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a yearly argument between me and mrsconsequence.... i grew up with:
wake up, open christmas stocking presents left at end of bed by dad pretending to be father christmas (2 Clementine, a small bit of chocolate and a small selection of christmas cracker quality activity type gifts), make a big deal of going downstairs hoping to wake mum and dad up in the process. then its presents, let the dogs have fun with the wrapping paper, breakfast. clear up then take the dogs for a long christmas day walk, back for dinner around 5ish, christmas films, sleep.
becca however, well her childhood practically amounts to child abuse. no presents until after dinner, but wait, it gets worse.... they all went for a family walk (without dogs... weirdos) then came back to do family quizes and board games before doing presents.
she's convinced we're the weird ones for doing presents in the morning, i'm convinced that nearly all her neurotic and warped behaviours as an adult are a result of the horrific abuse she experienced every christmas waiting until the evening for presents.
so STW, presents in the morning or in the evening?
Morning, but after breakfast - got to have some self restraint.
Presents need to be all opened and done with before 07:30 am.
My family always opened presents in the morning too.
Morning. It's clear that you had a normal childhood whilst your wife was quite clearly an abused child. She would have been bang to rights phoning Childline.
Phil, yes, it's the same for me. Mrs PP also comes from a harsh and deprived background where people open prezzies after dinner, in the middle of the afternoon. I agree, it amounts to child abuse. I simply cannot put up with it this year, I'm putting my foot down.......
First thing in the morning, usually still dark outside. Although this year I am off to the future in-laws for christmas in Estonia where they are winning the game as they open presents on Christmas eve.
bencooper +1
Got to have brekkie first to build the anticipation.
becca however, well her childhood practically amounts to child abuse. no presents until after dinner, but wait, it gets worse.... they all went for a family walk (without dogs... weirdos) then came back to do family quizes and board games before doing presents.
its not too late for her to put herself up for adoption
When I was a child it was very much the same as yours, dogs included.
For my daughter (currently 5) it's wake up, get the adults up at pre-agreed time, not too early. Goes down stairs to see if there has been a big delivery of presents and check Santa and Rudolph have eaten their snacks. She is then allowed to open one present out of her stocking. Bacon butties for breakfast. Waits for her mummy to arrive before she can open the rest of her presents. This all happens on the 26th at my parents house as wife is a nurse at childrens hospital and works 12.5 hrs day shifts 23rd, 24th, 25th. Then has to travel 300 miles to my parents where me and daughter have been for a few days. Lunch around 3pm. Then adults presents.
Some of the children in her class don't know (or care) what day of the week it is, but she is very aware of the day/date and chnages the classroom calendar and weather each day. We just about pulled the wool over her eyes about the date previous years but don't think we'll get away with it this year. Hopefully this won't scar my daughter too much and she'll grow up fairly well adjusted.
Stockings in room for them to find and open in secret then pile onto our bed whilst dad checks Santa has done one. Sprint downstairs and let mayhem commence. Then it'll hopefully be all out for a spin as they've both got new bikes! Can't wait!!
bacon for breakfast indeed!
I personally could not care less. So I adopted my late wife's family rule of gift giving after lunch. The problem was that lunch was often three hours late!
Christmas can be very trying
dad checks Santa has done one
Taking ages to go down stairs to see if santas been is the best part of the day. It's amazing how long you can strung it out for, and you can hear the kids almost exploding whilst they wait at the top of the stairs.
What are these things you calle presents 😥
Quite frankly, opening presents after 8am should be a criminal offence.
Hanging's to good for 'em...
Get the presents over and done with then start drinking to ease the pain
Ha I do desperately have to defend my childhood I've logged in to respond -
We got father Christmas presents that we opened first thing, then played with them until going to meet up with the rest of the extended family. Then played with presents there and cousins presents. Then ate, then walk, tidy up from dinner, then presents. By that point, we're all ready to burst with excitement that has been building up all day! And as an adult that works even better now cos you tend not to get toys or films (one Christmas I got Toy Story on VHS and watched that all morning!) that you can play with, you have to cook or drive.
