help please with ongoing disagreement at Christmas time

shrimp


Joined: 01/09/2010
Posts: 939

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 16:18

Every year in our house we have the same disagreement.....when to open the prezzies under the tree.......my family tradition was always after lunch, but my husband's family tradition was as soon as you get up.......we have tried doing it alternative years but it just isnt the same....when do other families open theirs????

spanna


Joined: 12/01/2009
Posts: 544

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 16:20

Definitely after lunch!!! Patience is a virtue!! We were always allowed to select one present to open in the morning but the rest, we had to wait till after we'd stuffed ourselves silly!! Can't wait!!

Scoty


Joined: 23/05/2010
Posts: 846

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 16:23

Are you saying you make the kids wait until half way through the day before they can enjoy themselves - that's sadistic. hype them up for weeks then make them suffer!!



Open when you get up, and then enjoy the day.

shrimp


Joined: 01/09/2010
Posts: 939

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 16:24

no, not making the kids wait....they open their stockings first thing in the morning....

rigsby


Joined: 21/09/2007
Posts: 912

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 16:25

shrimp,I am with your husband on this one.

jamestalbot


Joined: 20/12/2009
Posts: 958

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 16:27

In our house, it was as soon as we got up, then we all stuffed our selves with loads of goodies.

Glasbury


Joined: 13/08/2010
Posts: 268

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 16:32

Same as you James.

Pipie


Joined: 05/01/2008
Posts: 5499

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 16:34

Open I every hour !!

vonny


Joined: 25/06/2009
Posts: 476

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 16:42

we always open our prezzies when we get up on xmas morning, but once,when i was a teenager i spent christmas with a friend, her family also opened their prezzies xmas morning BUT everyone had an extra prezzie under the christmas tree which was kept for after dinner,they called it The christmas tree present. maybe this xmas ,you and hubby can do that then you both win

parkview



Joined: 12/03/2009
Posts: 1123

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 16:52

Always every morning but stagger some throughout the day.

Whistler


Joined: 28/07/2008
Posts: 1332

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 17:26

Knew a woman in Watford when our kids were young who was houseproud. Poor kids only got one big present which had to be opened in the hall!!!!!

LordJim


Joined: 12/10/2010
Posts: 221

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 17:27

do buy any pressies do not join in with the commercialisation of a religious event many if not most people who will celebrate it do not actually believe happened.

Tenakoutou



Joined: 27/07/2009
Posts: 4110

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 17:33

Shrimp/Msg 1:



In the sterner Christian families, nobody was allowed to open even one present until Boxing Day - that's why it is called so - nowadays that title is meaningless.



It probably was a good idea, because the excitement is all in the anticipation, then come the joy of discovery!



Instant gratification seems to be what today's society consider should be the norm, and the 'modern' psyche is now conditioned to it.

shrimp


Joined: 01/09/2010
Posts: 939

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 18:52

Tenakoutou, I was under the impression that Boxing day was so called because it was when the servants had their day off from duties and celebrated their own christmas a day late, and it was then that the lords and ladies of the house distributed their christmas "boxes" to the staff, but I stand corrected........ We always had ours in the afternoon so the chef of the house could join in and watch the family opend the presents, otherwise they were confined to the kitchen whilst every one else had all the fun.....Of course the kiddies didnt loose out, they had all their presents from santa to play with in the morning......

lovingcyprus


Joined: 02/03/2007
Posts: 1272

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 19:04

Open them on Christmas Eve

hawkeye


Joined: 12/09/2010
Posts: 334

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 19:11

At our Christmasses....well the kids could never contain themselves, so when they woke up they always came into our bed and we sat together opening - the kids. Sometimes Hubby and me did ours at midnnight - after we had wrapped all up for the kids. At our daughters house, they have to put a time on opening cos the eldest bed hops all night he gets beyond himself, as we are usually with them he comes to us for a while then goes to his parents, and back to us.. In the finish he gets one to open at about 5 oclock settles then is up again (he is now 11) his younger brother just sleeps on.....warnings have to go our to stop the elder waking him. We end up down in the lounge about 7 ish with bucks fizz, (start as you mean to go on) the boys having a fantastic time opening theri presents......Cannot wait for this year......Love them all xx

hawkeye


Joined: 12/09/2010
Posts: 334

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 19:13

Forgot to say that the son in laws family had to wait until after lunch and the Queens speech..........well since he married our daughter loves the fact that we do it all the way we did.......

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 19:17

Right after breakfast.

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 19:22

I'd love our children to wait until after luncheon but then we'd have to put up with their sullen faces all morning... As it is, once they've opened them - we still have to put up with their sullen faces



Shite presents... what Christmas is really all about.

Tenakoutou



Joined: 27/07/2009
Posts: 4110

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 19:23

hawkeye/Msg 16:



If you read my posting [Msg 13] - you can appreciate what I mean by the modern day 'instant gratification psyche'!



shrimp/Msg 14: You are quite correct - however, what I posted was also widely regarded as 'tradition'!

