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We did all of our gifts on Christmas Day, but we always opened a gift on Christmas Eve to quell our excitement as kids. Perhaps you could compromise this way?
We always got 1 gift to open on Christmas eve - and it was always our new christmas pj's! :) We actually still carry this on as adults - every year, a couple takes turns picking out cheeky matching pj's for everyone to wear. We are SUCH dorks! :P
When you have kids, can you compromise and open the gifts from grandparents, aunts/uncles, etc. on Christmas eve & then open all the goodies left by Santa in the morning?
I don't know any kids (or grownups, for that matter) who wouldn't want to get gifts 2 days in a row!
FI family does it on Christmas Eve, then Santa comes Christmas day and just sets presents out unwrapped, but we have always done them all on Christmas day, and they are all wrapped.
My husband's family is Polish so their big family dinner and present opening is Christmas Eve AND his parents do a "normal" Christmas morning. In my family we would each open one present on Christmas Eve and then the rest in the morning.
So this year we'll do Wigilia (Christmas Eve) at his aunt's, exchange our own presents at home Christmas morning, then go to his parents' (fortunately this is all in town) before heading 100 miles south to spend the rest of Christmas day and night with my mom and then going another 2 hours on Saturday to spend the weekend with my dad in Breckenridge.
It's certainly do-able and I love seeing everyone but we're really hoping that next year we can host everyone!
Growing up it alternated depending on Church and family gathering schedules. My FH, me and FH's brother will be doing ours today!!! Mostly because FH and I like to open each others gifts on our own, and his brother is in town visiting this week. We will do most of FH's family on Christmas Eve. My family on Christmas, and the rest of FH's family two days after Christmas.
We've always done Christmas morning, but since we're blending our families it's looking like we're starting our own tradition of giving each other one gift on the 23rd since we'll do his family Christmas Eve, and mine Christmas day. *Phew!*
Both! We've always done Christmas Eve with extended family (and exchanged gifts with them) and then Christmas Day was gifts from immediate family (and Santa)! I like that it spreads it out over both days. My FI family has always done everything Christmas Day except for getting to open one on Christmas Eve.
We always open ours on Christmas morning, but while we're at the 4:30 mass, Santa leaves one present for the family to let us know that we're on the good list, and we open that together after dinner. It's always a new Christmas story, and the we read a few of our old favorites.
The in-laws also do Christmas morning: the big difference is that we open stockings first thing, and they open stockings last...
My family opened all presents on Christmas morning. My husband's family opened presents from relatives on Christmas Eve and presents from Santa on Christmas morning. When we have kids, we'll probably continue on his family's tradition. Right now, though, we each open up a couple gifts and then save the rest for Christmas morning.
Both! We have Christmas Eve at my grandmother's where we open presents with family members we're not going to see on Christmas. Then Christmas morning, we open presents with my parents and sister.
Christmas Day we open presents with FI's family. The funny thing is, when I first started dating FI, they didn't even do presents...they would just all exchange cash. It was the weirdest thing, IMO.
We celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve at my Moms house. She has a nice dinner and we all open presents. Christmas Morning my hubby and I exchange and then we go to his familys house for Christmas and then My Dads house after that! So we get presents all Christmas Eve and Christmas. When we have kids we will celebrate ours with Santa on Christmas Morning. YOu could still do that with your kids and not travel back the 2 hours that night and have your own tradition. Alot of things change as we all grow up and have kids!
@MissMeepsie!-We do Pajama's every Christmas Eve too!! And we are all adults now! lol. I look forward to getting my cute comfy PJ's every year!
We always just had Christmas with our immediate family and did presents on Christmas Eve. Here's a little traditional timeline that hasn't changed much over the last 25 years.
5:00 Church
6:30 Home from church, mom yells at us not to take off our dress clothes so we can take pictures first. Frantically take pictures.
6:35 Scramble to our rooms to change into pjs. Harrass the last person done changing until they get their butt into the living room where the tree is.
6:36 Split up the presents, Mom takes a picture of us with our butts in the air digging for gifts under the tree. Freak out because one person's pile is the biggest.
6:37 Freak out while mom makes us help make appetizers to eat while we open gifts.
7:00 Finally :) open gifts, taking turns so we stretch it out.
I know that's kind of long, but that is seriously how it goes every year. It sounds bad, but its very good-natured and humorous. And none of the piles are that big anyway, its more of the tradition than anything.
Growing up we always did one present on Christmas Eve and the rst Christmas morning. FI and I still contiue to use this tradition:)
This is a cute thread. Things have changed drastically over the years. When I was a kid we always went to my Aunt's house (the Italian side) & did the whole Christmas Eve fish thing (ick), most of my relatives on my Dad's side are gone now so we don't do it. Christmas morning was always stocking before church to hold us over and then presents when everyone came over my parents house.
