Does "Santa" wrap at your house? (SC -- santa content)

[smrtmama]

My (midwestern) husband and I (a Southerner) grew up in very different traditions re: Santa. In the South, Santa doesn't wrap gifts he leaves on Christmas Eve, but up North, he apparently does.

 

We've had a running family joke about Yankee Santa since I was a teenager and my best friend (from a NY family) used to give me a gift from "Yankee Santa" each year, a traditional my DH has continued.

 

So, are presents from Santa Claus left unwrapped or wrapped at your house?

Edited November 29, 2010 by smrtmama

[kokotg]

no way!

[DianeW88]

Wrapped!! It prolongs the fun when you don't know what everything is right away. :D

[Whereneverever]

I voted wrapped because that's what I'd do.

But we don't do Santa, so it's a non-issue.

[smrtmama]

no way!

 

Well, I already know YOU were raised right!

[Old Dominion Heather]

I'm from the South too. Santa don't have no wrappin' paper! That's how you know which ones are from Santa! The wrapped ones have tags.

[Jilly]

Well I am from the Midwest, and when I was little some of Santa's gifts were wrapped and some were not. Usually the two biggest gifts were left unwrapped so that we could see them right away when we woke up in the morning.

[smrtmama]

I'm from the South too. Santa don't have no wrappin' paper! That's how you know which ones are from Santa! The wrapped ones have tags.

 

 

Also, how do the kids sneak downstairs to see what Santa left them if everything is all wrapped up? And waiting for things to be put together? Ugh!

 

They have a treefull of wrapped presents from relatives -- let the magic of Santa be that stuff appears, assembled and ready to go.

[smrtmama]

Well I am from the Midwest, and when I was little some of Santa's gifts were wrapped and some were not. Usually the two biggest gifts were left unwrapped so that we could see them right away when we woke up in the morning.

 

My husband and his brother always had a small stocking with unwrapped gifts to keep them out of the wrapped stuff.

[Mejane]

Depends whether Santa brings a wii or a go-kart. ;)

[AlmiraGulch]

I'm from the midwest. Midwestern Santa definitely wrapped everything, and Southern Santa does in my house now, too.

[MamaT]

We don't do Santa anymore, except in fun, because our kid are older. I voted unwrapped, though, because that's what we did. We're definitely southerners. :001_smile:

[Plucky]

Santa had his elves wrap the presents, silly. That is until my kids outgrew Santa. :(

[smrtmama]

Santa had his elves wrap the presents, silly. That is until my kids outgrew Santa. :(

 

Oh please! Those elves are salaried. They aren't wrapping, because they don't get paid overtime.

[Old Dominion Heather]

Oh yeah, baby! Santa assembles his gifts and puts the batteries in. Dh and I stayed up 'til 3am putting together a LEGO racetrack from Santa once. We decided after that that Santa wasn't bringing any more LEGO stuff!

[Disney Dreaming]

Born and raised in the south. No, our gifts were never wrapped as kids. When my oldest two were younger we never wrapped them but since dd(7) was born we have started wrapping to slow down the process on Christmas morning so I can record them opening their presents.

[Mommy22alyns]

Santa wraps at our house. I'm from the North, so that's what I grew up with. Also, we tell the girls that Mommy & Daddy sometimes help wrap things for Santa (which explains us having the same wrapping paper on parent and Santa gifts).

[Lady Florida.]

I'm originally from New Jersey, and Santa didn't wrap. In fact, the way we knew what was from mom and dad and what was from Santa was whether or not it was wrapped (mom and dad's gifts were wrapped).

 

Dh is from Tennessee and in his family Santa wrapped gifts. With ds, we went with my family's tradition.

[mom2a&z]

Growing up we had a mixture of wrapped and unwrapped gifts from Santa. I've continued that tradition with my dc.

 

Usually the unwrapped gifts from Santa are the ones that are too hard or big to wrap. Play kitchens, bikes, etc.

 

BTW: I'm from the midwest and my dh is from the south.

[kristavws]

I am from the southeast, dh is from the southwest. Santa brings his present wrapped. Presents in the stocking, however, are not wrapped.

 

Krista

[Parrothead]

Dh is from GA. He never had wrapped gifts from Santa. Me, I'm a New Englander at heart. Santa wrapped my gifts as a child.

 

Now we compromise. Anything oddly packaged does not get wrapped. Things that are in rectangular boxes are wrapped.

