Do you eat first or unwrap present first?

[OleanderRain]

In the other thread a few of you said you eat before opening presents!!

 

How do you do it? I would love to try this but how do you and the kids handle all of the suspense?! How do you make breakfast relaxing, or is it not?

 

Are any of their presents unwrapped and they saw them first before eating? Do you keep them out of the Christmas room until after breakfast?

 

If you've done it both ways which way was better?

[TN Mama]

In our house, we go down to the tree and see what Santa has left (unwrapped). After checking it all out, we stop for breakfast and then we unwrap the presents under the tree.

[Farrar]

Stockings and "Santa" gifts that are just out - usually half wrapped - come first. Grown-ups in need take coffee. Then, we break and have brunch. Then we go back to the proper present openings.

[Joker]

We've always opened presents first (even when I was a child) but that could be because we get up so early.

[Cinder]

We do stockings first--before eating. Then we take a short break so people can eat if they want. It's our tradition to make special sticky buns for Christmas breakfast. We usually just grab a bun and something to drink then proceed to opening gifts. Dh's family had a tradition where gifts were opened one at a time. We take turns picking a gift (not our own) and give it to the person whose name is on it. Then that person opens the gift and the next person picks. We've followed this tradition from early on, so our kids don't have any other expectation. This is just the way it is. We don't usually have gobs of gifts so this slow rotation doesn't take forever, yet gives us time to appreciate each gift.

 

Cinder

[Jean in Newcastle]

Perhaps it is easier because eating first is the only thing my kids have ever known. Presents are down their on our family priorities for Christmas though we do like to give and receive gifts:) My kids love our Christmas breakfast. They make sure that I have our special bakery made cinnamon rolls and other things that we have. They get out our china and set the table to look beautiful. Our Christmas breakfast is as important to us as Thanksgiving dinner or other special meals.

[Murphy101]

We eat while opening presents.

There's usually fresh fruit about to munch and only a bit of sweets.

At some point I put in homemade cinnamon rolls.

And usually I make a double batch of deviled eggs for dinner bc at various points in the morning they will sneak those.

Edited November 29, 2010 by Martha
LOLOL iPad auto edited deviled eggs with defiled eggs! Hilarious!

[Liz CA]

Since our Christmas celebration with gift opening is on Christmas Eve, we eat a light evening meal first - according to ancient tradition handed down by my Gramdma, then we start to open gifts and hang out for the evening.

[Mommy22alyns]

Definitely unwrap presents first, then eat.

[ladydusk]

Stockings, Breakfast (I make French Toast Christmas trees - cut the toast on the diagonal and layer over sausage links ... my kids think this is super cool, I think it is super easy), rest of presents.

[Kate CA]

The answer is YES. LOL I put something in their stocking that is edible for snack purposes (breakfast bar, granola bar, etc.) that they eat while we open the presents. They open stockings first as they are always loaded and fun to explore and then the presents. After all the presents are opened then we have a bigger breakfast. It works for all of us. (Coffee is ready and enjoyed by my dh and I as the kids open their gifts!) :D

[Starr]

Stockings, Santa gift and coffee come first. :D Then it's off to church. The rest get opened later. When the kids were little I would hide a box from relatives for the next day. It was too hard to work it all in with company and all. Or we would be going somewhere in the afternoon. Boy were they annoyed when they figured it out.

[Nestof3]

We eat something light while I drink my coffee. I used to buy Nathan's favorite coffee cake. Now, I bake cinnamon rolls. The boys open their stockings right away, though.

[elise1mds]

PRESENTS! We're always too excited to wait for a meal. I make cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning breakfast every year. :)

[myfatherslily]

Breakfast first:)

 

Growing up, my family didn't do big breakfasts. Toast, cereal, whatever. But on Christmas morning we'd have a nice, fun, together breakfast with bacon and such. Made me and my brother crazy, but I loved it at the same time and always felt it was so much better than how my friends did it. They'd have ripped into all their presents by 8am. Sometimes we'd be still going at 11. My brother and I could get our stockings at any reasonable hour (i.e. as soon as we could sneak out without mom calling out, "Go back to bed!") and any unwrapped presents were fair game. Otherwise, we had to wait! We never did an unwrapping free-for-all. Everyone took turns unwrapping one of their gifts.

