Parents: How do you work out Christmas gift giving with your kids?

We only celebrate New Year’s and the kids get gifts that night, wrapped.

They’re all wrapped, some when they’re at school others when they’re in bed. I must confess however that the wife does all the wrapping. I’m all fingers & thumbs when it comes to that particular task. I too can’t wait, the looks on their faces never dulls, whoo hoo! :¬)

I usually wait until late Christmas Eve to wrap the presents. I grab a good beer, put TBS on the television to watch A Christmas Story, and wrap the presents myself.

They are all wrapped and we wait until late Christmas Eve after our son is asleep to put them under the tree. I just bought some wrapping paper the other day and plan to start wrapping next week while my son is in school. Right now all his presents are in my closet or the game closet (that he doesn’t really go into).

They are all wrapped unless it is something like a bike. I put a few gifts out as I buy and wrap them, but the bulk of them go under the tree on Christmas Eve.

We wrap everything, but nothing is put out until after the kids have gone to be Christmas Eve. My daughter was just telling me how that was her favorite part of Christmas. Going to bed and there’s nothing under the tree and coming down in the morning to find all those presents there.

My parents have always wrapped our gifts a week or two before the holidays. Lately, my mum has been using bags and tissue paper more than wrapping paper (as this makes recycling easier and takes less time.) Santa Claus was never a figment in our household. My siblings and I knew that our parents purchased, wrapped, and placed our gifts underneath the tree. When we were younger, my parents had the additional step of figuring out where they hid everything. My mum would buy our gifts ages ahead of time and stored them in various locations. On more than one occasion, I wound up with a belated Christmas present that had been hiding in the back of the closet.

To my knowledge, no one in my household has even purchased gifts yet. I’m sure we will place separate rush orders from Amazon and wrap them as they arrive.

My parents have always wrapped all the presents and put them under the tree as soon as they’re wrapped. Some of them are from “Santa” (even though none of us kids have ever believed in Santa) and some from Mom & Dad. It’s really exciting when you notice a new present under the tree.

Things from us are wrapped and set out under the tree in the days leading up to Christmas. Stocking stuffers and gifts from Santa aren’t wrapped. Santa’s gifts are set out, assembled and with batteries installed, if necessary. This way, the kids have some instant gratification to enjoy so we can make coffee and wake up a bit before the official unwrapping begins!

@muppetish My mom was always finding hidden Christmas presents long after Christmas!

I’m not a parent, but i do partake in gift-giving. I HATE WRAPPING. I’m terrible at it, and it kills trees. Mostly, I’m terrible at it. :D

My advice to YOU, parents… Is that if we’re over the age of 13, WE DON’T CARE IF THEY’RE WRAPPED. Thank you for your consideration. Have a good one, eh? :D

Mostly wrapped and placed under the tree until Christmas Eve, until they were teens, and then money.

@shniernan Good point. I enjoy unwrapping them, but I really don’t care. Like @YARNLADY said….we’d like some money even better :D

My parents always wrapped everything and put it under the tree as it was wrapped. They also shopped early, so this would give us a couple of weeks to agonize! They also put clues on the tags, most of which you wouldn’t understand until after opening, so that made it more painful!
Santa gifts (usually a calendar and another item) would appear unwrapped overnight on Christmas Eve, as well as unwrapped stocking stuffers.