all open presents each person, one at a time, so we can see when they recieve them and everyone gets equal attention.

 

[scottish mum]

In our house all the santa presents are left unwrapped and each child has their own chair where all the santa presents are left. So they look/play with all these gifts and their stockings. Then we stop for breakfast and move onto presents that are wrapped under the tree, these are from relatives that live far away and we won't be seeing for xmas.
We then play and have a big turkey lunch.
After lunch its tidy up time and more playing and then we open presents from all the family that live close by and have come along. We open one at a time and enjoy looking at all the gifts. This takes us into the evening so it makes xmas feel so much longer and the kids enjoy the pressies more

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Christmas Eve the kids get to open their pajamas. Then when they wake up at some awful morning hour they get to unwrap a book/books that they find in their beds (they know this is from me and even are allowed to request specific books, but I still try to surprise them). Then at a decent hour that we have told them the night before they are allowed to wake us all up. Then they go down and look in their stockings (everything in there is unwrapped) and usually eat some of the candy for breakfast while I'm cooking cinnamon rolls, lol. Then while they're in the oven we start handing out gifts, separating them. While we're eating we open them, one person, one gift at a time.

I could not even imagine the chaos with 5 kids if we didn't do it this way! Plus it's so nice to see their reaction with each gift.

 

[Honeymooner04]

We get up to open our stockings and look at the gifts (unwrapped) that Santa brought. We'll look at our stockings at this time too. Then I'll start some coffee and throw a breakfast casserole in the oven. Then we open presents one at a time and take our time. We only have one daughter so we don't mind if she wants to unwrap a present and open it right then. It's so blissful. I can't imagine opening presents all at once. It's just nice to know what everyone got and get to see everyone's reactions. I refuse to do it any other way!

 

[tzolkin]

My kids open their stockings before DH and I get up. After they've opened all the little items, they bring them in our room and sit on our bed and show us what they got.

The kids open the gifts under the tree one at a time. We let the kids pick them out and hand them to their siblings. When I was a kid we just opened them at the same time, but it was a bit chaotic and it would have been nicer/longer if we opened one gift at a time.



We do Christmas Eve at my parent's house. The kids receive gifts from the grandparents and aunts/uncles. People just randomly hand their gifts out and everyone just opens them. It's a bit crazy for me keeping track of three kids and who gave them what. The kids always get new pajamas from my mom that they put on for the ride home and wear Christmas Day.

 

[Chelley00]

We do pjs on Christmas Eve, then Christmas morning I come downstairs and start the coffee and throw the breakfast casserole in the oven before the kids come downstairs. Then we do stockings first, then each kid opens one present in order of youngest to oldest, and repeat until they are all opened, then DH and I open ours. By the time we are done with presents, breakfast is ready and we can go eat.

We actually do the same present ritual at my moms and ILs houses too. When we did gifts at my dad it was one big chaotic 2 minute mess, and I could never see or remember what each of the 4 kids got. I hated it!

 

[nikkistevej]

Santa leaves his presents(maybe 1-2 things)and stockings unwrapped on Christmas morning, we usually have a little breakfast, then invite my mom over(she lives next door- my Dad passed away last year- so we don't want her to be alone on Christmas morning) and open our gifts to each other and our DD. Then we go to MIL's open gifts with them. By then, my sister and family will be at my mom's and we usually have some appetizers and open, that takes a while as we open one at a time by age, then we eat dinner. Can't wait!!

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Santa only brings things for the kids here -- or really kid since DS is the only child/grandchild. He brings a full stocking, plus some things that don't fit behind it. We sit around and watch DS open these things. Then we have breakfast, and then come back and open the presents under the tree, taking turns one by one until we encounter something that must be played with NOW and then we take a break and come back later.

 

[mindyd]

Christmas Morning the girls wake up and I have the presents wrapped in two different color paper seperated and put their stocking from the mantle in front of it. They take turns opening presents so that everyone can see what they have then when we are done they do stockings. Then we have breakfast and they play with their toys then I cook a huge dinner.

We go to my Mom's house Christmas Eve and it is crazy there is 5 grandkids and plus all the aunts presents are getting thrown everywhere and you don't see what any one gets and there is just piles and piles of stuff. My family is very big, so we do all the aunts seperate and my dads also. Christmas lasts for almost a Month for my kids by the time we get together with everyone.

 

[2DisPrincesses]

We are doing what my family did while I was growning up. Christmas Eve the girls open one gift from mom and dad. It will be a board game, puzzle, etc.-something the family can do together. On Christmas morning the girls can open their stockings when they get up. When we (mom and dad) get up we open our stockings and then make a big breakfast. When we are done with breakfast and everything is cleaned up we open presents one at a time.