So I believe it was good training for when you're an adult and have to do boring adult things on Christmas day morning.
christmas isn't about training you to be an adult you numpty, its about feeling like a kid!
Yep they'll be like 100m sprinters on the starting blocks at the top of the stairs 😆
Personally I also don't think it's fair to drag kids all over the country on Christmas Day to go visiting, when all they want to do is play with their new stuff, hence the reason I'm being frowned upon by my family for turning down a Christmas dinner invite oop north!
I see the Stockholm Syndrome has kicked in....
😉
I also grew up with presents in afternoon.
We had stockings first thing. Then after breakfast could choose one present from under the tree to open. But not allowed to open anything else until after the queen had been on.
My wife always opened them in the morning but wasn't allowed to start until her dad came in from doing the milking and then he'd want his full fried breakfast.
Now we open them in the morning with a brew...
stockings in the dark before parents were awake, to keep us occupied until they were ready to get up..
Wait for the adults before going down for 'tree presents'
Open in about six seconds flat.. commence fighting and arguing until start of new school term..
Across town to Nan and Grandads for Christmas dinner and a few more (grandparents and Aunties/Uncles) presents in the afternoon..
watch the Queen, bet on who falls asleep first, watch the Christmas films
But not allowed to open anything else until after the queen had been on.
Great way to bring a child up to be a republican!
This subject has been the source of some consternation at Casa Bregante this week. This crimbo we are staying with my wife's foster brother and extended family in Kent. She was fostered by them from the age of 14 when her mum died. Until then she had "normal" Christmas days - presents first thing in the morning etc.
Her foster family however do not touch any presents until after Christmas dinner. It's a dignified affair with breakfast, church*, home for dinner and presents at around 4.00. Pm.
My kids won't know what has hit them.
*I was told by my sister in law (via my wife) that I [b]must[/b] attend church but as nobody has died, or is getting married I shall be riding around Bedgebury forest 8)
Quite frankly, opening presents after 8am should be a criminal offence.
+1!
You afternoon folk are weird!
The rules on this are very clear: awake at 6 to open and play with stocking presents, but quietly so as not to disturb mum and dad. Then downstairs to admire, but not open, presents under the tree. Breakfast first, then get dressed including the new socks that were in the stocking. Then a round of coffee/tea/wine/sherry and dishing out the presents. A couple of hours opening (we took things slowly in the HD household), then walk and dinner. The afternoon is reserved for birthday presents. Admittedly these rules may not work for everyone 😉
When I was a kid it was stockings (sacks) of small stuff left on the end of the bed first thing in the morning, then breakfast, then waiting until everybody was absolutely ready before going into the lounge (which you weren't allowed to even open the door to up to that point) and opening the big stuff. Late lunch (crackers only pulled between lunch and pudding), games, tea, tv, bed.
The only odd thing my parents did was to convince me that it was perfectly normal to close all the doors on the advent calendar and re-use it the following year. I was about 25 before I found out that everybody else just buys new ones.
Edit: forgot about the sherry. Me and my sister were allowed a small sherry on Christmas morning from the age of about 7. That's probably not normal either.
Dont sleep Xmas Eve, do somersaults under the covers with excitement to pass the time. Wait for faither to finish his swally and go to bed about 4am, sneak down the stairs only to find sister has beaten you to it,not only has she opened all her presents, shes also opened yours for you. Notice the tree is lying on its side, all the chocolate decorations have been eaten, and the dogs been sick all over the living room, happy days!
glad i'm not the only one, becca is now using the sunbury defence of 'well we got our nicest presents in the morning from santa and the afternoon presents weren't as special'
fact is, her whole family is wrong.
Stockings when you got up (Father Christmas was lazy and neither wrapped stocking presents nor brought them to our rooms - they were left in the lounge). Other presents after church so 11ish.
Will be in Denmark this year so will be opening presents Christmas Eve this year.
The timing of opening presents is nothing compared to the wrongness of receiving all your presents from Father Christmas and none from your parents.
All open by 6am in our house
1 minute past midnight for me,'cos that's technically Christmas Day .
Unless it's an envelope with cash then it's opened 5 minutes after I receive it and usually spent shortly after.
