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Post by PEArfect on Nov 15, 2014 19:27:54 GMT
Do you have a specific order? Youngest to oldest? All at the same time?
My mil was talking about changing things up this year. She mentioned drawing numbers. Sounds to controlled and organized to me. I agree we need to change it up though. We always open youngest to oldest and it takes awhile. I suggested opening by family or couple, but she likes to watch everyone individually. I think the kids should go first regardless. I guess we'll see. We're celebrating tomorrow. I know. Christmas before Thanksgiving, so wrong. I agree. I'm not excited about it. |
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Post by dynalady on Nov 15, 2014 19:50:35 GMT
I hide a pickle ornament on the tree. (could be any special ornament) When we're ready to open presents the kids search for the pickle and the first one to find it gets to open the first present. He/she then picks out a present for somebody else, kid or grownup. That person opens, picks the next present, etc. I like one at a time so everybody can see and its not all over in just a present frenzy.
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wellway
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Post by wellway on Nov 15, 2014 19:51:44 GMT
We usually eyeball the size of each pile (the children normally have the biggest) and work it so everyone has something to open on the last round.
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newlywoods03
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Post by newlywoods03 on Nov 15, 2014 19:56:48 GMT
We usually all have the same amount and each person opens one gift, then the next person opens one and so on. It takes a bit longer to open, but we are able to see what each person got and the kids actually look at each gift  |
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Post by padresfan619 on Nov 15, 2014 20:10:00 GMT
No order at all. But there is some sort of pride for opening the last gift of the day.
One year my brother thought he won and days after Christmas my mom discovered a gift she forgot to wrap and give me so I won!
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Nov 15, 2014 20:12:37 GMT
It's a free for all. No order whatsoever.
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Post by PEArfect on Nov 15, 2014 20:38:48 GMT
I hide a pickle ornament on the tree. (could be any special ornament) When we're ready to open presents the kids search for the pickle and the first one to find it gets to open the first present. He/she then picks out a present for somebody else, kid or grownup. That person opens, picks the next present, etc. I like one at a time so everybody can see and its not all over in just a present frenzy. This is a great idea. My sil is hosting and she has a pickle ornament. |
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Post by PEArfect on Nov 15, 2014 20:39:01 GMT
I hide a pickle ornament on the tree. (could be any special ornament) When we're ready to open presents the kids search for the pickle and the first one to find it gets to open the first present. He/she then picks out a present for somebody else, kid or grownup. That person opens, picks the next present, etc. I like one at a time so everybody can see and its not all over in just a present frenzy. This is a great idea. My sil is hosting and she has a pickle ornament. |
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Post by just PEAchy on Nov 15, 2014 20:45:05 GMT
Christmas morning is just my immediate family, 3 kids, and it's just a free for all. We like it that way. When we get together with the extended family (cousins), we rotate between youngest to oldest and oldest to youngest. Middle kids always get the shaft, lol.
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GiantsFan
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Post by GiantsFan on Nov 15, 2014 21:10:11 GMT
We do it different every year -
Draw numbers (then you get into the well what order should we draw. LOL!)
Alphabetical by first name
Birth date - Month / Day
Oldest
Youngest
Answer a Christmas trivia correctly
Biggest package to smallest package
Not sure what we will do this year.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2014 21:31:39 GMT
It's a free for all. No order whatsoever.  Anything else just doesn't seem as much fun and I hate being on the spot, everyone watching while I open gifts is a nightmare. |
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Post by Eddie-n-Harley on Nov 15, 2014 21:53:31 GMT
Prior to our stupid change to stupid white elephant, we did it youngest to oldest. It's a little different if your youngest is, say, 20, but I think that generally speaking, that is what makes the most sense. The kids have the least amount of patience and when they're done opening, you send them all to the basement (or wherever) to play with their new toys while the grownups finish opening their presents.
For a while, the other side of my family drew names, and we'd start with someone and then whoever they bought for would open next, and so on. That's okay, but it almost always ends up that you have a couple of circles (Bob bought for Sue, who bought for John, who bought for Tim, who bought for Bob). Then you have to randomly pick someone to start again.