[jenn-]

Santa did not wrap at my house growing up, and since I am the present wrapper in the house, he does not wrap here either. DH is born and raised as southern as they come, but his Santa wrapped. He changed.

[RoughCollie]

If Santa means for presents to be shared, they are not wrapped. Individual Santa gifts are wrapped and labeled.

[smrtmama]

Dh is from GA. He never had wrapped gifts from Santa. Me, I'm a New Englander at heart. Santa wrapped my gifts as a child.

 

Now we compromise. Anything oddly packaged does not get wrapped. Things that are in rectangular boxes are wrapped.

 

I wasn't willing to compromise on Santa. I told DH he could like it or lump it (or as my Momma puts it, he could get glad in the same pants he got mad in). ;)

[Imprimis]

In my neck of the woods, Santa wraps things like games, electronics, and small-ish type presents---but, ALWAYS in his own wrapping paper, never in the same paper that gifts from Mom and Dad and other siblings are wrapped in. And he signs his name in a very elegant, swirly type of script.

 

Larger or "assembly needed" Santa gifts like wagons, bicycles, stick horses, play kitchens, tee-pees are unwrapped, set-up, and (in some cases) decorated!

 

We enjoy the magic of Santa here :001_smile:

[MrsBasil]

I'm from Kansas and DH is from Wisconsin. Gifts from Santa are wrapped. If it's a really big gift Santa throws a sheet over it and sticks a bow on it.

 

One year I noticed that Santa used the same paper that my parents did and, apparently that year, Santa dropped the gifts off early so my mom could do the wrapping because he was so busy. :tongue_smilie:

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I'm in Ohio, and Santa always wrapped the gifts up here!

[Jan in SC]

Never wrapped

[kokotg]

You know, my mom is from upstate New York, and I'd be very surprised if she were not the one who decided whether Santa wrapped presents or not when I was a kid. I'll have to ask her how they did things back in Utica, but I seem to remember having seen pictures of unwrapped Santa displays from her childhood.

 

Okay, I just called her. Santa doesn't wrap presents in upstate NY.

 

Interestingly, my stepmother, who is from California, actually wrapped the presents in our stockings for at least a couple of years.

 

ETA: DH reports that Santa wrapped his presents. He grew up in GA, but his mom is from Massachusetts. His Dad is from Long Island, but he's Jewish, so I don't think he counts (where Santa is concerned)

[TN Mama]

Santa didn't wrap in our house and I'll have to ask dh... I don't know if Santa wrapped at his house growing up.

 

He doesn't wrap here. :D

[ktgrok]

The things inside the stocking (and arranged around it....Santa goes nuts with stockings in my family) are wrapped in tissue paper. Then there is one gift per child that is from Santa, which is NOT wrapped, so that when the walk out on Christmas morning they see it right away. All other gifts are from mom and dad and are under the tree. These are strict rules and NO deviations are allowed :)

[ktgrok]

In my neck of the woods, Santa wraps things like games, electronics, and small-ish type presents---but, ALWAYS in his own wrapping paper, never in the same paper that gifts from Mom and Dad and other siblings are wrapped in. And he signs his name in a very elegant, swirly type of script.

 

Larger or "assembly needed" Santa gifts like wagons, bicycles, stick horses, play kitchens, tee-pees are unwrapped, set-up, and (in some cases) decorated!

 

We enjoy the magic of Santa here :001_smile:

 

:iagree:Yes, this. Actually, the stuff from Santa is in tissue paper, all gifts from mom and Dad are in regular paper. but yes to the things like wagons, etc being unwrapped.

[ktgrok]

You know, my mom is from upstate New York, and I'd be very surprised if she were not the one who decided whether Santa wrapped presents or not when I was a kid. I'll have to ask her how they did things back in Utica, but I seem to remember having seen pictures of unwrapped Santa displays from her childhood.

 

Okay, I just called her. Santa doesn't wrap presents in upstate NY.

 

Interestingly, my stepmother, who is from California, actually wrapped the presents in our stockings for at least a couple of years.

 

ETA: DH reports that Santa wrapped his presents. He grew up in GA, but his mom is from Massachusetts. His Dad is from Long Island, but he's Jewish, so I don't think he counts (where Santa is concerned)

 

LOL, the tradition in our house is that all stocking presents are wrapped, in tissue paper. This slows down the process, which we all like. Stockings take at least 30 minutes here. Although now that I'm on charge of some of the stockings (my mom does the others) I do sometimes wish I didn't have to wrap every little chapstick. Sigh. but I do, or it just wouldn't be the same.