 

So that's what we do now! The kids have their stockings while we enjoy a nice Christmas breakfast together. Then when the grandparents call at 11 to see if we'll be heading over soon, we get to say that we're not quite done with presents yet, but we'll be over in a bit:)

[justamouse]

Normally I have a big breakfast that I've made up and in the oven while we open.

 

ie: cinnamon rolls that I've let raise in the fridge overnight, a savory bread pudding and breakfast meats. So I just tuck it all in the oven when we get up, turn on the coffee and we start to unwrap. But the kids know that they're allowed to tear into their stockings as soon as they wake up so that gives me a few minutes.

Edited November 29, 2010 by justamouse

[MrsBasil]

I chose other. We set out coffee cake or cinnamon rolls, fruit, and drinks and nibble those while opening presents. After all that is done we wait awhile and have a late breakfast.

 

That might change this year as DH and I want to go to a Christmas morning church service.

[BeckyFL]

I chose other (don't you love people that do that?) because we open stockings first (these are wrapped inside the stockings), then eat (homemade cinnamon rolls and sticky buns), then open the presents under the tree.

[Tutor]

We eat while opening presents.

There's usually fresh fruit about to munch and only a bit of sweets.

At some point I put in homemade cinnamon rolls.

And usually I make a double batch of deviled eggs for dinner bc at various points in the morning they will sneak those.

 

This is what we do. We put out bowls of fresh fruit, tassies (mini pecan pies), biscotti, scones, cinnamon rolls, and hard-boiled eggs, and we nibble while we open gifts.

[Hillary in KS]

Perhaps it is easier because eating first is the only thing my kids have ever known. Presents are down their on our family priorities for Christmas though we do like to give and receive gifts:) My kids love our Christmas breakfast. They make sure that I have our special bakery made cinnamon rolls and other things that we have. They get out our china and set the table to look beautiful. Our Christmas breakfast is as important to us as Thanksgiving dinner or other special meals.

 

:iagree:

 

We are something along these lines.

 

Presents are nice, but are not the only or most special thing about Christmas.

 

As for the suspense, we put presents under the tree as they are wrapped, so they are always there. nothing magically appears overnight. I suppose that helps. The kids have only known this way, so they're fine with it.

[WagsWife]

*Santa leaves the stockings at the foot of each child's bed.* When they wake up, they are allowed to open up what is in the stocking. After this, they come in and "wake" us up (we normally have already heard them and we pretend to stay asleep.) We go downstairs, and DH puts on some coffee or hot water for hot chocolate, while the kids look around the tree. Once we get coffee/hot chocolate ready, we open presents.

 

*This tends to result in us being woken up sometime between 1 and 5am. :D

[DaffodilDreams]

We open Santa gifts first, then eat, and then open the rest.

[mazakaal]

I voted 'other.' Coffee first! Then presents, then we eat. I couldn't imagine getting my kids to wait until after we eat a big meal to open gifts. It would have been like pure torture for me when I was a kid.

[smrtmama]

In our house, we go down to the tree and see what Santa has left (unwrapped). After checking it all out, we stop for breakfast and then we unwrap the presents under the tree.

 

We've tried doing it that way, but since I prefer coffee to whine w/ my breakfast, we switched back to unwrap, then eat! :lol:

[Suzanne in ABQ]

In the other thread a few of you said you eat before opening presents!!

 

How do you do it? I would love to try this but how do you and the kids handle all of the suspense?! How do you make breakfast relaxing, or is it not?

 

Are any of their presents unwrapped and they saw them first before eating? Do you keep them out of the Christmas room until after breakfast?

