jenn- Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Do you place presents under the tree before Christmas? If you do, do you put all wrapped presents or just ones for people that do not live at your house? I just went through wrapfest 2011 (so much easier since switching to reusable bags), and now I want to put them under the tree. I just don't know if my kids will be able to withstand the temptation to shake or feel the presents. Only one would be able to open and retie the bag without help, (well 2 if you count DH), so I don't think they would actually try to open them. There are no names on the gifts for the kids. I color code them and try really hard to remember whose is whose by Christmas morning. ;) Should I play it safe and leave theirs in the closet a couple of more days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I have kids the same ages as yours (plus a couple younger kids). I put my presents out with the tree. I love the look of a fully decorated tree with all the presents underneath. :wubs_001: Last year my littlest guy was 2 and I was able to keep him out of the presents and away from unwrapping them. I vote don't hide the presents away- put them out!! My kids love to marvel at the different sized boxes and guess what might be inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 No, I put them out the evening before they are opened. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acurtis75 Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 (edited) If I wrap before Christmas Eve I put out only the presents for others outside of the house. I always wait until the last minute Christmas Eve to put out dh & dd's presents. I also put any presents we receive from others (like our of town relatives) under the tree as soon as we get them. ETA: I don't do this because dd would get in to them I just like the surprise factor of not seeing the gifts until Christmas morning. I always loved waking up to see how many presents were under the tree as a child. Dh apparently was deprived of this fun tradition so he thinks I'm crazy. Edited December 19, 2011 by acurtis75@yahoo.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigger Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Nothing is under the tree until after the kids go to bed on Christmas eve. Gifts that arrive from others go into my office to stay there until Christmas eve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuirkyKapers Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 The gifts under the tree right now are the ones the kids got for hubby and me and each other. All others won't go out until Christmas Eve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Of course! Nothing is prettier than a tree with presents underneath. I put them all, for others as well as everyone in our household. Honestly, my big kids are 7 and 4 and I don't think they have any idea that people even shake gifts to attempt to figure out the contents LOL. They have never touched a gift under our tree....and I've never told them not to either. Strange kids LOL. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Oh, and if the shape of a gift is way too obvious (such as a DVD), I just put it in a shirt box and wrap that instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 No, I don't put them under the tree. If I did, how would my son slither around on the floor underneath it pretending to be the grinch? :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xuzi Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 This is our first year (post kids) that we've put the presents under the tree as they're wrapped, rather than waiting until Christmas Eve. My kids are 7, 5, and almost 3, and the almost-3 year old has surprised me greatly at his complete *lack* of curiosity in the presents! He's far more interested in the ornaments. :glare: My older two haven't touched the presents either, although they do love noticing a new one under there with their name on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama2cntrykids Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 No, because it's too much temptation for the kids. I don't want to constantly be bugged about opening them. If it was just my 11 yr. old ds, it wouldn't be a problem, but with the younger kids, it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockey Mom Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 No. We put them out on Christmas Eve after the kidlets have gone to bed. I love the overwhelming scene it creates on Christmas morning. Going from nothing under the tree to present galore, is magical. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 presents have been going under as they are wrapped. the only hassle has been dudeling, who keeps asking what his presents are. (and had a full blown meltdown one night.) I really don't have anywhere to put wrapped gifts that are out of sight of children. and after staying up until 2am one year bowing and ribboning gifts, I have no need to wait until christmas eve after children have gone to bed. 1ds had terrible anxiety, and there were a few years I did finally start assuring him he would get the item he most wanted. He was able to calm significantly, and wait for christmas to open them. I'm not seeing quite the same level of anxiety with dudeling, so he'll just have to wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Only the ones that come in the mail from relatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Since the girls are older, I am going to wrap and put under the tree for the first year this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I have always put them under the tree as they were wrapped. My kids are older now, but didn't bother the presents even when they were little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I grew up with wrapped gifts under the tree - we kids would look every day to see if any new gifts had appeared for us...I would love to do this, but we have cats who view wrapped gifts as large cat toys :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty in Pink Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 We wrap the gifts on Christmas Eve after the kids go to bed and then put them under the tree. I have a bunch of pretty boxes that I have picked up on clearance over the years that I place under the tree for decorative purposes before that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I would leave 'em in the closet. I'd love to put presents under the tree, but I don't think my girls could resist nosing into them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetMissMagnolia Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 dh and I exchange our gifts xmas eve evening.....kids also get to open 1-2 gifts...it's how we did it when I was growing up....zach's already asking what he has under the tree...I had his b/day presents hid under there and he found them days before his birthday LOL and it drove him crazy trying to figure out what they were....other things come from santa later that night after he's in bed........