I think there is probably a psychological term for this need for immediate gratification !
We're dragged out of bed to go down stairs and open the presents no time to wake up then Mrs FH insists on clicking away with the camera, that really gets my goat. I'm going to insist on a cupper at least this year before opening presents. Plus I've had permission to go to the pub Xmas eve so going to be extra groggy Xmas morning.
Morning for kids, a more civilised hour for adults.
Get the presents over and done with then start drinking to ease the pain
Once when I was a student I got back from the obligatory christmas eve session in the pub at about 3am to find my mum still up and wrapping presents...she made me wrap mine 🙁
I am amazed at the lack of Christmas discipline!!
The boys are allowed to open two stocking presents when they wake up. Once everyone is awake we then assemble and open stocking presents - clearly in a controlled manner and then breakfast. Main presents are then opened throughout the day - no more than one each an hour - until about sixish. Obviously church in the morning, all stop for The Queen and dinner in the afternoon.
If you open all of your presents in one go in the morning then surely there is nothing else to do all day apart from gorge yourself and watch TV?
Dogsby
Shak47 - MemberDont sleep Xmas Eve, do somersaults under the covers with excitement to pass the time. Wait for faither to finish his swally and go to bed about 4am, sneak down the stairs only to find sister has beaten you to it
This was always the case when I was a kid. Although, as I often got computers for xmas, I'd been playing on them at least a month before, everytime my parents went out! I wasn't really bothered about anything that wasn't my main present.
These days I'm not bothered because I either know what the presents are or they're usually not interesting!
Anyone showing any form of regiment to the opening should be banned from having kids.
Get up bleary eyed when the excited child does - rush downstairs with lots of enthusiastic excitement (maybe delaying proceedings just enough to put kettle on), have Baileys coffee whilst #1 child opens presents, watch Christmas films, get dinner ready, go up the road for brass band playing carols with mulled wine, visit pub for a couple of hours, finish preparing dinner, eat, sleep, wake - keep on drinking, do something Christmassy involving the family - games, films, drinking, whatever....
My childhood was very much like mrsconsequence, all very nice and middle class, now it's down to open them around 7am (been very lucky so far as the eldest doesn't get up early, this year may be different as her brother is now fully bought into Christmas and an early riser). Something else we now do is have a proper sit down Christmas dinner on boxing day. Christmas day is wall to wall finger food, when we're hungry we chuck another tray of file prawns or whatever in the oven. Makes for very a relaxed day.
Stocking presents first thing in bed with the kids, then one or two proper presents in the morning after breakfast, (smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, champagne - naturally) then majority of presents formally opened after lunch at about 4pm round a roaring fire and through a port tinted haze.
Presents from santa get opened pre breakfast, presents from everyone else (the ones under the tree) get opened after the queen's speech. However, seeing as Santa only comes to those under 18, so as the eldest of 3 (10 years difference between my youngest sis and I) I have to sit and watch presents being opened, waiting for a grandmother to let us all know what shes been up to the last year. This has been going on for the last 9 years.
Utterly ridiculous.
Memorytastic thread this :). Like many here I had a different upbringing from leffegirl with everything largely done and dusted before 9 (at least in my much diminished memory). Now the kids find stockings at the end of their beds but both rush up to ours to scatter paper and small boxes everywhere. Then down for breakfast (Baileys coffee sounds like an excellent new tradition), church and then back for a leisurely present opening before we finally give in and cook. Brisk walks can wait for another day
edit: add 'smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, champagne - naturally' to the Baileys coffee 🙂 - thanks
If you open all of your presents in one go in the morning then surely there is nothing else to do all day apart from gorge yourself and watch TV?
You say this like it is a bad thing
Ex did the regimented approach and it makes sense as a grown up
As a child no force of nature was stopping me from just opening stuff in a frenzy of excitement.
In my parents house, it was stockings are fair game whenever you wake up, then it would be a several hour wait for the parents to get up. Then breakfast, no presents until kitchen is cleared.