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Post by AussieMeg on Nov 15, 2014 22:37:48 GMT
It's a free for all. No order whatsoever. Yep, it's a free for all at my house too. But I really LOVE dynalady 's idea. I think I'm going to try something like that this year. IF I can contain my 10yo son's enthusiasm long enough! |
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Post by Bitchy Rich on Nov 15, 2014 23:00:19 GMT
It's a free for all. No order whatsoever. We did free for all last year. None of the parents knew where any of the kid gifts came from, so it was a constant "Did this come from you?" "Who does this belong to?" Later my mom thanked me for the nice bird feeder my brother had given her. You are welcome! I kind of dislike the slow pace of one at a time, but I like seeing what everyone gets, and who bought it. I know, I sound ancient. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2014 23:17:45 GMT
If there are kids in the house the kids get to go first. Not one at a time but each child is given a gift and then a count down (3,2,1) and they all open their one gift at the same time. Then the adults will do the same. Then back to the kids for the next round. For us it seems to be the best balance between being able to see what everyone got and not having gift opening take all day.
If it is just adults then we start oldest to youngest but in this case the youngest is in her 50s. She is the one usually handing out the presents.
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Post by bluepoprocks on Nov 15, 2014 23:33:07 GMT
The two boys open theirs at the same time but I'm thinking about them alternating this year because I would like to see them each open presents and it's hard to focus on both of them when they are so excited. Then the adults open theirs in no particular order.
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grammanisi
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Post by grammanisi on Nov 16, 2014 0:09:02 GMT
Youngest to oldest. We have our daughter and her family on Christmas Eve. We eat dinner, open gifts, eat dessert, open stockings, eat snacks!
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Post by melanell on Nov 16, 2014 0:15:45 GMT
We usually all have the same amount and each person opens one gift, then the next person opens one and so on. It takes a bit longer to open, but we are able to see what each person got and the kids actually look at each gift This is how it was when I was growing up. It's more of a free for all at my parents' home now, that we're all older and there are more people. It used to take us hours when I was a kid. We'd even have an intermission!  At our own home, we allow the kids to open a few items from their stockings before church. Then we we return, we eat and open the rest of the stocking items and then the gifts under the tree. We all open our stockings together, but we take turns with the under the tree gifts. There are nver very many so it doesn't take too long. |
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Post by maryland on Nov 16, 2014 0:27:11 GMT
That's great that you get to celebrate early, before things get so crazy!
At my inlaws, it just them and our family. Everyone takes a turn and we watch each other open the gifts. Whatever gift they find under the tree first gets opened. No real order. I love it this way because I like taking a picture of everyone opening their gifts. At my parents, they used to let the 5 grandkids open all at once and I hated that! I couldn't get pictures, the kids just tore through it, threw the gift aside and opened the next. We had no idea what our kids got! My parents just wanted to make the kids happy, yet we said they need to learn that they need to take turns. They finally started doing it one at a time, but it seems like the faster the better.
My kids had to wait at my inlaws to open gifts, and they had no problem with that. But they were used to a free for all at my parents, and started getting mad if they had to wait to open a gift. I loved how patient they were at my inlaws and happily watched the adults open gifts along with the kids.
When I was little, I always wanted to make my gifts last, so I always wanted to be the last to open my gifts! We got our Santa gifts in the morning, played with them all day, and the rest of the family came over for dinner at 3. Once they all left (around 7) my brother and I opened the gifts from the parents and grandparents. That's pretty much the order we do now at my parents (we always have to travel for the holidays because we live out of town. We are never home for Christmas, so we do what we always did!).
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Post by librarylady on Nov 16, 2014 1:25:54 GMT
It's a free for all. No order whatsoever. That's how we do it. If we did it gift by gift, we'd be there 3 days. (peril of a large family - I have 8 siblings) My brother and his wife do the "one at a time" exchange. I have never been there, but another sister reported that she was embarrassed for the family as birth children had several gifts and the step son had 3. IMO, if you are going to do this one gift at a time all should get the same number of gifts and worth close to the same value. When our son was small, he had many gifts from aunts/uncles and grandparents. So, about a week before Christmas I let him open one gift per night. This gave him time to enjoy the gift and recognize the giver...otherwise it was just too much on Christmas Day. |
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Nov 16, 2014 1:36:46 GMT
It's a free for all. No order whatsoever. We did free for all last year. None of the parents knew where any of the kid gifts came from, so it was a constant "Did this come from you?" "Who does this belong to?" Later my mom thanked me for the nice bird feeder my brother had given her. You are welcome! I kind of dislike the slow pace of one at a time, but I like seeing what everyone gets, and who bought it. I know, I sound ancient. The free for all works because it is just me, my kids, and one set of grands. |
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melanieg
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Post by melanieg on Nov 16, 2014 3:03:58 GMT
Its a free for all and done in about 10 min. It drives me insane. I don't get to see anyone open anything as it is over before you realize. No opportunity to take pictures either. I save all of mine and open them after everyone else is done so I can enjoy each one and thank each person, if they haven't already moved on to something else by then.