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I put all of the presents under the tree. But, instead of labeling them, I wrap each child's gifts in the same paper. So, dd1 might be in candy canes, dd2 might be in green stripes, etc. That way nobody knows which gifts belong to them, except me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Everyone gets new pjs on Christmas Eve. Those get wrapped and put under the tree. Nothing else goes under the tree until after the kids go to bed on Christmas Eve. It makes the surprise on Christmas bigger. One year we put the gifts out as they got wrapped. We all decided we didn't like that. There was no visual surprise to wake up to on Christmas morning. We hated it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homemama2 Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 All gifts are under the tree as soon as it is up. I just don't know if my kids will be able to withstand the temptation to shake or feel the presents That's the best part!! Dh and I still shake our gifts.... LOL! :D I'm not kidding.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 We do put out ones from DH or me to each other and from our family to extended family and from one of our kids to another. Dh is very nosy and sometimes I keep his hidden if the package is not very tricky! ;) We don't put the kids' gift from us out until Christmas Eve when they are asleep. Keeps them from snooping and makes Christmas morning more exciting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 No, I don't put them under the tree. If I did, how would my son slither around on the floor underneath it pretending to be the grinch? :tongue_smilie: :lol::lol: I love this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Do you place presents under the tree before Christmas? No, then they would just be presents for the cats and the dog. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 (edited) When my children were younger, I always had some gifts under the tree because it looked pretty. But these days, we only have a few gifts for each of us and I like for Christmas morning to be special. If I have the gifts under the tree before the morning, we just wake up to the same sight we've been looking at for a couple of weeks. But yes, my tree looks pretty empty. ETA: When the kids were little, we put only some of the gifts under the tree. We put the rest of our gifts and the family Santa gifts after the kids went to be on Christmas Eve. Since those days are gone, I don't like the gifts under the tree too early. Edited December 19, 2011 by Night Elf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 (edited) We have always put all presents under the tree. Yes they peak at them, yes they shake them, but only once has anyone ever opened one. Half the fun of Christmas is trying to figure out what's in those packages! eta: by peaking, I don't mean opening them, just looking to see which ones belonged to each person Edited December 19, 2011 by Unicorn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindyg Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 We have always put the wrapped presents under the tree as soon as they are ready. My childhood magical memories of Christmas are of the tree with presents spilling out from under it. I used to sort them, count them, try to guess what was in them, etc., but nobody in my family (as a child or now as a parent) ever tried to spoil the magic by opening them. I guess it depends on the kids in question. Since we spend Christmas day at Grandma's house, our tradition is to open one present a night (counting backwards however many presents there are). So, our presents have to be under the tree. P.S. And we never did Santa gifts. I guess if you're doing Santa gifts, they need to show up Christmas morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutor Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 We've been slowly adding wrapped gifts to the collection under the tree over the last week or so. I'll hold off putting a few gifts under there until after the kids go to bed on Christmas Eve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theYoungerMrsWarde Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I usually have the presents for friends wrapped and under the tree. Right now I have one present for each kid under the tree, and a box for everyone that came in the mail from family with individually wrapped presents inside. I put all the other presents for the boys under the tree after they fall asleep Christmas Eve. We don't "do Santa," but I don't want the focus to be the presents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdie Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I put all of the presents under the tree. But, instead of labeling them, I wrap each child's gifts in the same paper. So, dd1 might be in candy canes, dd2 might be in green stripes, etc. That way nobody knows which gifts belong to them, except me. Similar - we have three children and assign each child two reindeer names, (dasher, dancer....). We keep the, master list and they have no idea who they are until Christmas morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 When kids believed in Santa, presents from people outside our immediate family went under the tree. After that, all presents were put under the tree except the big gifts for each. Now, the