Open presents, it tends to be a free for all so no one really sees what everyone else gets, (my in laws all get a present each and then open one at a time which is much better and means it lasts longer than 15 minutes) then once the presents are opened we would get left to amuse ourselves/complain the others had better presents whilst Christmas dinner was prepped 🙂
We always opened the presents as soon as everyone was up.
My wifes family are as bonkers as your other half. For example the kids can't open the presents from her family unless they are there too. That means if we don't see them on Christmas Day they have to wait days until we see them so that they can watch the kids open them! What on earth is that all about.
If we spend Christmas Day with her family then we don't open the presents from her family until after dinner (although I insist the kids can open the presents from us and my family as soon as we are up). Otherwise it's almost like the waterboarding version of Christmas.
I remember one year my Dad stopping half down the stairs to tie his laces (we weren't allowed to go downstairs in front of him in case Santa hadn't finished). When me and my brother realised he didn't even have shoes on I reckon we were [i]this[/i] close to pushing him down the rest.
Presents in the afternoon is mental!
That said, my old man was a legend and dragging presents out for hours, with the just the right balance between foaming-at-the-mouth suspense and actually getting on with it 🙂
My boy's only two so he's only half getting what's going on this year.
Always after Lunch in the Bouy household..
My childhood: wake at around 3am and creep down and break in to elaborately barricaded sitting room. Open one then lie awake in bed until 7ish when my sister awoke. A frenzy from there on. We didn't have dinner - it was always lunch (sometimes late). No church.
Mrs North's childhood: midnight communion on Christmas Eve. One present on return, then to bed and up for presents and smoked salmo on toast with bucks fizz for late breakfast. No Christmas lunch - round to a family member (done on strict rotation) for evening buffet.
We live near my in-laws. We get up with Toddler North whenever she wakes (c8.30 - she's a sleeper) and open gifts with her, then eat and skype with my family. Now the in-laws are dying out, Christmas lunch has been invoked. It's reasonably formal, and then continues into the evening.
But, suggesting that there have to be "rules" of any sort is insane - are you all parking wardens or something!
When I was a kid, pressies happened as soon as everybody was up and dressed. It was very difficult, as I am an only child - and therefore had no sibling to help me get everyone out of bed 🙁
Things are a little different now.
OH's birthday is Christmas day (damned inconsiderate if you ask me...)
In the morning (or early afternoon, depending on hangover status - the OH is in a band and they always have a gig on Christmas Eve) it is strictly birthday time.
Then we go to see the OH's children and deliver pressies.
Then we go to Mule Towers and have Christmas with Mr and Mrs Mule Senior, eat far too much, and drink all Father Mule's malt whisky, before crawling to bed. Much to the bewilderment of the OH, who is only just getting used to the idea of having Christmas Day without the traditional "somebody kicks off and there ends up being a bloody great fight" 😀
I like Christmas.
As a kid back in the 70's/early 80's our xmas went largely like this :
Parents would stay up till 2am-3am wrapping my/our (brother was born in 1980) presents and having a drink/social gathering as various drunk folk my dad employed on his scallop/queenie boat staggered throughout the house shouting/swearing/laughing at the top of their lungs, things started to quieten down early in the morning as everyone staggered back home, my dad would creep into my room and hang my xmas stocking from santa on the fireplace and leave a few crumbs of shortbread and a chunk of ice from his fish hold on the hearth. I'd lie there trembling wi excitement under the covers till 6am and i'd bounce up and open everything in my rather large xmas stocking which to be honest was more of a 25kg queenie sack full of wee toys and selection boxes etc, this would keep me amused till 6.05am and i'd shout to my parents "I'm up...can i go downstairs?", i never usually got a response as my parents were fast asleep so i'd shout at the top of my lungs "I'M UP CAN I GO DOWNSTAIRS", this usually got a response but not the one i desired as i vividly remember them shouting back to me " Go back to bed....It's to bloody (they never said bloody but i've been told off for using fekin) early", this carried on every 15mins as i gradually built myself up to such a state of excitement that i would be practically gnawing at my bedroom door like a dog and my parents would eventually give in about 7.30am - 8am and allow me to go downstairs but only to open the one present under the tree, i was heavily warned don't touch anything else in the queenie sacks pilled