[Catwoman]

Wrapped!! It prolongs the fun when you don't know what everything is right away. :D

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

This Yankee wraps everything -- even the tiniest of stocking stuffer! In our happy little Northern world, if you didn't wrap the gifts, people would assume you couldn't afford the wrapping paper! :D

 

This is a fun thread! I had no idea that anyone came downstairs on Christmas morning and the presents were unwrapped under the tree. A big part of the fun of Christmas Eve is arranging all of the wrapped gifts under the tree and then standing back and seeing how pretty everything looks in all of the colorful paper!

 

Cat

[kat19]

Midwest gal here and the gifts from Santa have always been unwrapped. Even when I was a little girl. :001_smile:

[Catwoman]

One year I noticed that Santa used the same paper that my parents did and, apparently that year, Santa dropped the gifts off early so my mom could do the wrapping because he was so busy. :tongue_smilie:

 

LOL!!! My mom used that one on me, too! :D (I believe she had to sign all of the gift tags that year, too...)

 

Cat

[Catwoman]

Oh please! Those elves are salaried. They aren't wrapping, because they don't get paid overtime.

 

Apparently, those elves are Teamsters, because they wrap all the Northern kids' gifts! (And if they didn't, somebody's Uncle Carmine and Uncle Vinnie would go up to the North Pole and set them straight for the next year.) ;)

 

Cat

[Veritaserum]

Wrapped unless it's an awkward item (like a bicycle). I grew up in California. :) Dh grew up in New York and his Santa gifts were not wrapped.

[WarriorMama]

Well I'm not remotely Southern, but we never had wrapped Santa gifts. And neither do my kids. :tongue_smilie:

[DaffodilDreams]

I never knew there was a difference between North and South when it came to Santa. We're in the South and Santa leaves wrapped gifts for us.

[Mrs Mungo]

Santa doesn't wrap gifts at our house.

[smrtmama]

Interestingly, my stepmother, who is from California, actually wrapped the presents in our stockings for at least a couple of years.

 

 

My family always wraps stocking gifts for adults, but that's because it's understood that those are spouse-to-spouse, not Santa-to-spouse.

[Guest mrsjamiesouth]

My parents grew up midwestern, but I was an army brat. We wrapped, and I wrap for my kids. My husband is southern and did not have wrapped presents as a child.

[ChristusG]

Unwrapped. This is how my parents did it with us when we were kids, and it's how we do it with our children as well. He leave the unwrapped gifts in front of the fireplace.

[Daisy]

We don't do Santa but we still leave the BIG present unwrapped. After all that is the one that usually takes us FOREVER to put together, so we put it together and just leave it out.

 

BTW, I answered the poll as unwrapped because basically that is what we are doing even if we leave Santa out of the equation.

[OLG]

Well, my Mom and dh's family were all Southerners and we always had Santa's gifts wrapped so that's what we did till Santa was outgrown... Santa's gifts were always on/near the piano next to the milk and cookies though and not under the tree.

 

I think I like the idea of unwrapped though!

[OleanderRain]

:lol: I chose other.

 

When we were kids presents from Santa were never wrapped, and so far we have never wrapped the presents that Santa has given our kids. But this year it's going to be a little different. Santa is going to have special, beautiful, wrapping paper and there will be a mixture of wrapped and unwrapped. My daughter is getting a desk, that will have a ribbon and bow around it. Everything on the desk (the accessories) will be wrapped up in the special paper. My son's bike will have a ribbon and bow and all of his smaller items will be wrapped with the special paper. I'm still trying to decide on whether or not to wrap the stocking gifts. We're getting A LOT less this year (because we have too much) and I want it to last longer.

 

My kids are young so I'm hoping they won't remember that Santa has never wrapped presents before this year.

[swimmermom3]

Santa never could remember from year to year. Now, it does not matter.:crying:

[Audrey]

My (midwestern) husband and I (a Southerner) grew up in very different traditions re: Santa. In the South, Santa doesn't wrap gifts he leaves on Christmas Eve, but up North, he apparently does.

 

We've had a running family joke about Yankee Santa since I was a teenager and my best friend (from a NY family) used to give me a gift from "Yankee Santa" each year, a traditional my DH has continued.

 

So, are presents from Santa Claus left unwrapped or wrapped at your house?

 

 

I'm from the South and Santa always wrapped our presents.

[Joker]

I grew up in the South and Santa only left one present and it was always unwrapped. DH grew up on the West Coast and it was mixed.