In my family it is traditionally on Christmas morning, though we occasionally decide to have a réveillon on Christmas Eve and open them at midnight (though sometimes only a few…).
Now, though, we need to accommodate the in-laws, so we have (tentatively) the 23rd at with my husband’s mother’s family, the 24th with my husband’s dad, the 25th morning with my immediate family and 25th evening with my extended family.
Like Mean Old Lady, we always wheedled to open JUST ONE on Christmas Eve, (Hey, all the other kids got to do it!) but my dad stood firm–Christmas presents are meant to be opened Christmas day. Lately I find myself channeling my old man (RIP) on December 24, standing firm against those who want to open JUST ONE on Christmas Eve. If it was good enough for Dad . . .
West coast Catholic: We opened all of our presents Christmas Eve and opened “Santa’s” in the morning.
But as long as I can remember my parents were divorced so I had to go to my other Grandma’s house in the morning, so that probably had something to do with it.
I’m in the US, but I echo all of this.
Although, when I was a kid, Christmas Eve was the get-together with my dad’s side of the family, so those presents were opened then. But mostly, Christmas morning was for opening presents (and Christmas afternoon/evening for playing with them).
Baby Jesus, not yet being born, is in no position to demand anything.
Raised in Florida, Cuban Grandparents on moms side. Always Christmas Eve and it was a BIG deal. It took hours to open all the presents (only one at a time, so everyone could ooh and ahh). Then a huge meal. Christmas day was for playing with new toys.
Eggzacktly.
Growing up we always went to my Granny’s house on Christmas Eve and opened the presents from them (plus my two uncles’ families). Then we’d come home, have our family Christmas Eve Candlelight tradition (tell jokes, sing carols & songs, eat cookes, and finally read the Bible story). Then we’d beg and beg and beg to open one present. Of course, since we’d just opened presents at Granny’s, mom always said no.
Christmas morning was for presents from my parents, from Santa, and from any out-of-town family that sent us gifts.
I hate hate hate the way I have to do things now with my daughter. We still go to Granny’s on Christmas Eve, which I love because I’ve always done it, but then my parents want us to come over so we can do Christmas with them (and my siblings). I understand, because they want to see her open the presents (and this year they will have 2 grandchildren!). It’s also a lot of fun and a long, drawn-out process, and I love it. But now my daughter has had 2 rounds of presents, and might fall asleep on the way home so we don’t get to read the Christmas story.
Christmas morning she opens the presents from us (we don’t do Santa), and then noon-ish we go to my in-laws to get their presents (and the presents from her aunts on that side) and do dinner. She gets 4 total present times, which I think is crazy. Plus Christmas morning she really doesn’t have a whole lot of presents, since it’s just from us, and we are one of those crazy families who don’t go all-out for Christmas (it’s not like she doesn’t get stuff all throughout the year!). Oh well, gotta keep everyone happy!
We exchanged gifts and opened presents on Christmas Eve, then came into the living room on Christmas morning to find what “Santa” had brought us. My brother and I are grown, but my mom still did this the last time we had Christmas at their house, because I think its cute.
Santa and the reindeer don’t arrive until after we go to bed Christmas Eve.
So, how could we possibly open anything until Christmas Morning?
Born and raised in the U.S. South
Southern Baptist
Ditto, almost exactly. I was raised lapsed Catholic* in California. It was explained to me that the Dec. 24th present-opening was originally after Midnight Mass, but when we stopped going to mass in the 1960s we moved the present-opening up.
*Catholic grandparents, lapsed Catholics in the next generation, and then unidentified me. The other parent was an ex-JW, so no Christmas traditions to bring to the party.
The way we do Christmas is that if we started opening Christmas Eve, we’d still be doing it at 6 am. We randomly select one small present for the kids (now in their 20’s, but it’s tradition) to open Christmas Eve, and the rest on Christmas Day, along with a set menu of meals and snacks that have made hobbits say we were going overboard.
You forgot opening one present each after Midnight Mass, and then being shuffled off to bed before Santa showed up. (The presents to choose from were designedly uninteresting. Oh, boy, socks! Good night, Mom. Good night, Dad.)
Christmas morning. I grew up with no stockings, no church, and precious little of Santa. Hell, Mom didn’t wrap most of the gifts until Christmas Eve, after we kids were in bed.
I don’t even understand you people that say you “open presents” on Christmas morning. How can you open them? Santa doesn’t even wrap presents! He just puts your new bike in the living room and then sets up your sister’s train set before placing your brother’s toys all over the place. That way, when you walk into the living room, the train is chugging along, your bike sparkles in the snow-reflected morning sunlight, and the toy helicopter is poised to airlift GI Joes from the coffee table.
Duh.
I remember the first time I told my parents to tell Santa to not put all the hundreds of decals on my toys anymore. I wanted to do it by myself 'cause I was a big boy. I still can’t figure out why my parents high-fived each other and did a happy dance. 
People who open presents on Christmas Eve are…lesser beings.
Raised Episcopalian in the midwest. Currently atheist.
Growing up, we lived most of the way across the state from the rest of the family, so it depended on the weather and travel - sometimes Christmas Eve, sometimes Christmas Day, sometimes Boxing Day.
Now, my brother and I live in the same area, and my parents come up on Christmas Eve. They start at our place around lunch time, we open presents with them, and then they head over to my brother’s to spend the night and to be there for the early morning stockings and grand-kiddie stuff. DH and I usually open presents together sometime after they leave on Christmas Eve. We go over to Bro’s on Christmas Day for brunch and presents with Bro’s family.
So I voted Christmas Eve, but I guess it’s a little of both.
Must be a regional thing because that’s my background and we did pretty much the same. The only difference was that we three kids exchanged our gifts to each other on Christmas Eve. Which was probably a good idea because let’s face it, we were kids - the gifts we were buying were going to be totally outclassed by what our parents bought us.
But now it’s all Christmas morning.
How do you open Santa’s presents on Christmas Eve?
It’s always been Christmas morning for me, and I can’t imagine it any other way. Then spend Christmas day and Steven’s Day visiting family, more presents, but Christmas Eve presents just seem wrong.
You heathen. The ones that are under the tree on xmas eve, you open on xmas eve, with a roaring fire in the fireplace. On xmas day you get to open what Santa left.
There have been children who wondered how Santa could get down the chimney–granted, the fire would be out by then, but it might still be hot. It’s important to point out here that santa is AN ELF, and a right jolly one, and he can do what he wants. The reindeer are also notably TINY so they won’t break your roof.