For kids birthday parties, do you have your LO open gifts at the party? What do you think of parties where they don't open gifts?
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My LO just turned 2 and I'm not a fan of present opening at birthday parties!
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I always hated this as a kid, and still hate it as an adult, for showers (wedding, baby, etc.) It feels so contrived, "oh THANK you!"
Anyway, I don't see a problem with kids opening presents later at home or after guests have left the party.
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We will probably not open gifts at any other parties but we did for her first because that is the norm in our circle and some of my family members would have been upset since it was her first gift opening experience
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Definite nay for us! We wait til everyone leaves!
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We do it after everyone leaves too.
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For E's first, we waited and then did just family at the end. I wanted to hang out with everyone, not open all her gifts lol
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For a kid's party, no. It would take forever! Growing up we never opened gifts at other kids' birthday parties.
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That's funny reading all the responses. Growing up it was always tradition to open gifts at the party in front of guests. Honestly waiting until after the party sounds much better to me though.
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I'm with @Danizaur, I've never even heard of not opening gifts at a kids party! In my family, ALL the kids are eager for gift time, not just the birthday girl/boy. They like to see the reaction to the one they brought, and they want to play with the new ones!
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I always thought it was considered rude not to open gifts in front of guests- not saying how I feel, just thought that was the etiquette.
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@Greentea: my mom was not happy when I said we weren't going to do gifts at J's party. She thought it was terribly rude.
If the party is at a play gym or something like that, it's hard to do because a lot of time you don't have the table/room for very long (we had 45 minutes in party room & 45 minutes in play gym)If it's at someone's home, I would expect the gifts to be opened.
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I'd prefer to wait until after the party.
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We've only had one bday party for ds, his first w guests. And it was at our home. We opened gifts but went quickly since it was Dh and I doing all of the opening. When they're older I'll probably do gifts after the party.
As a guest, I don't really have a preference.
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I'd def prefer to wait until after the party. Seems awkward to make a kid open with a big crowd of people then come up with appropriate responses. I struggle with that as an adult, that is a lot to put on a little kid.
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I think it's a bit odd to open gifts at a kids party...? I. Can't see that as being much fun for the kids watching!
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@rachiecakes: same - if the party is at home, gifts are opened while guests are there. If it's at a play place, there's usually not enough time or space, so they're opened after.
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As a guest, I don't care. Where I grew up in the south, it was considered rude not to open...but now I live in the NE and thinking back to all the first birthday parties we attended this year, I don't think anyone opened at the party.
Must be regional.
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Where I grew up you ALWAYS opened gifts at the party, where we live now, I've never attended a party where you open gifts.
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We opened at her first bday because it was just family and close friends and we did the opening.
LO is now three and we opened at some parties but not this year. The problem, at least with my LO, is that she wants to play with the new gift right.this.minute so opening took forever! After her party this year, we opened one or two a night for a week! It worked better to go at her pace and I can't imagine other kids wanting to sit through it! -
I have never been to a birthday party where the presents weren't opened while the guests were there.
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i've never been to a party where the opened the gifts, but i think it's more of a ny thing where most parties are at venues since we all have small apartments.
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I've never been to a kid's party where they open gifts. I prefer they be opened at home.
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I had never heard about not opening gifts at the party until I joined Hellobee. Gifts have always been opened at the parties I've attended. I find it really interesting that it seems to be a regional thing. I'm in the Midwest
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I think it really depends - on the age of the birthday boy or girl, on the number of guests, on the location, on the length of the party, etc. As a guest, I don't usually mind either way; however, sometimes if I've purchased something really special, I like seeing the recipient's reaction.
At my daughter's second birthday party, there were only about eight other children. I felt like there was time, so she opened her presents. She acted really excited about all of them but tore through them like the Tasmanian devil. I think she had every present opened within five minutes.
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@Mrs. Bee: @rachiecakes: I've been to a couple of parties where they opened it at the venue and it was soo chaotic! We plan on doing it at a venue that requires you to be out by a certain time...do think I can deal with the chaos.
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@Torchwood: I think that's the problem...if you decide to open gifts at the end and need to be out by a certain time. Them you have the kids that want to play with all the new toys!
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@Freckles: yea that's why we couldn't open at the venue and our place is waaay too small for guests.
Our play gym party was 45 minutes of play/45 minutes in party room. We served lunch and had cake, so couldn't really do gifts. -
we've always opened at the party, and most parties we've attended have done the same. I guess it depends on a few things: the comfort of the child (if they don't mind being the center of attention), the venue (it can get pretty chaotic and messy if a big group of young children are involved), and the time frame of the party (not enough time to play with gifts/toys once opened). I personally love watching kids open gifts, and have never seen the awkwardness or boredom some others have mentioned. Usually the other kids have tons of fun because they jump right in and help open the gifts, and if there is time left over they love to play with the new items.
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@78h2o: I agree about the reaction. I tend to diy gifts or choose something very specific to the birthday child, so I love to see their face when they open their gift.
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Don't really care either way. My daughter always opens one gift and then wants to play with it and couldn't care less about the others, so I think we'll do it later in the future. But I don't think it's rude not to open during the party, certainly.
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@Freckles: Yeah, we typically don't do venues, at least not for family ones. I think sometimes the kids may do ones with other, non-family people. Though I do have pictures of me opening presents when I was around 7, and we were at a play place. But I'm in the South, and sounds like it's a regional thing. It's so strange sometimes, the things that are different.
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We open after everyone leaves! The only exception is family...they always want to see their gifts opened. But we have a pretty small family so it's no big deal. And we only do family gifts in front of family (like after all non family guest have left!)
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Presents have been opened at every party I've ever been to, except Sadie's. She and I were both sick at her party, and there were a lot of gifts. She had no idea, and no one seemed to care. We opened the gifts on her actual birthday at home when she was feeling better, and she enjoyed being able to play with things as we opened them. We're asking for donations instead of gifts this year, so we won't have that problem.
As a guest, I don't care. I like seeing the person's reaction, but I'm definitely not offended if they choose to open them later.
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We did at LO's first birthday party, which was a 50/50 split of family guests and friends with kids. Hereafter, we probably won't. I went to one party where the kiddo opened gifts as we arrived, so we each got to see our own present opened, but it wasn't a big thing. That worked well, I thought.
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34 comments