One tradition my husband introduced to my family when we married 42 years ago has become a custom of all of my sibling's families also. I would like to share it with you.
At Christmas, my family used to tear in to our packages all at one time and in 15 minutes all of the excitement and fun was over. No one knew what anyone else got or what they thought of the gifts we gave each other. While my husband's family opened one package at a time youngest through the oldest. Everyone enjoyed seeing reactions and everyone was able to properly thank those who gave them their gifts.
The older grandchildren read the tags and the little ones help pass out the packages. A parent of each family is handed a large trash sack and they keep their trash picked up as we go. My husband and I are the oldies of the family now and we let our youngest grandchildren help us open ours. We enjoy it as much as they do.
When all of the packages are opened, Presto! no cleanup, no parts to toys lost, and we have enjoyed great family time opening gifts for a couple of hours or more.
A hint I read this year, is to make a picture of the recipient for gift tags and write who it is from on the back. This way if little ones are handing out packages they will know who the gift is for and what child doesn't like to see him or herself in a picture? Take it a step farther and put a picture of the child and one of you if the package is from you.
By latrtatr from Loup City, NE
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We also took turns at opening one parcel at a time. This prolonged the excitement and allowed everyone to share anticipation.
We pull names from Santa's hat. The person who last opened a gift pulls the name from the hat for the next person to open their gift. The names are put back into the hat till all the gifts are opened.
My family has done this for over 40 years. I like the idea of using a photo as a gift card. We also take a picture of the recipient with the gift.
I think that's a lovely idea!
This is a great idea. We have new grandchildren coming to xmas so we will try this next xmas.
I love it, it so works!
This isn't fair to the oldest child... forever. As they get older their spouses/ gf feels awkward and put on blast for being older. This one needs to be retired. Know your audience.
As a mother and an oldest child, I disagree with it being unfair. It is hardest for the smallest children to wait and it is good for the older children to model more mature behavior.
Agree! That was the great fun of Christmas morning - finding your section of gifts under the tree and opening them without having the excitement of the big day monitored.
We've done this "youngest first" all our lives - my folks did it first when my brothers and I were kids, and we carried on the tradition when we had our own families. We still do it to this day, and our youngest is 50 years old (we have no grandkids), and my husband, the oldest of the group, is 84. It's never made anyone of us feel "awkward" in any way. New spouses all enjoyed the system, and all our nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and great-nephews enjoyed it as well.
This is absolutely the most enjoyable way to spend time with family. Not everyone appreciates the joy of the process. Hopefully, more and more will replace "feeding time at the piranha tank" with this beautiful tradition.
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