NOW… forget it. Christmas eve at FI's Aunt's (FMIL's side) - followed by all our friends headed to a local bar for a while, Christmas morning is always just FI & I. Then we head to my parents around 2p for Christmas afternoon/dinner & then we drive out to FI's cousins in LI around 5-6pm for (FFIL's side) & stay there the rest of the night. LI is fun because they all still have little kids. Christmas is always better with little kids.
We have always done all of our presents on Christmas morning. A friend of mine's family opens 1 present each on Christmas Eve and it's always pajamas. I think little traditions like that are fun.
FIs family opens all of their gifts on Christmas Eve.
If our parents lived closer it would work out great since we could participate in both but they are about 4 hours drive apart.
Both! Christmas Eve is for immediate family presents....like, from us to his mom, us to his sister and brother, our nieces and nephews, etc. Christmas day will be just me and Dh opening presents. On Christmas day it's aunts, uncles, cousins, gparents, etc, so it gets awkward if you only do partial presents like we did last year. There's always one or two people who only get one present and feel left out.
We have always done our big celebration on Christmas eve - it sounds odd, but it is a family tradition since my mom was a kid, but we have a big seafood feast Christmas eve (lobster, crab, shrimp, scallops, and lots of wine and dessert), followed by opening presents, and then we head out to midnight mass.
FH's family also does Christmas eve, but it is more low-key (hor d'oeuvres, and presents) so we usually do Christmas eve with my fam, and Christmas day with his)
Both for us... Christmas eve we exchange gifts with FI's parents and extended family. Christmas we exchange gifts with each other and my parents. When I was little, we always used to do the "open one gift" on Christmas eve thing... and now FI and I usually do that too :)
We got together and exchanged gifts with my mom's family on Christmas Eve, but the big present opening was done Christmas morning.
My family does all our presents on Christmas Day. However, because I'm with my ILs this year for Christmas Eve/morning, we're doing presents with my family on the 26th.
We always do Christmas Eve at Grandma's. There we eat, than go to a church service, than open presents from them and aunts and uncles. Christmas morning was always presents between my parents and sisters and myself, followed by a brunch.
This won't change except the brunch will be later because hubs and I will do our own thing in the morning.
My family always opens Christmas morning and his always opened Christmas Eve.
Christmas morning, bright and early. We have a running joke about sneaking presents on Christmas Eve, though.
I was just going to ask this question yesterday. I was wondering the same thing.
My family always did all the gifts on christmas.
DH's family always did one small gift on christmas eve and the rest on christmas.
As for dinner, my family did christmas dinner and his family likes to do christmas eve dinner and christmas. Well, since we both have to work on christmas eve... looks like we will be having only christmas dinner.
My family does Christmas Eve. Last year my (now) husband and I did Christmas afternoon because we had spent Christmas Eve night at my brothers so we could watch my nieces open presents Christmas morning. And we forgot to bring ours. This year, we'll probably do Christmas morning but I might try to convince him to open Christmas Eve!
When I was younger, I would get to open one gift Christmas Eve, but I opened the rest on Christmas morning.
We'd get gifts from my half-sister's side on Christmas Eve, do the family gifts Christmas morning (stockings, "Santa" presents, family presents), and on Boxing Day we do gifts from my mom's side. It's practically Hanukkah style for us! :P
MinMan's family opens gifts late on Christmas Eve. It was actually incredibly painless to figure out what we were going to do about the holiday.
"We go to my grandmother's for an early dinner. Then we go to the Christmas Eve service at seven. We don't open presents until Christmas morning, and then there's the Boxing Day party."
"Oh, well my family opens presents late on Christmas Eve, so we can just drive down right after the service!"
"Awesome. Done."
When my sister and I were younger, we each got to open one small gift on Christmas Eve night cause we just couldn't wait any longer. Then we tore into the rest on Christmas morning.
We both always did x-mas morning and both families open stockings first. I never got a gift on chirstmas eve, but FI's parents did the PJ thing. I like that idea, so I think we'll steal it when we have kids!
We open gifts on Christmas morning. After breakfast. Always have done ever since I was a kid. However I know that it's German tradition to open gifts on Christmas Eve, so what we do is have our big Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve and open gifts on Christmas morning.
The sharing and merging of traditions is tough though, so I totally get where you're coming from on that.
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just curious - does your family do all presents on christmas eve or christmas day?
Growing up we would go to family's on christmas eve for dinner and whatnot - but we NEVER got presents until christmas morning.
DH's family does all of their presents for everyone on christmas eve. This is still new to me even though it's been 3 christmas's now. :P
we were talking about it last night and while it won't be an issue for a few years - I've been thinking about how we will do christmas with our own children...because christmas eve is at his parent's house and christmas DAY everyone comes back there for christmas dinner...
thing is - they live 2 hours away from us and I DON'T want to run back and forth - but I want our children to open presents from santa christmas morning...
I know it's something we'll worry about when the time comes - lol.
But for now - it's still weird to get all my gifts on christmas eve and nothing to open christmas day...
what about all of you?