When do you put the gifts under the tree?

[Kay1]

My sons are too old for Santa, so I put them out as fast as I can wrap them. I really need the room in my closet!

Everyone have fun.

 

[gracie1]

I have my tree up and the gifts I already purchased are wrapped and under the tree! Almost done with my shopping, will probably wait till last minute to buy the tv that has to go behind the tree!

 

[Pooh2]

Our kids are in college and Santa still waits to put the gifts under the tree at midnight. Though last year, the kids were out wayy past midnight so Santa did not come until 6am!!!

 

[figment3258]

we put gifts out as i wrap them i don't have a lot of space to hide them. Santa brings them once the kids go to bed on christmas eve

 

[coolbeans]

granted...we have a lot of boxes to burn the following week, but it's worth the shock and awe factor!

we do this too! I have been known to wrap one pair of undies or socks in a shirt box. I love the AWWWWWW factor on Christmas morning!

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

We used to wait until midnight Christmas Eve for all the gifts, but then we would be too exhausted to enjoy Christmas morning. Now that the kids are older we start putting some of the gifts out as soon as they're wrapped. Not all of them, just a few here and there. Then we open pajamas and gifts from siblings on Christmas Eve, the kids have books in their beds they are allowed to open and read until a preset time that I've told them they're allowed to wake me up. Then we all go downstairs, start with stockings while we're waiting for one of the kids who always sleeps later to get up.

 

[swilshire]

My kids are super nosy and would try and figure out what everything was so I like the "WOW" factor and them not being able to ruin the fun of the surprise.

That has always been a problem here. One year my oldest son actually got up in the middle of the night and opened all his gifts. For many years now, none of the immediate family gifts have had name tags on them. I select a color or stamp or Christmas symbol for each family member and tag their gifts with it. Nobody but me knows which is which (and I have it written down in case I lose my mind by the 25th). One year I used the Mickey head paint sample cards from Home Depot.

The kids are still nosey and spend a lot of time trying to figure out which code matches which person, but at least it's a bit of a challenge. We only have one left that believes in Santa, so most of the gifts are put under the tree as they are wrapped. We keep just enough in the attic for Santa's Christmas Eve visit.

Sheila

 

[Minnie_me]

I always told the kids that books and clothes were from us, so those were under the tree ahead of time. Santa brought toys and games, etc., and those went under the tree after the kids went to bed on Christmas Eve -- and in a totally different wrapping paper, too!

Even though my kids aren't believers anymore, we don't come right out and admit it, so we still carry on the same way.

 

[pigletto]

Nothing goes under the tree until after the kids are in bed on Christmas eve!
For a few reasons actually. One is I still have Santa believers so those gifts can't go out. The second is that I have cats who will rip at the paper, and do daycare for little ones.. so keeping everyone away from touching everything is a difficult task. It's just easier on everyone if it all comes out the night before
It makes for a huge WOW factor on Christmas morning!

 

[NYCDiane]

I used to put them under the tree after my DD fell asleep on Christmas eve. Now I have to get up earlier than her on Christmas morning and put them under the tree? Why? Because my silly cats will tear everything up if I leave them there overnight!!!

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

As family and friends' gifts arrive, we put them under the tree. But Santa doesn't bring gifts until Christmas Eve after the children are tucked in their beds dreaming of sugar...well, just sugar

 

[crisi]

As they come into the house they are wrapped and put under the tree (as soon as the tree is up - there is some stuff that is hidden now because the tree isn't up). Even the Santa stuff. My kids are older (12 and 13) and understand that "Santa comes early to the houses of older kids and adults so he has less to do on Christmas Eve." They also know that I'm DONE staying up until long after midnight on Christmas Eve waiting for them to fall asleep so I can move presents under the tree. My kids are perfectly capable at these ages of staying up until 4 in the morning and do so regularly for "sleep" overs. And at my age, I can't.

Most of our presents are opened Christmas Eve now so we can sleep in

 

[CarlisleMom]

DD is turning 10 in 10 days, so we are not sure if she stills believes. She talks like she does.

