Presents Questions for People With Kids

[MaumeeMom]

Here you go...

1. Do you try to get the same number of presents per kid or are they OK with a present count imbalance? They each ope the same number of boxes even if that means I wrap two items together (like books).
2. Do you try to spend the same per kid or does it often end up uneven because one kid gets something unusually costly? We spend the exact same amount for each child, well usually within 50 cents.
3. About how many presents do you think is optimal for your kids to unwrap? How many is too few or too much? there is no target number, it depends on sales and what they want.
4. As your kids get older, do you find yourself buying fewer presents because things for older kids are much more expensive? Yes and no. They may get one expensive thing with a bunch of smaller things.
5. Is it a present opening free-for-all? Do you regulate the pace? Do you restrict it to one present opening at a time? It is a free for all!
6. How do you track who got what from whom for thank you note purposes? It isn't hard to remember for us because we have a one toy rule for stuff from family members.
7. How do you record the events? Video, pictures, or just enjoy and remember? Both
8. Do you open gifts Christmas Eve, Christmas Morning, or a combination? Twice on Christmas. The kids open the Santa presents first before family gets here. Family gifts are opened after dinner.
9. Does Santa come to your kid's home or do you take the kids somewhere for Christmas? Santa comes to our house (and so does everyone else.)
10. What time in the morning does the present opening usually start? Not before 4 am is our rule. Then we usually get a nap in before family shows up for dinner.

 

[southern_redhead]

Before answering I should add that my kids are 11, 8, and 7
Do you try to get the same number of presents per kid or are they OK with a present count imbalance? I try to keep it even.

Do you try to spend the same per kid or does it often end up uneven because one kid gets something unusually costly? Santa gifts (one per child) are basically the same price. Other things, from parents, not the same but there isn't usually a gigantic spread either.

About how many presents do you think is optimal for your kids to unwrap? How many is too few or too much? Well, I have been aiming for 5 for a few years now. Never keep it to that, though. This year I thought we were going to be 12 per kid BUT somehow they ended up with 15 each. Actually, though, that is packages. Some packages may be individual parts for a larger toy (example - DD is getting Moxie Tent and Car in one box and a Moxie Doll in another.)

As your kids get older, do you find yourself buying fewer presents because things for older kids are much more expensive? Not really, but the other gifts will be less expensive. So instead of getting $40 or $50 additional gifts it might be a $15-$25 additional gift.

Is it a present opening free-for-all? Do you regulate the pace? Do you restrict it to one present opening at a time? Last year it was a free for all. I hope to contain the madness this year by doling out gifts 3 at a time and opening at intervals through the day.

How do you track who got what from whom for thank you note purposes? We open at my MIL's on the weekend before Christmas, and my FIL's Christmas Eve. They get thanked at the time of opening. Gifts they open on Christmas Day are either from us or my mom (they thank her when they open them.) Santa doesn't wrap.

How do you record the events? Video, pictures, or just enjoy and remember? Mostly it is memories but I do take a few pictures. I am terrible about videoing. I especially hate to watch a video and hear myself, behind the camera, talking. I hate the sound of my voice

Do you open gifts Christmas Eve, Christmas Morning, or a combination? Christmas morning.

Does Santa come to your kid's home or do you take the kids somewhere for Christmas? Always our home.

What time in the morning does the present opening usually start? 7 or 8 usually. If it were up to DH everyone would sleep until lunch before opening. I have to drag him out of bed and to the tree. Our 11 yo is starting to sleep in as well.

 

[Liberty Belle]

1. Do you try to get the same number of presents per kid or are they OK with a present count imbalance?I try, but sometimes it does become uneven become of the cost factor. I have a 17 year old and 8 year old, so it does happen quite often.
   
2. Do you try to spend the same per kid or does it often end up uneven because one kid gets something unusually costly? No, we do our best to spend about the same for each child.
   
3. About how many presents do you think is optimal for your kids to unwrap? How many is too few or too much? Oh, I don't know. I'd say optimal would be from 8 to 15 or so. More than 15 -18 would probably be too many. I think this year they're each getting 13.
   
4. As your kids get older, do you find yourself buying fewer presents because things for older kids are much more expensive? Yes, but I do try to find some smaller things that they may find interesting. For instance, my 17 year old is getting a little magic trick set.
   
5. Is it a present opening free-for-all? Do you regulate the pace? Do you restrict it to one present opening at a time? I hate present free for alls. Usually we try to make sure everyone has a gift and then each open one gift at the same time. The kids get more, though, so near the end we just watch them.
   
6. How do you track who got what from whom for thank you note purposes? I usually just remember. We don't do thank you notes for grandparents (they're there with us) and don't get very many from extended family or friends.
   
7. How do you record the events? Video, pictures, or just enjoy and remember? Some pictures, but I tend not to take many, if any. My mother wants a picture of each second, it seems.
   
8. Do you open gifts Christmas Eve, Christmas Morning, or a combination? Christmas morning. They open one present on Christmas Eve and it's always pajamas and a book.
   
9. Does Santa come to your kid's home or do you take the kids somewhere for Christmas? They see Santa at the mall and then Santa comes and brings their gifts (and Santa usually just brings one "large", ie expensive, unwrapped gift, plus their stockings) while they're sleeping. Santa does not visit a house if there is one child awake.
   
10. What time in the morning does the present opening usually start? It really varies. We've done it as soon as 5 and as last as 8. It's up to the kids - whenever they wake up.

Oops, I lied. The kids get their Santa gift and their stockings at that time, but we usually stop and have some breakfast before we start opening gifts from others.