up on the couch. Off i'd run down the stairs, slide to a halt on the shag pile carpet, burn hell out of my knees and hunt for the present under the tree - this was usually a one-person game or suchlike as my parents were clever and wily as they knew this would give them a good 15mins to make their way downstairs while i satisfied myself with playing wi the one xmas tree present. By the time they made their way downstairs i would be frothing at the mouth like a rabid dog and then the big present fest would start as i worked my way through opening the 2 or 3 queenie sacks of presents n' games, toy's, books etc...etc.. then we'd have a break for breakfast and i'd go back to my presents and play till we had our xmas lunch in the afternoon which was an amazing massive feast that went on for hours and hours as all my dads workers/wives and their kids used to come round and xmas was still being celebrated well into boxing day and beyond, utterly fantastic time that i look back on now as an adult and realise just how privileged i was and it could not have been any better, of course there was none of this going to church nonesense or owt like that 😉
Last xmas i hunted out the old xmas cine films of the carnage from the 70's/early 80's and i borrowed a projector and all i can say, is i was ashamed at the amount of presents i used to get, so was my brother 😳 - the entire living room used to be filled and there was so many folk in our house at all times but back then i guess my dad was only home 1 day a week (if that) as he was always away to sea and i always got loads of presents of my Gran n' Granpa and my dads workmates as they did earn an obscene amount of money on the newly discovered scallop/queenie beds back then, even now, not adjusted for inflation or owt i guess it would be considered a decent wage to earn so i guess i could be considered spoilt, but i never was a spoilt brat as i was brought up to be worker at all times as i used to go sea for days at a time on my dads boat and sit in the wheelhouse in all weathers and more often than not throw up constantly into a bucket.
Halcyon days indeed 😀 and i realised my parents house was a 1970's decored shag pile wonderland upon watching the home movies.
A few years ago we spent Christmas with the outlaws. Brother in law decided he was in charge. His plan was to get up late, have a leisurely breakfast, go to church, home for leisurely lunch and then open presents late afternoon. Had to tell him there was no way I was waiting until late afternoon to give Angus his new bike. We give our kids a few small presents at the bottom of their beds and open the rest after breakfast.
Completed approximately 17 seconds after waking which should be no later than 5.30am.
My family do stockings in the morning (as soon as you wake up) and presents in the afternoon after Christmas lunch (usually after the Queen). The SO and her family open everything in the morning.
Now we go with a vote so it depends on which side of the family has more members present or who is hosting Christmas Day.
As soon as kids wake up which last year was at about half four in the morning which was actually handy as I had work at eight . Still seems strange for me as when I lived in Norway and Germany we opened presents on the evening of Christmas eve
I bet no one gets as excited as me.
I have never slept on Christmas Eve since I was aware of Santa. Ever! My family routine is me laying awake waiting for the first child to rumble in bed enough for me to justify turning to my wife and asking if I can get everyone up. This is usually about 5-6am. We then listen out for the kids delights at their stockings and then head downstairs. I say head but really it's a race I always win. Then, now that they are of an age to compete, it's a free for all to open the presents. Only real rule is that everyone has to let everyone know who the present is from whilst opening and enjoy themselves.
Christmas is not a religious celebration for us, it's a time for family to enjoy themselves. I spend the weeks before hand building the excitement so I expect excited kids on the day.
Once the prezzies are done my wife goes and makes some breakfast whilst I put batteries and open boxes in the new toys.
I loves Christmas I do
Starting on Christmas Day, we open 1 present a day, leaving the last till New Year's Day. So starting the new year with a gift.
Main presents are then opened throughout the day - no more than one each an hour - until about sixish [s]Obviously church in the morning[/s] all stop for The Queen and dinner in the afternoon.
I'm more of less with Dogsby. Can't believe the lack of discipline from some of you lot, I thought it was just my wife's family but I see it's much more prevalent than that... The first time I witnessed kids opening all their presents in one opening frenzy I was stunned, how anyone can argue that this is a process that benefits children is beyond me. They spend seconds on a gift barely pausing to say thank you before moving on. Awful and brings out the worst IMO.
