I would like to discuss gifts

zippityb

Another question:

When opening gifts with family, do you take turns opening or is it a free for all?

We take turns. We distribute gifts ahead of time, and then go one-by-one starting the youngest person to the oldest, and then go again in rounds. It was always a contest to see who had the most presents and stayed in the "game" the longest.

H's family just opens everything all at once, and I don't like that, because I like to see what everyone gets.

chirpchirp

Where do you hide your H/FI/dog/cat's presents? At my office
Do you know where your H/FI/dog/cats hide your presents? Not sure- he's really good at hiding them though because I've never been able to find them and I've certainly been looking.
If so, do you sneak peeks? I try to!
How long do you keep your presents for others unwrapped before wrapping them? Not very long but for some reason I always end up with a bunch to wrap on Christmas Eve. 
Do you have a designated wrapping room? The bedroom
Do you have a wrapping paper theme? No- it's usually pretty homey though, dark reds and ivory.  I don't usually use the sparkly kind or cartoons unless it's for kids. 
Have you ever played Parappa the Rapper? Can't say I have.

ETA: Santa's gifts always came wrapped but with different wrapping paper and my mom used different hand writing when putting the names on the tags.  We all open them together, but one person plays "Santa" (like in the Christmas Story) and distributes throughout the unwrapping process. 

anna.oskar

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_would-like-discuss-gifts?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:43925fa7-86f9-4dc8-a11a-581b7da0bfacPost:7457bec6-bd1e-4aa6-a31c-6c24821d662f">Re: I would like to discuss gifts</a>:
[QUOTE]Another question: When opening gifts with family, do you take turns opening or is it a free for all? We take turns. We distribute gifts ahead of time, and then go one-by-one starting the youngest person to the oldest, and then go again in rounds. It was always a contest to see who had the most presents and stayed in the "game" the longest. H's family just opens everything all at once, and I don't like that, because I like to see what everyone gets.
Posted by zippityb[/QUOTE]

We do it the same way but it gets really, really old when the whole huge family is together.  H's family does a free for all which i like since then all eyes aren't on me at some point

neelynicole

Where do you hide your H/FI/dog/cat's presents?
Depending on how big it is, usually in the cabinets above my vanity. If it's really big, I just wrap it right away and put it out. 

Do you know where your H/FI/dog/cats hide your presents?
Not a clue. There are certain parts of the house that I rarely go into, so I'm sure they're around those areas somewhere. 

If so, do you sneak peeks?
Never have. FI gets so giddy about gifts that I make sure to stay away from any areas where they might be. I wouldn't want to accidentally stumble onto them and ruin the surprise for him. 

How long do you keep your presents for others unwrapped before wrapping them?
I try to get most of them wrapped within a few days of buying them. That way anyone finds one of my hidey-holes, it's still all secret. 

Do you have a designated wrapping room?
If it's gifts for FI, the media room. I just tell him I'm wrapping gifts and he's not allowed to come near there 'til I say so. For other people, I usually end up in the living room. 

Do you have a wrapping paper theme?
Only in the sense that I have two tubs of holiday papers, one Hanukkah themed, one Christmas themed. 

Have you ever played Parappa the Rapper?
That's a negative, Ghostrider. Never even heard of that.



Edit - Re: finding out about Santa
I was about 4 when I figured it out. All because I knew my mom's handwriting so well. And Santa presents were always wrapped, but with the special "Santa paper".

Chi_Chi

Where do you hide your H/FI/dog/cat's presents?
Usually at my moms or somewhere in my car. He's very snoopy and doesn't like to wait.
Do you know where your H/FI/dog/cats hide your presents?
My moms or his moms.
If so, do you sneak peeks?
No. I love surprises.
How long do you keep your presents for others unwrapped before wrapping them?
I usually buy and wrap mine on the weekends. J is usually gone, so I have free time. If I ordered something, I'll wait until he's gone. Nosy fuucker!
Do you have a designated wrapping room?
My living room floor.
Do you have a wrapping paper theme?
I have a wrapping paper problem. Right now I probably have 10 rolls of wrapping paper to use.
Have you ever played Parappa the Rapper?
No.

Other questions:
Santa is still real in my heart. Santa still leaves presents for me at my moms house. And he always wraps his. His presents are always in front of the tree, not under it.

And we usually pass out presents and open then at the same time. We'll each kinda stop to see what someone else is opening.

SCBojangles1138

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_would-like-discuss-gifts?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:43925fa7-86f9-4dc8-a11a-581b7da0bfacPost:8dcc4939-1329-4030-9430-2374b3e7e73a">Re: I would like to discuss gifts</a>:
[QUOTE]Also, (POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT!!) when and how did you find out that Santa wasn't real? I was about 7 or 8 and I saw my parents setting up all of the "Santa presents" under the tree.
Posted by zippityb[/QUOTE]

I had my sucspicons (sp?) but I knew it was for real when I got up on Christmas Eve to get glass of water and I heard Mom typing on her typewriter. On Christmas morning we had a typed thank you note from Santa for leaving him milk and cookies.

Also we open them one at a time. I like it because I can see the reactions of my family when they open the gifts from me. And at my maternal grandma's house we still do it 1) because there's 2 branches of the family who almost never get to come home for xmas so they send gifts and we take lots of pictures and 2) if we didn't we'd have way too much free time to stare at each other awkwardly (we're not real close)

Wrkn925

jcb, we do the White Elephant thing.  We've done it for about 6 years now.  I LOVE It.  It's so fun going out shopping for it.

You spend $10-$15, and buy a gift that you think the majority of the family will like.  People always end up fighting over one or two gifts. (Good-natured fighting...)

I found a pizza stone and a pizza cutter at a kitchen surplus store here.  That's what I'm taking this year.  Shh... it's a secret!

zippityb

People who leave gifts in their car: when H and I were still dating, he had some Christmas gifts for me in the back seat of his truck "hidden" for several weeks and when we were out one night, he decided to hand them over to his sister so she could keep them hidden at their place (they were roommates). Well, later that night, his truck was broken into in front of my house and they stole his ipod and wallet. Had he not given my presents to his sister earlier, they would have gotten all of my Christmas presents too!

And no, he no longer keeps his wallet or ipod in his vehicle.

Chi_Chi

Wow Zip. Bet he was glad he gave them to his sister. Some people really should give this thing called life a shot. They might be surprised.

zippityb

The cops think it was probably kids. They eventually found his wallet in a ditch near the neighborhood.

slubkin

Where do you hide your H/FI/dog/cat's presents?  Somewhere he won't look... like with the cleaning products.  :P

Do you know where your H/FI/dog/cats hide your presents?  What presents?  On the rare occasion he actually manages to get me one, no I don't know where he puts them.

If so, do you sneak peeks? N/A

How long do you keep your presents for others unwrapped before wrapping them?  Depends. I like to do all my wrapping at once.

Do you have a designated wrapping room?  Nope, I use the dining table.

Do you have a wrapping paper theme?  Usually gold to match my ornaments. 

Have you ever played Parappa the Rapper?  No.  But that just made me think of MC Peepants.