 

If you've done it both ways which way was better?

 

 

 

Our kids are allowed to open their stockings first, then we eat a good breakfast. Then, we take as much time as needed to open gifts. This might include assembling a toy, playing a game, making a thank-you phone call to grandma, or whatever, before going on to the next gift.

 

If there are any unwrapped gifts, they are allowed to admire them from afar before breakfast, but they're not allowed to touch them or play with them until after breakfast. It's fun to watch them avert their eyes on the way to the kitchen because they don't want to ruin their own surprise. :)

 

When the kids were little (and they got several small gifts), it sometimes took 3 hours to open gifts.

[myfunnybunch]

Stockings and Santa presents as kids get up.

 

Breakfast.

 

Open the rest of the presents when my dd gets home from her dad's.

 

Cat

[Cherryanne]

I voted 'other.' Coffee first! Then presents, then we eat. I couldn't imagine getting my kids to wait until after we eat a big meal to open gifts. It would have been like pure torture for me when I was a kid.

 

:iagree:

[StaceyinLA]

we probably eat some while we are opening.

 

I make homemade cinnamon rolls the night before, and put the pan of "raw" rolls in the fridge. Right when I get up Christmas morning, I pull the pan out so they can warm up and finish rising. Once they are ready, I bake them and then I ice them with cream cheese frosting. Everyone just eats as they want.

 

I usually also have quiches prepared and ready for the oven as well. We just kinda eat whenever we want to, and we have hot cider and/or coffee ready for drinking.

 

Our present opening takes a while because I number gifts and they have to choose from under the tree. If the numbered gift they pick is theirs, they open it, but, if not, it goes under the tree and the next person picks a different gift and so on. It makes the present opening last longer, and everyone gets to see what others get. (Plus, it's fun to torture my kids!!) :tongue_smilie:

[Carrie12345]

The kids have no real interest in breakfast on Christmas morning, even once the gifts are opened. Some of them will nibble a bit until we get a proper brunch together.

 

Stockings can be opened whenever, but nothing under the tree can be touched until I have the coffee IV going and a bit of coffee bread in my own stomach.

[Cera]

Stockings, breakfast, wrapped presents.

[Impish]

We do all the gifts, then eat. Kids get to look, perhaps open a thing or two from a stocking while coffee is being made.

 

That's the way I grew up, and Wolf was more than happy to follow it. Growing up SDA, if Christmas hit on a Saturday, he wasn't allowed to touch anything until after sundown. He hated it.

[Chris in VA]

We get our stockings in bed. The kids can't come into our room until 8 am (but I usually go into their rooms, now that they are older) because dh doesn't get home from the midnight mass until 1:30 or so.

We set up some things on the table the night before and set up the coffee to turn on around 8. We wake up, get dressed, and share what we found in stockings. Adults go downstairs, then call the kids down to the tree. We nibble in front of the tree.

So our order is: stockings, prayer, presents/coffee/nibbling, "proper breakfast."

Edited November 29, 2010 by Chris in VA
clarity

[JudoMom]

I checked eat first, then open presents.

 

We don't eat a formal breakfast. Somehow it's become tradition that I place all kinds of candy, cookies, cinnamon rolls, appetizers (pigs in a blanket, cheese & crackers, etc), and fruit out and we graze all day. We have our big meal on Christmas Eve, so around dinner time I'll heat up leftovers.

 

However, I chose eat first because we all get dressed, brush our teeth, and we read the Bible and pray. The boys usually have to wait 1-3 hours before we start opening presents, depending on when they wake up. We don't do stockings, but we do give them a time we're shooting for to start opening gifts.

 

Because this is how we've always done it, it's not a problem. It would've been torture to me as a kid because we had stockings and opened presents with almost no waiting.

[TravelingChris]

We open presents on Christmas Eve. Unless we are going to a Midnight or 11 o'clock service, we open the presents after Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Eve service. In the morning, we look in stockings before breakfast which is often just muffins or a special bread plus fruit. Some years we do pancakes with Canadian bacon and cranberry maple syrup.