On Christmas Eve all the presents to/from DH, DD and me go under the tree. Santa does not visit until DD is sound asleep. She is not allowed in the livingroom on Christmas morning until DH and I are both up and have coffee/tea ready. Mommy needs to take a picture of the tree after Santa's visit. I also like to get a picture of her face when she sees all the gifts.

 

[WantToGoNow]

We started to put the tree up yesterday - got the furniture moved around and everything. Then dd7 was admitted to the hospital so it was put on hold. We will put it up after she gets released - hopefully before Thanksgiving. The gifts that are riding around in my and dd27's trunks will then be wrapped and put under the tree. The kids will get 3 gifts each from Santa (even though ds10 doesn't believe and I'm not sure about dd7) and those will be put out after the kids are asleep on Christmas Eve.

I always loved gifts under the tree growing up and trying to guess what they were. I can't imagine a bare tree all the way up to Christmas - would make me feel like we weren't getting anything.

 

[BelleBeautyandtheBeast]

We wrap and put family gifts under the tree once the tree goes up. Santa gifts get put in the living room (not under the tree) once the kids are asleep on Christmas Eve. Each kid has a small pile (5 gifts and a stocking).

We do our family gifts to each other Christmas Eve. We do Santa gifts Christmas morning.

It is interesting to see how everyone does things. Might have to borrow some of your traditions to make ours a little different now that the kids are getting older.

Happy Holidays!

 

[bedogged]

Spin off from another thread I just read. I saw one poster say her DH refuses to put any gifts under the tree until Christmas morning. That's crazy I say When I was a kid some of my best memories are anticpating those gifts under the tree. I loved tryng to guess what they were. A few weeks before Christmas my mother would place a new present or two under the tree every few days. I loved coming home from school and
checking to see if there was anything new presents I could guess at. I used to guess right almost everytime and my brother would get so mad, so one year when I was about 9 or 10 he and my mom wrapped up a potato as a joke because they knew I'd never guess. Come Christmas morning I was so mad because I thought it was going to be this really cool gift. They all thought it was the funnist thing ever. So I always place gifts under the tree about 2-3 weeks from Christmas just like mt mom did. I wrap a couple for each child every few days and place them under the tree. BTW I seen that some people already have thier tree up and presents under Still seems way to early, I like my tree up the first week or so in December and down 2-3 days after Christmas. Once Christmas is over I'm done with all of it

Even though our youngest in the family are teenagers, we don't put ANYTHING under the tree until Christmas morning, Unfortunately, I have a herd of small dogs that are very excited by presents under the tree. I have made the big mistake of letting them find and open their own gifts on Christmas morning. Now anything under the tree is open season!

 

[Jeff_G]

The only thing that goes under our tree before Christmas is our gifts to other family members, like aunts and cousins, and friends gifts, like to the kids teachers. Our gifts and the gifts from Santa all go out on Christmas eve after the kids go to bed.

Same here gifts we as a family are giving to others go under the tree, some get delivered before Christmas. Then Santa brings gifts after midnight and we put our own gifts to each other under the tree as well...

 

[mermaidwannabe]

We put gifts that were sent from family members under the tree a few weeks before Christmas and then when everyone is nestled in their beds on Christmas Eve, we put all the rest from us and Santa, which makes them go "Oh!" when they come downstairs in the morning. I love that moment!!!

 

[kkmcan]

We put all gifts out on Christmas Eve for a few reasons. I too love the WOW! factor of coming downstairs and seeing the tree with a huge pile of presents.

And two, the years that I used to put stuff out early the kids were shaking and turning and the paper on the corners would sometimes rip and then the surprise would be over. Or they'd guess all their gifts and that just takes the fun out of it for me.

Thirdly, I don't entirely trust my dog not to get into them and chew them up. My mom had a dog when I lived at home that chewed up about 10 gifts and she had to go out and rebuy them right before xmas.

So all gifts go out after kids are in bed and hopefully asleep. Well before midnight as I'm usually totally dead tired by then.

 

[gillenkl]

After the kids go to bed on Christmas Eve. My son is on the autism spectrum and still believes in Santa so that's one reason and the other is that right now the anticipation of looking at the gifts ahead of time would drive him nuts...or he'd drive me nuts