How quickly are all the presents open in your family?

SugarSpun

Christmas Day everyone gets a stocking - DH fills mine, I fill everyone else's and we sneak around each other to hang them on our beds. DD (4) brings her stocking into our bed when she wakes, after the Gro-Clock tells her it's ok to get up, and we all open our stockings together. This year she'll help to open her brother's stocking, he'll be 3mo old by then. There'll be some fruit and cereal bars etc in there to snack on.

Downstairs and we'll open a couple of presents and play with them while breakfast gets going. We always have dim sum on Christmas morning as a late breakfast/brunch. After that some more presents, Skype my parents, more playing and maybe a kids' Christmas film while we start the dinner.

Dinner is probably around 3-4pm, roast and trimmings, and then if there are more presents we'll open them or else we'll play with/read/watch/snack on what we've been given, then kids to bed and grownups clear up some of the mess and snuggle on the sofa. My parents send us a box for each person full of small things, and we'll open those on the 26th in the afternoon after we meet our friends for a Postmas lunch (normally hosted at our house but not this year with the tiny one).

I spread it out so DD doesn't get overwhelmed and lose track of her gifts. When I was younger it was always a race to get through them all and I like this way a lot better.

LalaGomay

We used to open everything early in the morning and then have a midday lunch, but last year we mixed it up a bit. We opened a few presents in the morning at about 9am, then left the majority till the evening.
We had our Christmas dinner about 5pm (so it was dark and the twinkly lights and candles made it extra Xmassy) and opened one small present at the table. Then opened the rest of the presents about 6.30, after we'd eaten and before Doctor Who.
There were no kids so we weren't torturing anyone by making them wait. It just stretched out the excitement all day for us grown up kids.

emay

I'm amazed how many people do/did their pressies the same as we do, my friends at school always thought we were odd as we didn't dive straight in as early as possible and rip everything open in 10 secs!

We always had a stocking, used to climb on the end of my Mum & Dads bed so we could all open stockings together (M&D got one too) and me, my sister and Dad played guess what mum bought 3 for 2 or bogof!!!
Then back to bedrooms to play/read/eat whatever we got.
Then breakfast, wash-up, washed and dressed before we were allowed to open pressies.
Then we all got one each to open, once all were open, another one each and so one till all open.
Still the way we do it now (me & my sis...39 & 35!!!)

This_Year

When I was a child, we had our Stocking presents (usually but not always depending on how crinkly and exciting they looked!) sitting on my parents bed. We then had to get washed and dressed before breakfast, then had a small present on the breakfast table.

Church, then family popped in for a drink, and then Christmas Dinner. Queen's Speech, and then, after all that, we had the family presents (from Mum, Dad, Nan, Grandad etc). We opened one at a time with everyone watching to see what you had got.

If aunts and uncles were coming over, we had Christmas tea and then more presents in the evening.

One year there were so many presents that we had a second innings on Boxing Day afternoon :rotfl:

In later years we alternated with aunts and uncles coming over on Christmas Day and us going to them.

I used to love the anticipation and little rituals! I used to always be the first one dressed and ready for breakfast and would go downstairs and always had a nice little chat with my Grandad who was always the first adult down.

When I moved in with my now ex, he was used to a rip-em-open at dawn Christmas. Really was different, and I never got used to it. All the anticipation and done in 10 minutes. When DD came along, I pointed out that she would actually like to open and play with her new toy before opening the next and it actually confused her to have a rip-rip-rip session and not know who had bought anything, so he agreed to save some presents for the afternoon.

Now, with my partner, I do a stocking for DD, which she opens as soon as she's awake, we have breakfast and then have presents before lunch. Christmas afternoon we try to play a new board game or we're happy to watch a film, just relax.

*Louise*

Christmas Day - We wake up the kids about 9am (lazy lot haha) and we open the parcels from Santa. Last year everyone took turns which made it last a bit longer so we will probably do that again this year.

Christmas Afternoon - The kids' grandparents come over for dinner and bring a small gift for everyone

Christmas Night - We all go to my mums for a party and exchange gifts with her, my grandparents my siblings and children.

Boxing Day - The kids open the parcel from 'Mum and Dad' which I have saved back under the tree

Dec 27th - This is the day spent with hubby's family, we see his parents again and the kids get their main gift from their grandparents, and small ones are exchanged with unties and cousins.


So Christmas is spread out over 3 days for our family - I love it

balletshoes

My DD opens her Santa pressies (big pile in a Santa sack) when she gets up in the morning (I usually have time to put the kettle on and make my coffee before she wakes up, and more often than not I have to wake her on Christmas morning).

If she wants to, she can also open any pressies she's had from her friends too at that time.

Later in the morning we go to my sister's house, and thats when all the family pressies get opened (there are usually at least a dozen of us at my sister's for the mass pressie opening). We have bacon/sausage/egg, or rolls, or toast, more tea/coffee then too. It doesn't take long once we all get started on the pressie-opening, no more than half an hour I'd have thought.

We have christmas dinner at around 5pm at my mum's, and if there are family there who have brought pressies that we haven't seen in the morning, their pressies will get opened then.

gupalsmurthpadacal

Stocking presents in the morning for kids, or one small present for adults and the rest in the afternoon.

moonbabe58

When I was a child we always had to stay in bed until at least 7am. Then we could go downstairs and look but not touch any of the presents!
In the morning we would open our presents from Santa and from our parents/siblings.
Then we would go to my grandparents for a 2pm lunch, after all the food we would then have presents in the afternoon from grandparents/aunts and uncles etc. Me and my sister would distribute all the presents to everyone and everyone would take it in turns to open them.

Now I am more grown up our Christmas routines are still fairly similar. On Christmas Day it is always me, my husband, my Mum, my Sister, MIL, FIL & BIL. Me and MIL take it in turns to host Christmas. Everyone arrives at about midday, and one or two presents are opened before lunch at around 2pm. The rest of the presents are opened throughout the afternoon, usually taking a good few hours with people taking it in turns to open presents.
On boxing day we usually have a 2nd Christmas with my Dad and stepfamily and also go and see my Grandparents.

kerri_gt

When I was a child I would open santas presents with my mum and dad when I woke up. We'd often go out for lunch and family presents under the tree would be done when we got home. They would be given out one by one so everyone could see what the other person got, when my grandparents were alive the liked seeing me open mine too without being distracted. In older childhood years I spent Xmas with my cousins, it would still often be the same, Santa stocking then off to the SA while my aunt cooked lunch. Presents and games under the tree after.

These days I still like opening gifts after dinner as to me, it makes the excitement of the day last ,longer. OH hates that as growing up his family (he's one of six) would all rip open gifts after midnight mass. Last year we had a compromise, he was going out after dinner anyway so we opened each others gifts in the morning before dinner and I did the rest with my mum afterwards when everyone else had gone out.

Personally I don't like the idea of ripping everything open as quickly as possible as I always think its a bit disrespectful - if someone (even Santa) has taken the time to choose and wrap presents then I feel that you should take some time to appreciate that. Of course others may argue that ripping them opens how's you're really keen to see what's inside, so each to their own.

Abbafan1972

We open all ours in the morning when we get up (when I've made a cuppa first!). We let the kids open theirs first one by one and then hubby and me will open ours.

The whole thing usually takes about an hour and a massive clear up job afterwards!