We tiptoe downstairs to do the stockings but presents not till after breakfast and we spread them out all day making each present something to yearn for. I still love Christmas for this process alone, the day seems to last forever with a constant drip, drip of prezzies 😀
We even hold back presents from distant family or friends (those not present on the day) until Boxing Day. Ahhh, the constant anticipation, we all loved it and now our kids do to.
Opened as soon as kids wake up.
They do their stocking first, then downstairs for the main presents.
The result is kids are entertained all day and parents can get on with cooking and lounging.
No wonder religion is on the decline....some of the responses on here are surely designed to make kids hate sitting in a church.
I'm flying to Tokyo on Xmas day :-(( Sadly another normal working day for an airline pilot. I should get 2/3 Xmas's off though.
When at home, it's stockings in bed (Ooer missus!) then Bucks Fizz/ scrambled egg/smoked salmon for brekkie, and presents straight after.
HUGE EDIT....
"Big" present in the morning. i.e. kids main present from parents.
All others after lunch.
It's great to suspend the excitement of pressie opening and makes the day doubly exciting.
Loved it as a kid, love it as an adult.
When i was a kid it was stocking presents and one tree present before church, then the rest once parents had made themselves a coffee.
For us as kids there was non of this delayed gratification. My mum worked nights in A&E and later in Intensive Care so she'd get home just after 8 on Christmas morning so presents happened between her getting home and going to bed. Once that was done while she was in bed the rest of us would put christmas dinner on so she'd wake up at 3 to a roast dinner.
Later on when I was 18ish we pulled a nice xmas stunt for her - earlier in the year my dad had gotten a big tax rebate, 6 years worth of over payments -enough to buy her a new car. In the run up to christmas we actually had it parked across the road and she had no idea. She went to work on christmas eve then a couple of hours later I drove there in the new car, took her car from the car park, replaced it with the new one, filled with balloons and flowers, then arranged with nurses from another ward to take her the new keys at the end of the shift
7.30 - downstairs for Santa's presents - Adults drink coffee & grin inanely.
9am Breakfast
10am Bucks fizz & family presents to each other
Much playing with presents
Whenever it's ready - Xmas dinner
Much playing with presents
Before it goes dark - walk it off
5pm Open other random presents left under the tree
6pm doze and general fug whilst presents are played with.
*important bit*
Boxing day - thank you letters to random aunts/uncles for bizarre gifts before you forget who gave you what.
Presents in the evening - pah! What's the point of a day with no one at work and everyone together with all the cool new things to play with together still in their boxes? Rubbish idea!
Presents in the evening - pah! What's the point of a day with no one at work and everyone together with all the cool new things to play with together still in their boxes? Rubbish idea!
Dunno when your Christmas Day ends but ours goes on well into the early hours - plenty of time for play.
Opening all presents in the morning? Rubbish! 😉
When I were a lad we had presents in the morning but only after my dad had lit the coal fire and made a cup of tea.
Opening all presents in the morning? Rubbish!
You know what they say about abused children being statistically more likely to go on and abuse children themselves....well you lot are proving that to be true 🙂
Kids usually wake between 5 and 6 and drag us out of bed/jump all over us. Presents are unwrapped after me and Mrs Gnusmas have had a cuppa, nothing before then, presents unwrapping usually done within an hour. We mix all the presents up so they have to look for their own ones and they open them after telling us who they are from.
Got the rest of the day to open the boxes and play with toys so definitely a morning thing here 🙂
Wake.
Coffee.
Presents.
wake
bekkie
small pressies.
Roll forward to the end of Jan for any 'main' presents.... trying to not spend too much right now as house sale / purchase goes through.
For families with kids:
Stockings upon waking,
Pressies after breakfast
For adult families:
Drinks/snacks before lunch
Lunch
Pressies with Champagne
Turn tv over when Queen comes on
Up, walk the hound, showers etc.... Rendezvous downstairs with Champers around 10 with mentally excited dog. Unwrapping commences and is normally sorted by 11ish. Then starts my birthday pressies 🙂
The afternoon often consists of hunting for small gifts that the dog has hidden, but I am usually pissed so don't really care.
Afternoon present openings = bad times.