Lilli



Joined: 21/07/2008
Posts: 13081

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 22:55

I always had one to open at midnight xmas eve, usually the best one. glass of cristal in hand to welcome the day. Then my son would arrive back around 3 or 4 am. We had to let him lie in. He always peeked at the prezzies anyway so we made it at lunch time.With my eldest daughter as she always went to her mother in laws for xmas day our cermony was as soon as we got there boxing day, middle daughter as she lives in the midlands was xmas eve lunch. So I was lucky 3 in one x Now i dont get a present xxxx

LaptaMike


Joined: 07/10/2009
Posts: 1679

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 23:11

we always open first thing in the morning.

deputydawg


Joined: 30/03/2010
Posts: 1727

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 23:15

Children. Give them all empty boxes and when they open them tell them it is an Action Man Deserter ! Keep the cellophane on the lollipops and they will lick them for days on end. If they run riot nail one foot to the floor so they can only travel in circles. If they make a noise put a coat hanger in the back of their shirts and hang them in the wardrobe. Tell them that grandchildren not children are great and you wish you had them first.

Glasbury


Joined: 13/08/2010
Posts: 268

Message Posted:
27/11/2010 23:18

deputydawg - that's so funny.

Jeannie


Joined: 04/08/2009
Posts: 3283

Message Posted:
28/11/2010 00:04

Message 23 - deputydawg - I really like your way of thinking - a man after my own heart



J

Navek



Joined: 01/06/2008
Posts: 2656

Message Posted:
28/11/2010 00:19

Usually open after midnight on Xmas eve, (00.01 on the 25th) guarantees a long lie Xmas Day morning )))

Navek

YFred


Joined: 06/05/2009
Posts: 1471

Message Posted:
28/11/2010 01:24

I thought when in Rome we must do as Romans. In TRNC surely you must forget Father Xmas as he was from Turkey anyway and starve yourself for 30 days and then celebrate it for 4 days. Ramazan and all that and then there is Kurban and Kandil and all that. Come on people get with it and join the culture.

MsGarnet


Joined: 04/01/2009
Posts: 989

Message Posted:
28/11/2010 01:50

When the outlaws were alive - she gave us scissors to cut the sellotape VERY carefully, to then hand her the paper, to iron, for use again the next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was a Director of Barclays; she played golf seven days a week - she tidied up before her cleaner arrived - and was known for walking miles if she could buy toothpaste a penny cheaper - when we had lunch with them, she could feed five thousand from a roast of beef that would normally feed two people - the slices were so thin - you could read a newspaper through them. NO idea why she was like this - rich as croesus, yet so tight she squeaked when she walked. Never forget the first year after marrying her son, she gave us some table mats which all had gold paint on one corner - she told us she dropped the packet on the floor, crushing one corner, so painted over the corners to "tidy them up" - I never used them - I threw them - when you stood up from a chair, she plumped the cushions before you were even upright........

Jeannie


Joined: 04/08/2009
Posts: 3283

Message Posted:
28/11/2010 02:00

MsGarnet - I would suggest that the reason your late mother-in-law was as 'Rich as Croesus', was precisely because she was the way she was - i.e. tight



I suppose we could all have an extra few quid in the bank if we were all like that, but what a miserable way to live.



Still, takes all sorts - that's probably why I'll never be rich

teatime


Joined: 20/10/2008
Posts: 852

Message Posted:
28/11/2010 08:01

What's a Christmas present?????

CarrieRBag



Joined: 23/12/2008
Posts: 1374

Message Posted:
28/11/2010 08:51

We were the same, husband opened after lunch whilst I opened as soon as I got up. We got around it by putting a few smaller presents on the beds so that they could open when they woke up then we open one an hour until lunchtime then stop for lunch then open the rest after food. Worked a treat!

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
28/11/2010 09:23

Navek, don't bother... it's a cheeseboard!

deputydawg


Joined: 30/03/2010
Posts: 1727

Message Posted:
28/11/2010 11:42

Presents at Breakfast or Lunch makes no difference with 5 kids, their spouses, and 10 grandchildren. They get one meal only, BRUNCHDINSUP. I think it is called a "running buffet" as Christmas day is certainly a moving experience !

mmmmmm



Joined: 19/12/2008
Posts: 8398

Message Posted:
28/11/2010 12:10

Is there a 'rule'?



Folks in Austria ( and in other parts of mainland Europe) open the presents on Christmas Eve !

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
28/11/2010 19:39

What's the best time to pull your crackers?

PaulW



Joined: 20/07/2009
Posts: 651

Message Posted:
28/11/2010 19:50

Bill - I'm unsure of the exact etiquette here; however, I would say that AFTER your Christmas meal would be best, otherwise you have the age-old predicament of "is it polite to wear a hat whilst sitting and eating".



It's a puzzler, to be sure.



P

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
28/11/2010 19:54

I understand where you are coming from Paul but shouldn't you wear the paper hat whilst having your meal?

PaulW



Joined: 20/07/2009
Posts: 651

Message Posted:
28/11/2010 20:00

Bill, I feel some would consider wearing a hat inside the house as somewhat ill-mannered, let alone sitting at the dining table.

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
28/11/2010 20:05

Paul. I'm trying to look at your argument logically and I think you are right.



It would not be courteous to wear a paper hat at the dinner table.

mahdel


Joined: 28/05/2009
Posts: 255

Message Posted:
28/11/2010 20:13

in the states we mostly did either A) as soon as we all got up, and I do mean everyone, no opening presents without everyone about. This was mostly when there were a lot of younger kids about. or B) after a large breakfast. Usually we would eat a special breakfast of some sort and then get down to presents. This was mostly when my sisters and I all got older, mind you, and before the arrival of the 3rd generation. You try and keep a 3 year old from opening presents and I'll show you an unpleasant Xmas.

PaulW



Joined: 20/07/2009
Posts: 651

Message Posted:
28/11/2010 20:15

Well done Bill - you know it makes sense.