[hsbaby]

Well, I'm weird and ir drives my dh crazy. We do stockings Christmas Eve morning, family presents with extended family Christmas Eve night, then Santa comes again to leave the "big" presents for Christmas morning. We open presents first for A.M. Festivities, but eat first with our family on Christmas Eve night. DH thinks it's crazy that Santa comes twice. I think it just extends the fun:)

[Melora in NC]

We do stockings first--before eating. Then we take a short break so people can eat if they want. It's our tradition to make special sticky buns for Christmas breakfast. We usually just grab a bun and something to drink then proceed to opening gifts. Dh's family had a tradition where gifts were opened one at a time. We take turns picking a gift (not our own) and give it to the person whose name is on it. Then that person opens the gift and the next person picks. We've followed this tradition from early on, so our kids don't have any other expectation. This is just the way it is. We don't usually have gobs of gifts so this slow rotation doesn't take forever, yet gives us time to appreciate each gift.

 

Cinder

 

:iagree:We do the same thing, right down to the sticky buns!

[keptwoman]

We open Santa's stocking as soon as it's light, that's quite early when we are generally camping!

Then we have breakfast

Then we potter around, let the kids play with the santa stuff which always includes water pistols but this year will have nerf guns instead.

Then we have lunch

Then the dishes and clean up gets done

Then we open the rest of the gifts.

Then we relax and at sometime eat the lunch leftovers for dinner,

 

This year though, due to peoples schedules, we will likely have brunch and then after the dishes are done, open the gifts and have dinner as the main meal instead of lunch.

[Lorien]

I voted "other" because this is our first Christmas at home with guests. I am planning to have a couple of coffee cakes ready to bake and I'll put them in the oven probably when we get up, but I don't know if we will eat first, or open presents first. It will probably depend on what everyone wants to do at the time. Dh's family haven't ever been strict about when they open presents. Sometimes we do it early, sometimes on Christmas Day - it just depends on how long MIL can resist the pleading/begging kids and grandkids! :001_smile: I guess the pleading/begging will be aimed at me this year, but I'm planning to hold out until Christmas Day - which will then proceed from one moment to the next as we feel so inclined.

[HRAAB]

Presents first, of course. I make up an egg casserole the night before so breakfast is usually cooking while we open gifts. Afterwards, people wander in and out of the kitchen eating when they feel like it. The only thing that the opening of the gifts must wait on is mom getting a cup of coffee.

[Hedgehog]

Our dc dive into their stockings as soon as they wake up. We then don't open any other presents until after Christmas dinner (which is in the middle of the day).

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Stockings are looked through immediately while the grownups are getting coffee or tea. Then the present opening begins. We don't usually eat a formal breakfast- maybe make some cinnamon rolls. We snack on leftovers from Christmas Eve.

[missmoe]

My kids open stockings while we eat. Then we open our gifts one at a time. That can take several hours for us. We like our food too much to wait that long to eat!

[Skadi]

We have breakfast first. I think the fact that we don't do Santa Claus probably helps. I'm sure it would be harder to keep kids in their seats if they could see unwrapped toys in the living room...but as it is, we just have the wrapped presents that they've been shaking and guessing at for the past few weeks. :)

[amyable]

We eat, go to Church (wow is it nice when it's not standing-room-only with everyone's kids fidgity and whining), then home to open presents. Sometimes we even eat LUNCH first.

 

But the kids have known it no other way, so while they are excited, they know we are not going to budge just because they are excited!

[Truscifi]

We empty the stockings, then eat, then go back and open everything else.

[Tree House Academy]

We open presents first and then eat breakfast.

[AngelBee]

Open first, then eat. :)

[Whereneverever]

We do Christmas presents Christmas eve before bed, usually, because we do a sunrise Sunday service and there's no way I'm getting up early enough to do presents before it. ;)