orangearrow Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 I'm getting ready to start wrapping some Christmas gifts and had this thought. We seem to spend a lot of our Christmas morning un-boxing presents. Un-doing those annoying twisty-ties, cutting apart those annoying plastic blister packages, finding screwdrivers and batteries during all the chaos of Christmas Day.... So. I'm thinking we should pre-open the kids' gifts. Put batteries in the few things that need batteries. Leave only enough twisty-ties to hold the item in place in its box reasonably. Unwrap the plastic off of the CDs & video games. Have the blister packages already pre-cut so the item can be simply removed and immediately enjoyed. :confused: Is this a good idea or a strange one? lol My kids won't miss that part of the "unwrapping experience," I don't think. It actually would probably be more enjoyable, because they won't have to wait on Mom, Dad or a grandparent to cut things open, or find the batteries... they could just open it up and start playing with no grown-up to wait for! lol Hmmmm... :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 I think its a great idea. It takes hrs for all the post opening activities. Pre assembly is brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 At the very least, I package the batteries with the gift.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hathersage Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Did you see that Amazon's Frustration-Free Packaging to help elimnate Wrap Rage? this year they have about 19 products, mostly fisher price. I hope this trend continues.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 I have done it with certain items. Any thing that requires stickers to be placed was always done ahead of time. Batteries are nice too. Wheeled toys that require assembly are a must! One thing that helps a lot is to have the right tools when you need them. A small set of wire snips, fine scissors like sewing scissors and a pair to cut cardboard. A small utility knife or exacto knife to cut through plastic on cds. We keep a set of small screwdrivers just for this purpose. When the kids were little, they would get Costco packs of batteries for gifts from Santa! I say go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebeccaS Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Yes, we do it here. For birthdays also. It saves so much time and frustration on all our parts. The last thing I want to do Christmas Day is spend 1/2 of it untying ties and unsewing barbie doll hair... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WagsWife Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 I do this...I did it more so when they were little. I can remember being a kid and the frustration of wanting to play with my new toys, but having to wait to get it out of the box or put together. I untie, place stickers and put together almost everything. It makes for a much more pleasant Christmas morning! One tip...start working on it it now. If you do a handful of items every few nights, it will not be so overwhelming on Christmas Eve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orangearrow Posted November 24, 2008 Author Share Posted November 24, 2008 Did you see that Amazon's Frustration-Free Packaging to help elimnate Wrap Rage? this year they have about 19 products, mostly fisher price. I hope this trend continues.... I did see that and I think it's AWESOME! I hope they get a huge response for it and more manufacturers start to do this!! Batteries in the stockings is a great idea. lol We have these huge remote control vehicles my mom bought for the kids last year and we've never bought enough of the huge batteries to run the things. I think enough batteries to run these will go into the stockings. The kids can start 'em up and play with those while the rest of us are getting things set up. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 I thought you meant if we opened presents from others to make sure if they were appropriate! I have done that in the past! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 I have never done this. I had a friend who did, I think it's a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hathersage Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 I thought you meant if we opened presents from others to make sure if they were appropriate! I have done that in the past! :iagree: I so totally wish I could do this more often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WagsWife Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 I thought you meant if we opened presents from others to make sure if they were appropriate! I have done that in the past! I do that sometimes as well. Also to make sure that there are not doubles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 I thought you meant if we opened presents from others to make sure if they were appropriate! I don't open gifts ahead of time because of the reasons stated in the o.p. Their presents ~ and there aren't that many anyway ~ aren't wrapped in a "tedious to unwrap" manner and there are never things that require batteries, so none of that's an issue. Still and all, I always open the gifts beforehand to check what's in there. Especially in the case of my mother-in-law, who sends gifts from Switzerland, she usually includes chocolate in each package. So of course I take it out and eat it all myself. Just kidding!:D I do take it out, though, because sometimes it needs refrigerated, and I'd rather dole it out myself than have them start snarfing down chocolate right then and there. I'm kinda weird as far as presents are concerned, anyway. I don't like surprises. When I was growing up, I almost always figured out a way to unwrap presents just enough, ahead of time, so I'd know what was in there.:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 We do that prior to wrapping, that way all they have to do is open and enjoy. We don't wrap any of the santa gifts, so they are all open and ready to be instantly played with. of course, part of the reason we do this is so no one gets impatient waiting in line for dad to open, battery, work their new toy! ETA: oh and we always open enough to be sure the gift works and has all the pieces like it should, then repackage and wrap if neccessary. There's just nothing more heartbreaking than seeing a 6 yr old get the gift he dreamed of and finding it doesn't work. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 I thought you meant to play with them! Yes, hubby and I played Wii last year for 6 weeks before Christmas after the dcs went to bed :D. I tried out the DS this year, but the game that I got for dd is not nearly as much fun for me as it will be for her. There is nothing worse than opening a present on Christmas only to find out it does not work UGH! Anyway, yes! We usually take things out and assemble them, and then we just wrap the akward shaped present gently and place it under the tree. We usually have to go to a family lunch or have family at our house by noon, so if we assembled the toys in the morning they would not have a chance to play with them until the next day. We only have three kids, and it takes a few days to get all items together (and they do not get that many toys). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Until last year, I always opened the toys, put batteries in, made sure they worked, and then wrapped the lumpy gifts. The kids would always play with each toy as they opened them, before moving on to the next, probably because they could. Usually present-opening would last from around 8 a.m. until 2 p.m., because of the playtime involved. RC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orangearrow Posted November 24, 2008 Author Share Posted November 24, 2008 I thought you meant if we opened presents from others to make sure if they were appropriate! I have done that in the past! roflol! Well, all their presents are from us and their 4 grandparents. The Grandparents almost always run gifts by us first, so we haven't had too many shockers. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 That's funny, Cathmom, I thought the same thing! Sometimes I opened and put together, and sometimes I didn't. Dd8, in particular, wanted to play with her stuff before she was finished opening the rest of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumping In Puddles Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Oh yes! We take the shrink wrap off, assemble, put batteries in, untie... whatever needs to be done so that the presents are ready for them to open and play with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 I thought you meant if we opened presents from others to make sure if they were appropriate! I have done that in the past! I thought this too. roflol! Well, all their presents are from us and their 4 grandparents. The Grandparents almost always run gifts by us first, so we haven't had too many shockers. :lol: Sigh. I wish I could check MIL's gifts to dc first, but she's always there to see them get opened. I also wish she would just let us set them aside and continue opening presents, so I could return the gifts later (she never includes a gift receipt). My mom's gifts are not a problem--she does ask what to get dc. MIL doesn't pay attention when I tell her, or she does but gets a gazillion other things we really don't want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 I am doing this this year. I am also pre-assembling the treehouse playset I ordered for ds. I have asked family to do the same thing. This is my first year doing christmas on my own since leaving my husband 7 years ago, we have also slept over at my folks and done xmas there so I had lots of grown up sot help me open toys and assemble things, this year it is me and the 4 kids so I am trying to eliminate as many headaches as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneC Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 I have done this in years when we bought the kids toys for Christmas. My worst ever Christmas was the year my parents bought us a Barbie house. Just imagine, 4 overexcited little girls, 2 tired and grumpy parents and a Barbie house with hundreds of bits and stickers to assemble on Christmas morning. We were sent back to bed before lunch.:001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommee & Baba Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 I did this last year and was so GLAD that I did this! This year I got so into the hussle and bussle of wrapping on limited time while kids were outside playing and lil one napping that I just wrapped them as is and I know come tomorrow morning I'll be regretting it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 I didn't have when my daughter was little, but by the time my son came along it required wire clippers, kitchen shears, and the occasional mini screwdriver just to separate a toy from it's packaging. I often toy with the idea of giving new parents kitchen shears and wire cutters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 I pre-open MILs gifts after last year's debacle. She gave my 13 and 11 year olds Cars themed matching games that said, "Great for ages 3-5" on them! :glare: This year she gave my 14 year old and my 12 year old T-shirts, both size 10. :confused: Yup, I pre-open! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Yes. Always. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 We don't. My DS ends up spending hours undoing everything as the kids choose what they want to play with next. If we undid all the boxes to make it easy, what would my DH have to do on Christmas Day? :lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakarimom5 Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 One year we got DS#4 a kitchen for Christmas. My oldest was still living at home so he was helping me put stuff out since my DH was at work. We could not find ANY screw drivers anywhere. We spent 2 hours putting that kitchen together with a butter knife!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 I'm getting ready to start wrapping some Christmas gifts and had this thought. We seem to spend a lot of our Christmas morning un-boxing presents. Un-doing those annoying twisty-ties, cutting apart those annoying plastic blister packages, finding screwdrivers and batteries during all the chaos of Christmas Day.... So. I'm thinking we should pre-open the kids' gifts. Put batteries in the few things that need batteries. Leave only enough twisty-ties to hold the item in place in its box reasonably. Unwrap the plastic off of the CDs & video games. Have the blister packages already pre-cut so the item can be simply removed and immediately enjoyed. :confused: Is this a good idea or a strange one? lol My kids won't miss that part of the "unwrapping experience," I don't think. It actually would probably be more enjoyable, because they won't have to wait on Mom, Dad or a grandparent to cut things open, or find the batteries... they could just open it up and start playing with no grown-up to wait for! lol Hmmmm... :bigear: I did this one or two years when my kids were small and several of their items had those cursed twisty-tie things. It was better in some ways and not as good in others. I didn't like that it made new items seem like they were used. :tongue_smilie: But it was less hassle on Christmas Day and I don't think the kids paid any attention to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Element Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 (edited) Yes, absolutely! Edited December 26, 2011 by Element Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abigail4476 Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Yes. We do this on anything that needs to be assembled before it can be used or will be difficult to remove from the box. We also go ahead and install batteries or charge electronics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink Fairy Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 We've spent the last couple of days assembling stuff, and my dh is still working on it now. This year I also charged and preloaded their new mp3 players with audiobooks. I think I deserve bonus points for that one! :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHowell Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 We usually don't, but this year we ordered ds a football toss game and when it arrived in the mail it was packaged only in the shipping box with no label or anything, just the pieces and assembly instructions. :glare: So we will have to assemble that tonight so he'll know what it is. I am so glad it is a Santa gift, it would be hard to wrap all put together! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 I thought you meant if we opened presents from others to make sure if they were appropriate! I have done that in the past! Me, too! And I really should, but often don't. We did pre-assemble when they were little. (Santa doesn't wrap here) I can attest that there are approximately 3,000 twisty ties on the Weeble Treehouse. Thank goodness they're bigger now. The only thing assembled this year is a lacrosse goal. Whew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2scouts Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 I started doing that a couple of years ago and it was wonderful! Sometimes the kids would become frustrated and lose interest while we where trying to find batteries, screwdrivers, scissors or whatever else we needed. Fortunately, this year I discovered that some major toy manufacturers are using less annoying packaging and I didn't need to do as much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennsmile Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 I wish my parents had done this they and a brother got them imaginex airplanes so I had to undo 6 airplanes tonight when they got opened. I already pre opened all the boys toys except for the snap circuits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cin Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 I think it's a great idea. I, however am a slow learner. My children are 10 & 7, and I just thought to do this THIS YEAR. Duh.:001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 I have done that several times. Little People were the worst. We have probably 300 LP figures (that is not an exaggeration; I think we have just about every set made between 2002 and 2006), and every single one was tied in with at least one plastic cord. So frustrating for the kids to wait, so I always undid them before wrapping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 I did that when the kids were young. They were always eager to get their gifts and some of those toys would have like 2 dozen twisty ties!! My children never noticed that the boxes were opened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silliness7 Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 I'm getting ready to start wrapping some Christmas gifts and had this thought. We seem to spend a lot of our Christmas morning un-boxing presents. Un-doing those annoying twisty-ties, cutting apart those annoying plastic blister packages, finding screwdrivers and batteries during all the chaos of Christmas Day.... So. I'm thinking we should pre-open the kids' gifts. Put batteries in the few things that need batteries. Leave only enough twisty-ties to hold the item in place in its box reasonably. Unwrap the plastic off of the CDs & video games. Have the blister packages already pre-cut so the item can be simply removed and immediately enjoyed. :confused: Is this a good idea or a strange one? lol My kids won't miss that part of the "unwrapping experience," I don't think. It actually would probably be more enjoyable, because they won't have to wait on Mom, Dad or a grandparent to cut things open, or find the batteries... they could just open it up and start playing with no grown-up to wait for! lol Hmmmm... :bigear: Absolutely!!! I like things to be ready to go, and so does everybody else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockey Mom Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 We hired a handyman to assemble the wooden swing set they're getting...does that count? :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 That's what I tell people my kids would like a present from the thrift store, (or duct tape, markers, cardboard tubes) because of No packaging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThelmaLou Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Did you see that Amazon's Frustration-Free Packaging to help elimnate Wrap Rage? this year they have about 19 products, mostly fisher price. I hope this trend continues.... Yes, I purchased ds 5 a batman cave with this packaging. Hope they do more of these in the future. But yes, when they were younger, I often preopened gifts that had difficult packaging. I also wanted to get my hands on directions, extra pieces. etc... before they ended up with wrapping paper in the trash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In the Rain Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 I think it is a great idea. We often do that for the toys that have an insane amount of packaging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1GirlTwinBoys Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 I've always pre opened my kid's gifts before wrapping. It saves sooooo much time on Christmas morning and the kids can start playing with their new things right away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketgirl Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 i totally understand, after my 4 open their gifts, they want their gifts opened, and can't, seriously, its another 2 hours of work. But no, i wouldn't do it ahead of time, unless I had extra time ahead, which i never do, if you do, go for it. so smart to clip those zip ties before you wrap :) those things are sooooo stupid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenmama2 Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 I thought you meant if we opened presents from others to make sure if they were appropriate! I have done that in the past! I would LOVE to be able to do this. My children are given some awful things :glare: unfortunately we don't get a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MunRoLy Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 We've done that in the past. This is a bit different, but the year we gave our kids Kapla Blocks (1000 blocks) dh and I stayed up super late building a tower almost to the ceiling using every block! That's what they saw by the tree when they woke up. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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