Open Presents Before or After Dinner?

SteJer · 18-12-2017 11:45pm #1

Do you open presents first thing in the morning, wait until after dinner or open some before and after dinner?

Carrie6OD · 18-12-2017 11:49pm

SteJer wrote: »

Do you open presents first thing in the morning, wait until after dinner or open some before and after dinner?

After. Always!

Zaph · 18-12-2017 11:50pm

First thing in the morning. Making people wait until after dinner is just cruel!

ednwireland · 18-12-2017 11:50pm

Christmas eve

heroics · 18-12-2017 11:52pm

Wait what!! I’ve never heard of waiting till after dinner to open presents. Everyone I know does it first thing in the morning

quadrifoglio verde · 18-12-2017 11:53pm

First thing in the morning as we always have since we were Nipper's.
My mams a nurse so none of us will be allowed open anything until she gets home on Christmas morning.

duffman13 · 18-12-2017 11:54pm

You meant breakfast yeah? How cruel would it be to wait till after dinner

Posy · 19-12-2017 12:30am

Before dinner!!

I did open mine after dinner once, but that was because the day's cooking schedule ran over due to me accidentally having a glorious lie in.

Loughc · 19-12-2017 1:15am

Before dinner that morning for me

Yawns · 19-12-2017 1:24am

Be lucky to get the kids to wait til I get down the stairs before they open anything!

But yeah, first thing in the morning, let them have at it. Then it's a big breakfast that will fill us til dinner time. At least it's the one morning you're guaranteed to be able to cook anything in peace in the kitchen without a little helper tripping you up

dartboardio · 19-12-2017 1:37am

Before breakfast even! We don't do dinner until between 4 and 6

I'm only nineteen so can't speak for a family I've actually formed but in my family we all wake up between 8-11 open presents, tea, coffee, chocolate, maybe a light breakfast, then chill around the house for the day. Friends visit.

Passenger · 19-12-2017 1:44am

Often exchange gifts on Christmas Eve night when everybody is relaxing. Otherwise on the day itself before dinner.

dartboardio · 19-12-2017 1:52am

Passenger wrote: »

Often exchange gifts on Christmas Eve night when everybody is relaxing. Otherwise on the day itself before dinner.

We open one present each on Christmas eve, the rest Christmas morning

Passenger · 19-12-2017 1:56am

dartboardio wrote: »

We open one present each on Christmas eve, the rest Christmas morning

Everyone is getting more than one gift?? :eek:

tickingclock · 19-12-2017 1:58am

First thing in the morning with my own family and then after dinner in my folks house!

sjoyce87 · 19-12-2017 2:00am

Down the stairs and straight into the sitting room to open presents

Nodster · 19-12-2017 2:14am

Boxing Day

......nah, just the two of us, so our own just after midnight and save the rest for Christmas morning

G_R · 19-12-2017 9:27am

We open all of them straight away as soon as we get up, except for the extended family kris kindle - that happens after dinner, before desert. We have it planned to a t!

Carrie6OD · 19-12-2017 10:59am

This is a revelation... We have always opened presents after dinner!! Before dessert, but as a welcome intermission to the feeding frenzy. Santa presents are opened in the morning of course but under the tree ones must wait. I’m all for delayed gratification. I had no idea that my family were indeed the odd ones out in this regard!

Malari · 19-12-2017 12:29pm

Gradually, throughout the day!

SusieBlue · 19-12-2017 12:40pm

I couldn't imagine waiting till after dinner. We normally rise at around 8am and don't have dinner till 6ish, I couldn't sit there for the day staring at the pile of presents, waiting to open them!

I have relatives with young kids who insist on eating breakfast and being dressed before opening presents. The mum will do full hair and make up, the kids bathed and dressed, and then they'll go downstairs and have breakfast. Their kids are 3 and 5 and the breakfast is always a rushed, tense affair because the kids just want to see what Santa brought and have no interest in the food. The mums reasoning is that she wants the kids looking nice for pics.
Wouldn't be a fan doing things their way, personally.

DvB · 19-12-2017 1:40pm

Since I was old enough to understand what was going on we have opened ours as early as we were allowed get down the stairs by our parents, pretty much everything is opened straight away. Thats carried over to our two now as well. Then its the mother of all brekkies, a clean up & into the dinner prep!

Even when people arrive later in the day the kids will open their presents from relatives straight away, theres no hanging about in our family, never has been & never will be I suspect.

enda1 · 19-12-2017 4:34pm

In the morning! And we even still go down the stairs together, youngest leading. (and she's 28!)

freshpopcorn · 19-12-2017 4:52pm

Up until last year we opened presents as we got them. Last year was the first year we waited until Christmas day and we opened them in the morning.

miamee · 19-12-2017 6:04pm

Used to be before breakfast but now we're all grown up and potentially arriving at my parent's house at different times, we wait til after breakfast and then exchange them. After dinner would be a long wait

jellybear · 19-12-2017 10:31pm

Going completely against tradition here- we open ours on Christmas eve!

As I'm the youngest (nearly 29!) it made sense over the last few years as we all get a nice lie on on Christmas morning

OldMrBrennan83 · 19-12-2017 10:32pm

This post has been deleted.

StripedBoxers · 20-12-2017 12:01am

Before, always before. Usually first thing in the morning.

When I was a kid and we went to my relatives, we'd all get up super early, open everything, then have a mid-morning nap and be full of energy for the rest of the day

It was great.

The best one was my younger cousin pacing the floors because Santa was bringing him an Xbox (or some console) and he couldn't sleep with excitement. He eventually fell asleep for about two hours and were up aroud 5am that time, back in bed by 7 and up again around 10!

kurtainsider · 20-12-2017 12:17am

Our kids are forbidden to come downstairs until 6.00am on Christmas morning to open their presents. There is always a charge on the dot of 6.

Dial Hard · 20-12-2017 12:51am

Santa presents - as soon as I get up. I still walk into the sitting room with my back to the tree, turn around with my eyes closed and then open them. I'm 35 years of age...

I give my folks their presents from me as soon as they're both up.

Sibs Kris Kindle and nieces/nephews presents - as soon as we're all there which is always before dinner. My dad also gives us our presents from him and mum then, even though they (obviously!) bought the Santa ones too. We just always got a gift from them as well as from Santa when we were kids and that tradition has survived.

I can't wait! And this is the first year in ages I've looked forward to Christmas; my marriage broke up around this time a few years back so I spent a while dreading it, but this year I'm like "YAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

CheerLouth · 20-12-2017 12:45pm

Tear into them as soon as we get up! This year, our little girl is three & will have a proper appreciation of Santy & she has someone to share it with this year (her little bro) so am expecting a big rush on the presents!

Who has the self control to wait until after dinner?! We are not that civilised in our house! :P

Open Presents Before or After Dinner?

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"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year" - Charles Dickens