tree is surrounded by an ex-pen and nothing can go under it. Aidan (dog) has already discovered how to push the ex-pen panels toward the tree so he can destroy more of it. He now sleeps curled against the ex-pen so as to be closer to that precious tree. The saving grace was that he did not lift his leg for the first time when we set the tree up. Given a chance, he'll probably think of that next. Our dog joyfully and easily unwraps presents, heavily taped parcels sent by my mother, and Amazon boxes. If anyone needs a box opener, let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 We only put presents for those outside team family under the tree prior to Christmas Eve. DD the Elder gets sick with anxiety otherwise, so we've adapted. Ideally we'd put the "smaller" presents under early and let the lids open one Christmas Eve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I put all of the presents under the tree. But, instead of labeling them, I wrap each child's gifts in the same paper. So, dd1 might be in candy canes, dd2 might be in green stripes, etc. That way nobody knows which gifts belong to them, except me. I love this. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustybug Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Presents go under the tree as they are wrapped. For MY kids, I use a different wrapping paper for each child, so I know whose is whose. I also put any presents for other people under there as well. I haven't had a problem with anyone trying to open them yet, and I think they know that it would be seriously bad for them if they did. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeeBeaks Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Trying under the tree for the first time this year. We'll see how that goes huh? I just put the first batch out today, and nobody has noticed yet. WE do have a huge baby fence around the tree anyway so that eliminates the baby getting to them, and probably our 4 yo too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetbasil Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Yes, I have... with secret number codes written on the bottom with a Sharpie. This yr all of our gifts are homemade and a few were made with the kids' help before Christmas, so we'll have few wrapped gifts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grover Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Ours are all under the tree, named with 'real' names. The kids (5 & 2) like to examine them as closely as possible without actually touching them. It's cute watching them hovering with their noses just about on the wrapping. I put out everything as it's wrapped / arrives - I think it's part of the fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meriwether Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I put all of the presents under the tree. But, instead of labeling them, I wrap each child's gifts in the same paper. So, dd1 might be in candy canes, dd2 might be in green stripes, etc. That way nobody knows which gifts belong to them, except me. I've always done this, too. I'd love to put them all under the tree on Christmas Eve but we usually travel so it isn't practical. I do fill their stockings after they go to bed Christmas Eve and get up at 5:00 or so to plug in the lights and set the stage. I go back to bed and let them wake me up a little later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasharowan Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 The gifts under the tree right now are the ones the kids got for hubby and me and each other. All others won't go out until Christmas Eve. This, except that ours are all in rubbermaid bins. :001_huh: Apparently ants think tape tastes good :confused: and decided to have a party under our tree!! :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn- Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 Well, I put them under the tree. I told the kids no touching, no shaking, no trying to use x-ray vision on them. Unfortunately shaking would give away a few of them (I have 3 boys, one guess on what makes a distinctive shaking sound under there). Their other gift is a bike helmet and feeling the fabric bag would probably give that away too. I wrapped a few of the boys' presents in pink bags (they were the best size for the item) to hopefully throw them off the scent of my identifying method. I think I will have to wrap the books they are getting in a bigger box before sticking them in a bag as I have no more small bags left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crissy Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I wrap gifts as soon as they come into the house and immediately place them under the tree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I wrap them as soon as I can. I love the look of the tree with all the presents under it. It makes me so happy to give presents and to think of all the wonderful things hiding under the tree. We don't do big santa presents, so only the stockings are filled on Christmas morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black_midori Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Until this year I've always put them under the tree. This year, though, we have a new kitty - and the way he is "re-decorating" my tree each night makes me worried to put anything under it as additional play-things!! So, I think I'll wait until the night before... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Yes, all wrapped presents for our family go under the tree here as soon as they get wrapped. Presents to others go into a waiting area somewhere until delivered or mailed.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caitilin Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I have always put them under the tree as they were wrapped. My kids are older now, but didn't bother the presents even when they were little. This is how we do it too. All the presents from mom and dad and any that come in the mail before Christmas go under the tree as the get wrapped or arrive. Only Santa presents and the stockings get put out exclusively on Christmas eve.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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