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Post by Tamhugh on Nov 16, 2014 3:32:18 GMT
It is a free for all at my parents' and I hate it. Their house is tiny and they squeeze all of the grands and little great nieces and nephews in one room and let them tear through the gifts. No one knows who gave what, which would not be a big deal except that certain older family members expect thank you cards. Forget getting pictures and then my mom is upset because there is none.
At the in-laws, we take turns for the most part. MIL always buys one thing that is identical for all the DILs and for all the older grandsons. She has us open them at the same time if it is the same gift. It is very relaxed and more enjoyable. At our house, on Christmas morning, it is DH, our two grown boys, and me. We usually all take one present at a time and open slowly.
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Post by myboysnme on Nov 16, 2014 3:38:14 GMT
When I was growing up gifts were never wrapped so we all just started in on our own pile of stuff.
I wanted to drag Christmas morning out a bit so my boys each choose a gift and open it, they show what they got then they go to the next gift. This year looks like it will be more sparse in the gift quantity department, so I don't know how it will go.
After they finish their pile of gifts they start handing out the under the tree presents; they're usually for me and DH. Some where along the way someone gets pissed off about something they got or didn't get - last year it was me. My DH will probably have a cold and act like he's dying. I wish I could afford to really go all out with gifts. I like giving big piles of presents.
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Nanner
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Post by Nanner on Nov 16, 2014 3:47:10 GMT
One person puts on the Santa had and sits on the floor beside the tree. When the kids were younger, it alternated, but DD, who is now 28, seems to be the one who plays Santa (when she's home for Christmas) for the past several years. DD hands out the gifts, somewhat in order, so everyone more or less takes turn opening gifts. She stops and opens her own gifts throughout as well.
So sort of a semi-organized mish-mash!
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Post by gmcwife1 on Nov 16, 2014 4:58:38 GMT
It's a free for all. No order whatsoever. Anything else just doesn't seem as much fun and I hate being on the spot, everyone watching while I open gifts is a nightmare. Same here! We are not a controling family and if we opened one gift at a time we'd never get to breakfast!! We have four families with kids and three families that are couples, four bedrooms and two RVs full of family wake up at my mom's house Christmas morning. We do pass out stockings first and then presents. We love the loudness and fun of talking over each other and stopping to look at each other's things without any order  |
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Post by freecharlie on Nov 16, 2014 5:37:00 GMT
That would piss me off to no end, whether it was my child or not. The only way that is even acceptable is if the stepson is older and one of the gifts was very pricey. For instance, if he got a set of Beats that costs $200 and the other kids' piles of gifts cost around $200 total, then acceptable. Otherwise, no.  |
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Post by Basket1lady on Nov 16, 2014 8:24:36 GMT
We open one at a time, youngest to oldest. We have a big family, but only exchange gifts with my parents and brother and of course my immediate family. My sister n law is a huge gift giver, so there is plenty to open. My inlaws decided about 10 years ago to stop exchanging gifts.
We spend Christmas Day at my parent's house and the kids are allowed to open their stockings before church. My parents would take too long to come downstairs and we would be on east cost time. It helped when the kids were little and so anxious to open something--anything! They are teens now and still eat candy for breakfast Christmas morning.
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anniebygaslight
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Post by anniebygaslight on Nov 16, 2014 8:32:56 GMT
We all open ours together.
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Post by lightetc on Nov 16, 2014 11:16:25 GMT
One person puts on the Santa had and sits on the floor beside the tree. When the kids were younger, it alternated, but DD, who is now 28, seems to be the one who plays Santa (when she's home for Christmas) for the past several years. DD hands out the gifts, somewhat in order, so everyone more or less takes turn opening gifts. She stops and opens her own gifts throughout as well. So sort of a semi-organized mish-mash! This is how it works for my family. Our Santa presents were always in a pillow case at the end of our beds though and not wrapped. This left a couple of presents under the tree for everyone, biased towards which ever part of the family were hosting that year (we often had 60 for Christmas... So anyone coming from staying at a different house had already done their "internal" swap). The Santa hat typically went to the youngest willing recipient that could read the tags. Sometimes my cousins and I helped each other. It's not exactly one at a time but a few being unwrapped at once with appropriate ooohing and aahing interspersed as required. |
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Anything else just doesn't seem as much fun and I hate being on the spot, everyone watching while I open gifts is a nightmare. 
