JudoMom Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 (edited) In my bedroom, I've got this pile of boxes and bags. They contain 80% of my boys' Christmas presents. My bedroom is not off limits. This is where they brush their teeth, go to read when they want to be alone, and many end up sleeping on my floor at night. Not a single boy has asked me what is in the boxes. No one has touched the boxes (they would tip fairly easily). No one has tampered with the tape. I don't even know if it's dawned on them that there are presents in the boxes :001_huh:. This behavior is foreign to me. If it were me as a kid (or even now, probably :blush:), I would try to peek in the boxes. I would ask what they were. I would not be able to completely ignore their existance. How would your kids handle this? Are my guys as odd as I think they are about this :laugh:? Edited December 3, 2009 by JudoMom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Maybe they already did look in them, but were careful to retape the boxes and reknot the bags so you would never notice ;). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 I would've looked, and so would my kids. How do you know they haven't? :D I think I'd hide them better, just to remove the temptation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted December 3, 2009 Author Share Posted December 3, 2009 Maybe they already did look in them, but were careful to retape the boxes and reknot the bags so you would never notice ;). See, that's what I would've done. But I'm 100% positive they haven't touched them. Maybe it's because usually when boxes are delivered they contain school books--they're afraid to look :lol:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama2cntrykids Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 My boys would have been pestering me about them, that's why their stuff is at my mom's, lol. BUT, they know that is they try to peek at a present OR keep bugging me when I say stop, THEN I reserve the right to bring back any and ALL gifts. Mean, I know, but in the past it's what has stopped them from driving me nuts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted December 3, 2009 Author Share Posted December 3, 2009 I would've looked, and so would my kids. How do you know they haven't? :DI think I'd hide them better, just to remove the temptation. Several reasons: I can hear them when they are in my room (it's right above the main living area). The boxes are heavy. It would require 2 boys (with at least 1 of them being the 9 or 10 year old) working together. The bags are double knotted, and would tear if they tried to get them undone. They've spent 95% of their time in the playroom this week (in the basement), and have only been upstairs together briefly (not enough time to peek). The place where I normally hide gifts is in the school room, off the playroom, and they know where it is. I think if I place them down there they'll be more tempted to look because they'd be aware they are gifts. I do plan on wrapping them soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmith Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 My son would have peeked by now. Thankfully our neighbor lets us bring gifts to his house and wrap them there. Once ds knows that we have gifts for him he starts obsessing about them. He has Aspergers and a tic disorder, and it is so much worse before xmas. I guess all the excitement makes him more nervous than usual. I catch him peeking in all the possible hiding places in the house, but he hasn't figured out they are safely next door yet.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 My kids would be oblivious to the boxes. But, my dh often has boxes and bags laying around with computer stuff in it so my two would assume that it was more of the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 (edited) Those boxes and bags look boring. They haven't looked in them because they do look like school book boxes. If the bags were from Toys R Us, they'd have looked. Edited December 3, 2009 by Garga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 If we got school books, DD would be wanting to look right away. ANY box that comes into the house is the subject of speculation and curiosity for her. I don't give her the chance to be curious about such things. Her gifts get put up VERY high in the closet...they're harder to get to right now than the "adult" box in our closet. The real comedy was yesterday when I went shopping at Goodwill with DD. I kept making her go over to the next aisle when I spotted a game I wanted to get her, then stuffing them in my shopping bag before she could see, and carrying it up by my head... it's not as easy as when she was a toddler! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacquelyn in NC Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 We have a "gift closet," where we keep birthday and Christmas gifts as needed. We tell them to stay out of it, and they do. Never once have they even attempted to peek. I was like that as a child, too, but it still amazes my husband. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalknot Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 My son loves surprises; he wouldn't peek. My daughter is more like me - nosy and curious. We'd have peeked by now :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadiegirl Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Same situation here and no interest from either boy to peek. I told them about one time when I found gifts for me when I was young and how it ruined that Christmas...the excitement plus having to pretend that I didn't know what I was getting. They have absolutely no interest in taking away the thrill of the unknown!!! I do however hide keep them from seeing the shopping bag names, names on boxes that come from UPS...you can also give away a gift by them just simply a name on a cardboard box so I'm careful about that as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted December 3, 2009 Author Share Posted December 3, 2009 Same situation here and no interest from either boy to peek. I told them about one time when I found gifts for me when I was young and how it ruined that Christmas...the excitement plus having to pretend that I didn't know what I was getting. They have absolutely no interest in taking away the thrill of the unknown!!! I do however hide keep them from seeing the shopping bag names, names on boxes that come from UPS...you can also give away a gift by them just simply a name on a cardboard box so I'm careful about that as well! I did throw out the Mindware box that ds10's gift came in, since that would've been a giveaway :001_smile:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Not only would mine peek, my oldest would actively take things out and play with them already. I keep their gifts hidden at grandma's for that exact reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crissy Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 My boys wouldn't look. They know that until I give them the gift it is still mine, and they don't go through my stuff. Would they, on any other occasion, get into boxes and bags in your room? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serendipity Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 We tell our kids where their Christmas presents are and they have permission to look, if they want to. We often keep them on the side of our bed, covered with a sheet. There have been times when the presents are out on our bed, unwrapped. We let them know where the gifts are and that they are unwrapped. Not one child out of three has gone and looked. In fact, our two older children taught the youngest not to look. They like being surprised too much. Quite a contrast between them and my friends kids...lol. Her children OPEN wrapped gifts if she doesn't hide them well enough. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIN Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 My boys know that their presents are in my bedroom closet and they stay out. I'm amazed too! When I was little my mom would hide our gifts and my brother and I would look all over for them. Maybe it is because we are so open about where they are that they don't need to peek?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted December 3, 2009 Author Share Posted December 3, 2009 My boys wouldn't look.They know that until I give them the gift it is still mine, and they don't go through my stuff. Would they, on any other occasion, get into boxes and bags in your room? No, they don't really look in boxes or bags anywhere in the house. The only bags they are marginally interested in are the grocery bags when I come home from grocery shopping :lol:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crissy Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 No, they don't really look in boxes or bags anywhere in the house. The only bags they are marginally interested in are the grocery bags when I come home from grocery shopping :lol:. Now *that* makes perfect sense! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 My kids would not look either. They are pretty good about that kind of thing. Actually, my 5 year old gets upset if she discovers something that is supposed to be a surprise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 I keep all my gift boxes and bags in plain sight in my bedroom closet. I really don't think my kids have ever looked. This is the first year my daughter has mentioned that she wants to look in my closet, so I told her I hope she doesn't because then it will spoil her Christmas. I don't have anywhere else to put the stuff or I would put it somewhere out of temptation. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoKat Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 that's been my experience here. And I have a seriously active, inquisitive bunch. I also announed to my kids where I was putting all the unwraped gifts. I invited them to go ahead and peek. But I warned them though that peeking would ruin their Christmas morning excitement and surprise. I'd already had MY fun in finding them good gifts so I didn't want any tattle telling going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gandpsmommy Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 My dc would definitely have asked about them. My dd8 is so observant and curious. She has always been this way, ever since she was a baby. She would have asked about them the minute she saw them. She would probably be particularly interested in the boxes from Amazon, because she thinks getting new school books is fun. But, she is also very respectful and compliant, so if I told her not to touch them or look in them, she wouldn't. She is quite intuitive, though, so if she saw a stack of boxes and bags in my room in December, she would assume they were gifts. If she knew they were gifts, I don't think she would bother them. She likes to be surprised on Christmas morning. I was this way as a child. I didn't want to know what I was getting. I wanted it to be a big surprise on Christmas morning. Knowing