 

[Colleen27]

1. Do you try to get the same number of presents per kid or are they OK with a present count imbalance?
2. Do you try to spend the same per kid or does it often end up uneven because one kid gets something unusually costly?
3. About how many presents do you think is optimal for your kids to unwrap? How many is too few or too much?
4. As your kids get older, do you find yourself buying fewer presents because things for older kids are much more expensive?
5. Is it a present opening free-for-all? Do you regulate the pace? Do you restrict it to one present opening at a time?
6. How do you track who got what from whom for thank you note purposes?
7. How do you record the events? Video, pictures, or just enjoy and remember?
8. Do you open gifts Christmas Eve, Christmas Morning, or a combination?
9. Does Santa come to your kid's home or do you take the kids somewhere for Christmas?
10. What time in the morning does the present opening usually start?

We keep the number of packages under the tree roughly even, but don't even try to keep the spending even. With a 10 year age gap between oldest and youngest there's no way to spend the same amount without being ridiculous. We haven't really cut back yet as DS has gotten older and his wants more expensive, but there's still plenty of relatively inexpensive stuff on his list too.

We usually get the kids 3-4 things they really want, and Santa brings a gift for the whole family (board games, family movies, Wii games we'll all play, etc). We used to buy more but it was just getting to be too much by the time we added in gifts from grandparents and great-grandparents and aunts/uncles, so we cut back some in our gift giving at home.

We do take turns, but we're not rigid about it. The older kids (12 & 9) are pretty good about pacing themselves at this point and they want to watch the baby (2) open her gifts so they naturally pause when the little one is tearing into something.

I've always just taken pictures, but since my gift from DH this year is a video camera I'll be recording instead. Keeping track for thank you notes is easy; they thank everyone in person except my SIL & her family, so there's only the one set of gifts to write notes for.

We usually celebrate Christmas eve with my mom & brother, so the kids open the gifts from them then. We also give them their Christmas pjs and slippers to open on Christmas eve. The rest waits until morning, and then they get to open still more gifts when we go to my inlaws' house for Christmas dinner.

We always open gifts at home on Christmas morning, followed by breakfast from the Polish market. My kids have never been the type to wake at the crack of dawn, so the fun usually doesn't start until between 8 and 9.

 

[bettyann29]

when my kids were younger I did give them the exact number of gifts.. unfortunately when they are younger, thats what they tend to look at.. but as they got older it went to a set $ amount for each.. sometimes one would get more items than another...

 

[golfgal]

1. Do you try to get the same number of presents per kid or are they OK with a present count imbalance?
2. Do you try to spend the same per kid or does it often end up uneven because one kid gets something unusually costly?
3. About how many presents do you think is optimal for your kids to unwrap? How many is too few or too much?
4. As your kids get older, do you find yourself buying fewer presents because things for older kids are much more expensive?
5. Is it a present opening free-for-all? Do you regulate the pace? Do you restrict it to one present opening at a time?
6. How do you track who got what from whom for thank you note purposes?
7. How do you record the events? Video, pictures, or just enjoy and remember?
8. Do you open gifts Christmas Eve, Christmas Morning, or a combination?
9. Does Santa come to your kid's home or do you take the kids somewhere for Christmas?
10. What time in the morning does the present opening usually start?

1/2. When the kids were younger we went for same number of gifts. The prices averaged out to be roughly the same. Now that they are 18, 15, 15, we try for the same, or close, dollar amount. They understand money now so it works.

3. We usually get each one 3-5 things depending on the year and what they are asking for.

4. Yes, we are buying fewer presents because the things they want cost more and when they were little we loved the "wow" factor of a packed tree when they woke up in the morning so we found we wrapped everything separately.

5. We take turns opening gifts. The kids have some rotating schedule of who gets to hand out the gifts from the tree and then they decide if we open gifts oldest to youngest, youngest to oldest, etc.

6. On Christmas morning the gifts, for the most part, are just from us and Santa. We have family celebrations other days and gifts from family are opened then-and the giver personally thanked.

7. Take pictures but now that I have a video camera on my phone I might do some of that.

8. Santa goes where we are-but we mostly stay home. When DS18 was 3 we FORGOT to bring our Santa presents (well all of our presents) so he woke up to NOTHING under the tree. That was the last year we traveled for Christmas until recently.

9. We let the kids open one present after church on Christmas Eve. The rest are opened on Christmas morning.

10. We don't open them at a set time. As the kids wake up they get to open their stockings waiting for the others to wake up. Our kids have never gotten up before us on Christmas morning so DH and I usually lounge around waiting for them. We have Monkey Bread while we are opening gifts. Once they are all up we open gifts.

 

[Mermaid02]

1. Do you try to get the same number of presents per kid or are they OK with a present count imbalance?
2. Do you try to spend the same per kid or does it often end up uneven because one kid gets something unusually costly?
3. About how many presents do you think is optimal for your kids to unwrap? How many is too few or too much?
4. As your kids get older, do you find yourself buying fewer presents because things for older kids are much more expensive?
5. Is it a present opening free-for-all? Do you regulate the pace? Do you restrict it to one present opening at a time?
6. How do you track who got what from whom for thank you note purposes?
7. How do you record the events? Video, pictures, or just enjoy and remember?
8. Do you open gifts Christmas Eve, Christmas Morning, or a combination?
9. Does Santa come to your kid's home or do you take the kids somewhere for Christmas?
10. What time in the morning does the present opening usually start?

1/2. We try to roughly keep it even, but more than the count is the amount we spend- our kids are older and know the value of things.

3. I don't think there is a correct "count" It really depends on the gifts and your financial situation.

4. Yes

5. Generally we do one at a time- so everyone can see what someone got and who it's from.

6. see #5

7. Mostly enjoy and remember- we did more taping when the kids were younger.

8. Christmas morning!

9. We celebrate at home.

10. It starts pretty early here- 6ish usually.