So far our tree has a few things under it from DD who is 5. Her school did a gift buying thing so she got to buy gifts for the rest of us. DH and I have bought all their gifts but I cant decide if i should wrap them now and put them under or wait til its closer to christmas.
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Instantly, so I can check that item off my to-do list. Also it makes the month of December feel more festive to see a growing pile of bright colored boxes under the tree.
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I always did Christmas Eve after kids are asleep. DH’s family did everything but Santa gifts as they were wrapped. I think it’s too hard for a kid (or adult) to see a present and not be able to open it for days or weeks! Plus it’s so much more magical to go from no presents to ALL the presents on Christmas morning.
Plus my 2 year old would most definitely open everything when I turned my back.
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Gifts for everyone but kids i do whenever - i also like how it looks and like to get it finished. 2yo opens some (part of the season!) so then i rewrap, but for that reason i won’t put out anything for them until Christmas Eve. He told me he needed “presents for all me” ...
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thanks everyone! Yes I feel like DD will be dying to open them if she sees them.
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All of our gifts get wrapped and put under the tree right away. Santa gifts are hidden away till Christmas Eve (unwrapped).
Our toddler has actually been really good about not touching them at all! -
As I wrap I place them under the tree!
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Right now we put them under the tree Christmas Eve when LO goes to sleep or else he would be too distracted. I’m hoping when he’s older to put them out sooner and let him practice patience.
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I add gifts under the tree as I buy/wrap them.
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We wrap, and place in larger (paper ream) boxes so they are heavy/big and use them to block the tree from babies / toddlers. We add heavy things into them if they aren't heavy enough - the easiest way is buying a 24-pack of generic plastic water bottles and using those. Then we have the water on hand during illnesses and such.
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Nothing until Christmas Eve after the kids go to bed.
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We don’t put anything under the tree until Christmas Eve after LO goes to bed. This is what my parents did growing up too. MIL puts hers under as she wraps them. I would have to ask DH if this has always been the case.
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We wait until Christmas eve, there's no way my kids wouldn't try to open them and it's not a worth while fight to me.
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We put them all out xmas eve after she goes to bed. It’s what I grew up with and just seems easier to not have to keep her from messing with them beforehand.
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We wrap and put under the tree as we go. DD1 is 3 and we haven't had an issue with her trying to unwrap or open anything. DD2 is 3 weeks old, so she won't be trying anything. It's DH I have to worry about.
Presents for the kids (Santa presents) don't appear until Christmas morning. DD1 is aware that some presents under the tree are for her and baby sister (from out of state family) but honestly I think she's excited about the wait.
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@DesertDreams88: This is a creative idea!!
I would love to put presents under the tree as soon as we have them - my family did this growing up. I think it adds to the excitement and anticipation. BUT my kids are still too little to resist temptation to open, I think. So maybe we'll put them out a day or two in advance when there will be multiple adults around to help keep little paws off the presents?! I thought of just putting out adult presents, but I don't think that'd stop them (the kids) from opening!
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We also do Christmas Eve after the kids go to bed. I think it's fun for them to wake up to a pile of presents. And besides, we have a tiny, 2 feet tall fake tree, so it would be overwhelmed.
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Christmas Eve night. Big surprise in the morning. It’s how my parents did it and I like it.
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Usually in early December, but I’m an early bird with the shopping. I had everything wrapped and under the tree a few weeks ago. Now it’s a little sparse because we sent a load of gifts with my parents last time they visited - we do Christmas at their house and we never could have fit everything in the car. We had a few days of “but...can I open them?” from the almost-four year old but it’s been fine.
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Thanks everyone! it seems to be nearly an even split! I think for now I'll just hold off putting them out til we get closer
@DesertDreams88: thanks for sharing that photo!
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Ugh, I wrapped and put under the tree and my 3 year old had a nuclear meltdown about opening them. So they went back up to my closet.
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Santa brings all the presents so they get placed under the tree on Christmas eve after the kids have gone to bed. My parents did send us a bunch of stuff for the kids so I might wrap those and put those out sooner. But in general I like the wow factor of waking up to all the presents.
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My mother used to put them out as soon as they were purchased and it drove me batty, to the point where I would ask for hints, secretly unwrap the packages and just generally ruin it all.
So, I don't put anything out until Christmas morning with my son.
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@Mrsbells: I only put out the ones that aren't as appealing to the kids- tins, fabric wraps, etc. The other stuff has to stay out of reach!
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Usually we put them out as they get wrapped. But with a baby in the house we haven't put any out yet. The 5 year old knows he doesn't get to open them until Christmas and the last few years he has been really good at leaving them alone.
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Christmas Eve. I still want it to seem kind of magical while I can.
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Definitely not until Christmas Eve. DD is 2 and tries to open any present she sees. We go to Grandma's next week, and I'm not sure Grandma has the same philosophy I do, so I anticipate a week of trying to keep DD away from all the shiny, highly enticing presents.
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I like the look of presents under the tree so we’ve had some there for a while now. Not quite all of them, but basically everything we’ve bought already.
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All my presents are wrapped, but I have them stacked on top of a tall cabinet where my kids can't reach them and a few locked in a closet. I won't put them out until Christmas Eve, because I don't trust my kids not to open them!
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Presents go under the tree on Christmas Eve when kids are asleep. It feels so magical on Christmas morning!
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I can’t believe how many kids just don’t mess with the presents under the tree! Mine can barely keep themselves from taking the ornaments off!
One further reason for us waiting is my younger daughters bday is tomorrow- trying to hold off on all out Christmas until after her birthday.
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We have a few wrapped presents under the tree but they are for other people and my LO's helped to wrap them so they know what is in them and who they are for. They haven't touched those. We received a few presents from DH's parents, already wrapped, that we tried to put under the tree and that lasted less than a day, with 2 presents getting opened. Kids' presents will come out after bed on Christmas Eve. We did that last year as well and it was so exciting to see the transformation on Christmas morning.
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Christmas Eve after bedtime. There's no way they would leave the presents alone otherwise! And honestly... I'm usually up wrapping the night before anyways
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They have been under the tree since I had a chance to wrap them, about a week ago. My 3 year old does fine with following the no touching rule. Which is surprising since he has been having an "I'm the boss" mentalily lately.
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We have a 4 and 2 year old and have tons of wrapped presents under the tree that no one messes with.
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Christmas Eve. I keep them on a bookshelf before then, partly because I like to see my tree skirt and that way they sort of decorate another area without much effort on my part. But I started doing this because the cat would play with the bows if the wrapped gifts were on the floor!
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Everything goes under the tree Christmas Eve after the kids are in bed. I can't imagine how torturous it would be to have presents out and not allow them to open them!
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