Opening Presents [Archive] - Merry Forums of My Merry Christmas

elfworks

07-10-2006, 09:11 AM

Man, have you got a lot to learn.

i do have a lot to learn, but not on this particular subject!

i spend xmas with my mother who only ever has a few days off. she and i love love love getting each other presents. we both spend the whole year creating the perfect group of gifts and stocking stuffers for each other. sometimes one of us has done a "theme" sometimes not. she usually drives up and i go help her unload her car and then we say ok... one present. then we have a snack or something and open another and keep going! i have a group of friends that always come over during this 3 day period. we have gifts for them and they have gifts for us and we eat fabulous food and drink great wine and have marvelous convos.

i couldnt get any better for us!

xo

sheepsnot

07-10-2006, 06:59 PM

It all depends on who we are with. My parents' tradition is to open the gifts on Christmas Eve. Not sure why, but never cared, either. My wife's family opened gifts on Christmas Day, so we end up splitting the occasion between the two. I see more and more people moving Christmas to a day that suits them more, as if it was Presidents Day or some other lame holiday. (I love the presidents, but the holiday is l-a-m-e-o, and lame-o was it's name-o.) 8)

Jeff Westover

07-10-2006, 07:08 PM

Ok, Elfworks...since it is your mother, I guess you can break the rules. I just thought being a Gentile and all you, of all people, would be beholden to Santa and his merry traditions.

Santa, as you know, is an anagram for Satan. [sigh]

Jeff

Jeff Westover

07-10-2006, 07:10 PM

President's day is lame, Sheep? Not in my house. We dress the kids up in beards and top hats and have them throw silver dollars over the stream out back.

HomeLights

07-10-2006, 07:49 PM

LOL

We each open 1 gift on Christmas eve and then the rest in the morning.

sheepsnot

07-10-2006, 07:51 PM

I know you're kidding, right Jeff? Abraham Lincoln did now throw silver dollars, it was that other guy, George Stephanopolous.

elfworks

07-10-2006, 10:09 PM

hey! santa still does his thing at my ouse.. we just help him out!!!!

xox

Jeff Westover

07-10-2006, 10:12 PM

Snot, you're killing me!

elfworks

07-10-2006, 10:39 PM

one of these days i will 'splain the whole thing to you!

xo

Jeff Westover

07-10-2006, 10:45 PM

I'm sure we could swap stories on the whole Santa thing. Read this (http://mymerrychristmas.com/2005/historyofmmc.shtml), if you haven't already. It is just one small chapter in my experience with The Big Guy.

Twinkle

07-10-2006, 10:51 PM

When the kids were little we opened Christmas gifts on Christmas Day. Kids are grown now with kids of their own. It is Sonny and I now. We open on Christmas Eve. Christmas is another day and spend it eating and feasting.

caseydbell

07-10-2006, 10:59 PM

We go to my Grandparents (my dad's side) on Christmas eve to open gifts. My family and I (parents, brother & his wife, and my sister) open gifts @ home Christmas morning. Later Christmas day we go to Oklahoma to open gifts with the rest of the family. :P

Jeff Westover

07-10-2006, 11:04 PM

Dang, Casey...that's a Christmas marathon!

By the way, welcome back. Good to see you again!

Jeff

daisylover26

07-11-2006, 04:18 AM

We have always opened our gifts to each other on Christmas Eve and then Christmas Day is when we get the gifts that Santa brings. We still do this by spending Christmas Eve at my mom's. Since I got married, my husband's family always opened everything on Christmas Day, so he and I open our gifts to each other and the things from Santa on Day and Eve is spent at my mom's opening family gifts.

One tradition my husband and I started a few years ago is slowly opening gifts through Christmas Day instead of all at once. For instance, we'll get up, each open a gift, then have breakfast, watch a Christmas movie, open another gift, play a board game, open another gift. You get the idea :) It's really great because it extends the anticipation and fun of gift-giving without having that one rush of excitement, followed by a little dissappointment that it's over.

sheepsnot

07-11-2006, 08:05 PM

I wonder how your kids will like opening the gifts throughout the day. I guess if that's how they are raised, they'll like it just fine. If I tried to tell my son we were going to do that he'd go bananas, and he's 22!

lpstong

07-17-2006, 04:12 PM

My family(meaning Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Siblings, cousins) opens all their presents Christmas eve. Because all of my siblings and I are married so we spend Christmas Eve with the parents.

