The Conservative Cave
The Bar => The Lounge => Topic started by: Full-Auto on December 14, 2010, 07:41:36 AM
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I got my Christmas present Sunday. The wife got hers (one of them anyway) last week. I've never been the kind of guy, even since being a kid, who waits for Christmas morning to open my presents. When I buy a present, if it's not on Christmas Eve that I make the purchase, chances are the recipient is going to get it well before Christmas. I can't wait to give and I can't wait to open.
My son isn't old enough to ask to open presents, he doesn't get the whole Christmas thing yet. That will come next year. I just wonder if he'll start begging to open presents early... or if we'll learn our lesson and not open them until Christmas morning. I do want him to run down stairs, get all excited... and open presents like a normal boy in a normal family.
How about you guys? What do you do? Open early or wait?
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Always waited till Christmas morning.
There's something about that time of day that has meaning - and opening a gift at any other time just doesn't smack of Christmas to me.
YMMV.
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It was a tradition in my husband's family that they opened ONE gift on Christmas Eve. We have continued that with our kids. There is much gift shaking and hand wringing as each kid tries to pick the "best" one.
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My birthday is Christmas Eve, so my family restrained themselves till Christmas. When I got older, I would "deign" to allow them to open a present of MY choosing. :-)
I used to open mine as soon I as I received them, when I first started living on my own. As the years have gone by, I started putting them under my tree, to wait for Christmas Morning. I believe I am showing a phenomenal amount of restraint, as no one would know but me when I opened that gift. It is a tradition of sorts, to wake up Christmas Morning, turn the lights on the tree, make some special coffee, and enjoy a little bit of silence, before heading out for all the mayhem and foolishness.
Full-Auto, I think your intentions are good, and you will have those experiences with your son. At least until he wears you down. :naughty:
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Half the fun for me is seeing the presents under the tree. In my family there has always been a bit of a game of slipping presents under and waiting for people to notice that they have a new gift waiting for them. I will admit that I have always had trouble sleeping on Christmas eve, too excited I guess.
My immediate family and I open out gifts on the 23rd or 24th, then drive to my grandparents, where we open more gifts on 25th. One of my cousins has kids now, so Christmas is super fun :-)
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My birthday is on the 22nd. My parents alwasy insisted that my birthday and Christmas were two separate events. When I was a kid, it seemed like birthday presents always were tied into what I was getting for Christmas. After my mother died, the birthday presents were wrapped in Christmas paper. :(
The ex was good about keeping the two separate, and M is wonderfully good about keeping the two separate. M and the kids do not use Christmas wrap on my birthday presents. :-)
Kids were allowed to open one present on Christmas Eve before going to bed, just like the ex and I both were when we were kids. Now we wait for Christmas morning.
This year we are going to daughter's mid-morning to open presents with them and have brunch. They will already have done presents with the grandbabies, and we will have done ours between us. Starting a new tradiiton!!! :yahoo:
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The ex was good about keeping the two separate, and M is wonderfully good about keeping the two separate. M and the kids do not use Christmas wrap on my birthday presents. :-)
Isn't it crazy how that is the most important thing???
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It was a tradition in my husband's family that they opened ONE gift on Christmas Eve. We have continued that with our kids. There is much gift shaking and hand wringing as each kid tries to pick the "best" one.
My wife's family does that, mainly came out of her parents being divorced and the kids would spend Christmas Eve with her Mom at her maternal grandparents' house, and Christmas Day with her Dad's family. Since she was raised that way, she imported the custom to our family when the kids came along. This year the presents are nice but few in number, and the youngest kidnik is 18, so we will likely just do the traditional Christmas morning opening.
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My Ex and i always bought the boys new pajamas to wear for Christmas eve...So that is what they got to open! :-)
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this ain't the right thread for it, but I have a major problem with wrapping gifts. Hate it. Major PITA.
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Wait until Christmas morning.
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Isn't it crazy how that is the most important thing???
Yes, it is crazy...but it means more than anything!
When we first started dating, M asked me when my b-day was. Told him, and he said oh good, he could combine my b-day and Christmas present into something really terrific. I didn't say anything. Conversation continued, and I asked him when was his b-day. H told me - it's early August - I said oh good, I can combine your b-day and Christmas present into something really terrific. (I kept the words exact to his :-) ).