ahead of time would have taken away all the magic. I'm not sure about ds6. I do know that this morning dh brought in a brown cardboard box that he had picked up at the post office last night on his way home from work. It contained one of dd's Christmas gifts, and he didn't want to leave it in his vehicle at work today, so he brought it in the house. Ds was awake at the time and asked me what it was. I said it was some supplies Daddy bought for work (I know; it's the only time of year I make up falsehoods!). He was completely satisfied with the answer and just went about his business. I hid it in the closet so dd wouldn't see it. It's so hard when you have a small house to find hiding places! I have a friend whose daughter is 7, and she still does her Christmas shopping with her in tow. For example, she went into a store and carried around several outfits, then put them on a certain shelf when she was leaving. She and her dd went out into the food court of the mall, while her dh stayed behind and bought the clothes. Her daughter didn't suspect anything, even when her dad came out carrying a shopping bag. Also, her dad bought her an MP3 player the same day and left the bag on the table the whole time they were eating at the food court. She didn't even ask about what was inside. My dd, on the other hand, is uber-observant. And she's very curious and conversational. Even if she knew that whatever in the bag was not anything for her, she would ask us about our purchases and want to see them, just because she's interested in things like that. She'd want to smell whatever lotion I bought, or compliment me on the color of a sweater, or whatever. She's very much older than her years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranberry Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 I don't think it's that wierd. My kids know that stuff in Mom and Dad's room is not to be looked in without permission. They are allowed in all the time, can use our bathroom, snuggle in bed, whatever, but I have let them know that bookshelves, drawers, closets are off limits to little hands without permission. We often leave gifts in store bags on the floor in our room and have no issues with peeking. They are really bad at being sneaky so I know they haven't tried. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmoe Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 My children wouldn't look. I have bags in our room right now that no one has looked at. A box came the other day with unwrapped gifts for my kids. I opened it with my kids present because usually my db wraps gifts. My kids saw two of the presents---I then shut the box and asked my dd to put it in my room. They know it is there. I don't really mind if my kids look. It doesn't take anything away from me. I do remember looking as a kid. I never started the looking, but I always went along with it. I wanted to be surprised, but just never could help myself! It didn't help that my mother just dumped everything in the sewing room. I do know that if my mother had known we looked that we wouldn't haved received any gifts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Mine would ask me right away to rule out gift or more school books and to the best of my knowledge they are not peekers:tongue_smilie:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elise1mds Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 My daughter would peek but my son wouldn't. Unless she told him to. :lol: I was a peeker, but by the age of about 9 or so, I discovered where my mom hid all the receipts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Some kids just aren't snoopers. However, I was one who would open one end to see what I got. funny store fil poked a knife around in a wrapped present with his name on it to see if he would tell what it was.......he received a deflated basketball for Christmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 In my bedroom, I've got this pile of boxes and bags. They contain 80% of my boys' Christmas presents. My bedroom is not off limits. This is where they brush their teeth, go to read when they want to be alone, and many end up sleeping on my floor at night. Not a single boy has asked me what is in the boxes. No one has touched the boxes (they would tip fairly easily). No one has tampered with the tape. I don't even know if it's dawned on them that there are presents in the boxes :001_huh:. This behavior is foreign to me. If it were me as a kid (or even now, probably :blush:), I would try to peek in the boxes. I would ask what they were. I would not be able to completely ignore their existance. How would your kids handle this? Are my guys as odd as I think they are about this :laugh:? Maybe they figure it's next years curriculum....:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Lynn Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 My dd would not have looked. She wouldn't have had any desire. She also wanted to sleep late on Christmas morning and enjoy the good smells and sounds and the knowledge that her family was at home together for the whole day. Her behavior, while commendable was completely foreign to me. I would have been all over those boxes the minute I saw them and you were not nearby. I was really good with replacing tape and everything. Wrapping presents didn't stop me; hiding them didn't either. It was a bad Christmas that I didn't know what was in every present under the tree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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