But for Christmas morning, the husband, myself and our two kids open our gifts to each other and Santa Clause.

Twinkle

07-17-2006, 07:34 PM

Hey there caseyd...I really enjoyed our Sunday nite chat. We both arrived around the same time and since it was so late we missed everyone that had shown up earlier. I hear there were 9 visitors. Next Sunday, I will try to get there earlier to chat with everyone. Hope you will be there too.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a289/Lizilu2/SantasVillage-1.gif

AuntieMistletoeDear

08-06-2006, 06:29 AM

Unless someone needs an item that is wrapped up under the tree (last minute-like) we always opened our gifts on Christmas morning. It used to be shortly after Santa left the house. Sometimes when we were little we would find a new pair of Christmas (winter themed usually) P.J.s to wear while we opened our presents.
When we were "t'weens", we opened on gift on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas Day.

Now, if we are in Ottawa with the grandkids for Christmas, we'll have a little Christmas with my parents before we go and open gifts together and if we are with my parents, we have an early Christmas in Ottawa.

My husband and I had fun watching our cat O'Malley open his gift last year. He ended up wearing the paper bag it was in like a skirt (he got stuck) it was funny.

Andrex

08-12-2006, 12:39 AM

Our family members exchange gifts Christmas Eve, the kids receive gifts Christmas morning.

Thinking about it gives me excite-bumps. :-D

Jeff Westover

08-12-2006, 08:04 AM

Hey Andrex -- good to see you again!

:P

sheepsnot

08-12-2006, 08:06 AM

I like that idea, Andrex. I have never thought of it. Kinda leaves the door open to Santa while teaching the value of giving as well. 8)

Andrex

08-12-2006, 11:46 PM

It's good to be welcomed back to warmly. :wink:

I should've stuck around. :( But what matters is I'm here now. Great to talk again Jeff, and hello sheepsnot! :-D

Ervserver

10-02-2006, 11:51 PM

at the ex inlaws everyone had the gifts piled at their feet and then on cue all would open at once. Never would see what anyone got.

mrshamm

10-03-2006, 11:13 AM

We open gifts at our house the day before Christmas eve, At my Grannies house on Christmas eve, at my parents house Christmas morning, at my grandmothers house Christmas day evening, at my husbands family's party the day after Christmas, and in FL with the rest of my husbands family 2 days after Christmas.

Christy Carol

10-04-2006, 11:04 AM

As a kid we (my mom, my sister and me) would open our gifts on Christmas Eve. The next morning we went to my aunts where my entire family would celebrate and after lunch we opened more gifts. After that it was off to my fathers house to open presents with his side of the family.

Now we just open them whenever. Since we don't have any little ones running around its just the adults and I guess it has lost something. Oh to be young again! :sad:

KingMoonRacer

10-04-2006, 06:33 PM

My dad gives my brother, sister, and I our presents on Christmas Eve. The rest of the presents are opened when we are in the presence of the givers.

sheepsnot

10-04-2006, 10:30 PM

Do you ever get so excited about a gift you are giving that you can't wait till Christmas and make the person open it early, then rush out to buy them another gift for the Big Day? Been there...

Ervserver

10-04-2006, 10:33 PM

no, but I've been excited about a gift I was getting and opened it early...then hurridly wrapped it again before the givee got home.

:???:

sheepsnot

10-04-2006, 10:34 PM

Oh, that's got to be against code!

dvdguy

10-05-2006, 07:10 PM

I've done that a couple times. Wifes gotten a couple presents early

mrshamm

10-06-2006, 05:51 AM

Do you ever get so excited about a gift you are giving that you can't wait till Christmas and make the person open it ealy, then rush out to buy them a gift for the Big Day? Been there...

my husband is notorious for that. He'll finally find "the perfect gift" (which is never what I wanted in a million years) and then he can't even wait to wrap it before he gives it to me. Then he goes out and buys some other little things to give me on Christmas day. I told him to please get me something I'm asking for this year because we usually don't have room for what he gets me.
(IE: last christmas he got me a christmas gingerbread village and a fishtank with 5 fish in it. We live in a small apartment and don't have room for stuff like that...lol. )