His response? "Why would you do that? My birthday and Christmas aren't together!"
My response? "Really? Neither are mine!" :evillaugh:
Except for the year that he gave me a custom made fishing rod (I got it for Christmas)....I get super birthday presents. Involving lots of thought, gold, and jewels... :-) Christmas is gift certificates requiring no thought, or wrapping. :lmao:
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This is our second Christmas as a family and we wait until Christmas morning to open presents. When I was growing up, we always opened our presents on Christmas morning, except for one year. We opened gifts Christmas Eve because I had to work Christmas morning once. Boo.
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We opened presents from each other on Christmas eve and on Christmas morning the kids opened what Santa brought during the night. We had Santa give the kids their "big" gift and stocking stuffers but we stopped that a couple of years ago when my youngest no longer believed in Santa. Now we open all the presents on Christmas eve and "Santa" just fills their stockings at night.
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It was a tradition in my husband's family that they opened ONE gift on Christmas Eve. We have continued that with our kids. There is much gift shaking and hand wringing as each kid tries to pick the "best" one.
My mom would let us open one gift on Christmas eve, funny that it always turned out to be PJ's.
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My mom would let us open one gift on Christmas eve, funny that it always turned out to be PJ's.
LOL. So you always knew what you were getting. It's funny how our parents torture us in such subtle ways. :)
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Hubby's gift to me, a mini-laptop has been totally loaded with my favorites, I did put it back under the tree though along with the mouse and the laptop case, he'll buy me another gift that he'll actually wrap, hubby's gift, an XBox 360 is hooked up already in the basement and he has already played with 2 of the games, Golf and Hockey, I'll buy him another game and wrap it, my Mother's gift, a laptop, is being used right now by her, LOL we're so bad.
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That is bad, Ballygrll! :-)
That pajamas-on-Christmas-Eve-from-a-Grandparent is an ancient and widely-practiced tradition. We were allowed to open one thing on Eve, from my paternal Grandmother, and it was PJ's and the like. One year, it was sheets. We kind of all mumbled, how nice, etc. You know what? They don't make things like they used to. They were excellent sheets and we all took them to college (no silly bunnies or anything childish. That would not be like Grandma). They could be 40 year old sheets and still going strong.
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That is bad, Ballygrll! :-)
That pajamas-on-Christmas-Eve-from-a-Grandparent is an ancient and widely-practiced tradition. We were allowed to open one thing on Eve, from my paternal Grandmother, and it was PJ's and the like. One year, it was sheets. We kind of all mumbled, how nice, etc. You know what? They don't make things like they used to. They were excellent sheets and we all took them to college (no silly bunnies or anything childish. That would not be like Grandma). They could be 40 year old sheets and still going strong.
My Holiday pet peeve here. Darn it but this drove me crazy for years.
My oldest child a daughter---could be at times the one I wanted to adopt out, what a rotten kid she was.
From about the time she was 10 years old this child would go on a spy mission to find out what she and the other 3 were getting for Xmas.-----
It didn't matter where we hid the gifts, she would find them and tell her siblings what they were getting a week ahead of time.----At one time I even locked the gifts in the trunk of my car but she knew how to use the car key to peek.
Then I met years later a woman at work in her mid 50's that did the same. Hubby would order my surprise, or I order his and have it sent to work to hide in our lockers. This #%$^& witch hung out in the mail room and came prancing up to me one day all smiles to tell me she knew what I was getting for Xmas.
Well she says, a package came in for him today, he bought you a West German Coocoo Clock.----Then when my package for Hubby arrived she could not wait to tell him what I got him.
I was not the only victim, half the plant did this that had family or spouces working there. We decided not to beat her up, one wanted to hang her but we talked them out of that.
Xmas eve open one present, Christmass day if there are any others then go for it.
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hmmm...tough act to follow :lol:
as long as my children were living at home and in all my childhood memories, gifts from santa were never wrapped. idk about the peeking, my bro did some of that and it spoiled it for me. i'm a mush for santa so....
gifts did turn up later. they make great birthday presents too :lmao: