# Open Presents Christmas Eve or Morning? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 13, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035 "2010-12-13T21:40:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/41 "2010-12-14T04:35:16Z")
This is what we do: On the evening of Solstice, we exchange gifts and those gifts are books. On Christmas Eve, the kids open one present, which is pajamas. On Christmas morning, the kids wake up to the gifts from Santa, under the tree (no wrapping!) Then, they come and jump on our bed and we open all the other gifts. Growing up, we were allowed to open up one small gift on Christmas Eve, Santa presents in the morning, other gifts after breakfast. I grew up in Maryland in a “culturally Christian” but non-religious family. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/42 "2010-12-14T06:22:16Z")
I have to object to the “I’m not Christian” option, because it’s no excuse. I was raised Jewish, my partner was raised Muslim, and we’re both atheists. We have a wonderful tree and exchange gifts. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/43 "2010-12-14T06:28:38Z")
I grew up with my Polish family’s traditions, so the main event was on Christmas Eve for us. All presents were opened then, the big extended family party was on the Eve, we didn’t eat meat that day, etc… I’ve never opened any presents on Christmas Day. We would also get a smaller gift on St. Nick’s day (December 6.) ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/44 "2010-12-14T06:49:23Z")
For the past several years, half Christmas Eve, and the other half Christmas morning. However, as a kid in Illinois, we only opened one gift Christmas Eve (I think to shut us up and calm us down) and the rest Christmas morning. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/45 "2010-12-14T11:09:17Z")
British Here, and _of course_, you open everything on Christmas morning. Christmas Eve and Santa is still packing up his sleigh. We haven’t put a glass of sherry and a mince pie out for him (and a carrot for Rudolph) _or_ hung up our stocking yet. What’s more, my mother told me there was no point trying to stay awake for him because he visited all the children in all the hospitals in the world first. There were no presents under the tree from Mum and Dad, because they had to pay Santa. Christmas Eve presents is a strange foreign custom, operated by Germans and the like. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/46 "2010-12-14T13:19:02Z")
What **Scougs** said. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/47 "2010-12-14T13:38:54Z")
One present Christmas eve which was always Christmas pajamas so the pictures looked good the next day. Stockings were left on the foot of the bed and we could open and play with anything inside until our parents woke up. Quietly was preferred but reality was the noise level slowly rose until they were forced out of bed. Presents were opened at home Christmas morning and then the order of grandparents was different every year. After my parents divorced we threw out the calendar and decided it was Christmas morning when we said it was, same went for birthdays. This served me well after my divorce as I was much less stressed on the years when I didn’t have the kids for Christmas morning. ---
**Author:** ![Liki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/aca169/32.png) [@Liki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liki)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/48 "2010-12-14T15:03:18Z")
Swede here and the 24th of december is when all the action is over here. I would get a small gift on christmas eve morning. Then the traditional swedish julbord usually between one and three. After lunch the mandatory hour of the Disney Christmas special, as I remember it was the only time of year swedish television showed Disney cartoons so it was a big deal. When Jiminy Cricket had sung the christmas gifts could finally be opened 🙂 More on the strange role that the Disney christmas special has in Scandinavia: [From All of Us to All of You - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalle_Anka_och_hans_v%C3%A4nner_%C3%B6nskar_God_Jul) And the traditional julbord for those who might be interested: [Smörgåsbord - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sm%C3%B6rg%C3%A5sbord) I think my dad is Wesleyan and mom belongs to the church of Sweden so she would be Lutheran I guess, religion was never discussed atleast not around me so never believed in anything. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/49 "2010-12-14T15:15:18Z")
> [@carm](#): > > How do you open Santa’s presents on Christmas Eve? You don’t. You open your presents from your aunts and uncles and grandparents and siblings and parents. And I already told you, Santa doesn’t even wrap presents. He opens them and sets them up for you. > [@SanVito](#): > > There were no presents under the tree from Mum and Dad Oh. I think I see your problem. Your parents didn’t love you. You should have worked harder. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/50 "2010-12-14T16:29:31Z")
I was raised in a household where we did the evening openings. That changed after I got married. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/51 "2010-12-14T16:39:16Z")
Growing up, we were all allowed to open ONE present on Christmas Eve - one from a sibling. The rest waited until the morning. And not until AFTER breakfast, which was just an added bit of parental cruelty. This is the way we did it, therefore it is The One Only True Correct Way Of Doing Things. :). Now that we’re a mixed household - one lapsed Jew and one lapsed Catholic - we do Hanukkah gifts during the 8 evenings, and Christmas gifts on 12/25 only. If Hanukkah happens to overlap 12/25, we tell the kids they got that evening’s gift early. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/52 "2010-12-14T16:42:40Z")
Definitely Christmas Eve, as is only right and proper. My husband’s family do the “one gift Xmas Eve, all others Christmas Day,” the philistines. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/53 "2010-12-14T17:08:06Z")
In my mostly non-Christian extended family, no presents are opened on Christmas Eve: we wait until the morning, when everyone (including those visiting for Christmas) can gather together to open the presents together. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/54 "2010-12-14T19:07:32Z")
We always did one on Christmas Eve, but every year my Dad “forgot” that was the tradition and said we had to wait until morning, and we would spend all afternoon of Dec. 24th trying to convince him to let us open one that night. Then he would finally give in, and then we’d go through the whole thing the following year. It was a tradition. New England. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/55 "2010-12-15T02:18:42Z")
> [@](#): > > You heathen you forgot after the stupefyingly huge midday meal on Christmas Day None on Christmas Eve, the ones from Santa, Christmas morning, but all others after lunch, so about 2-3 in the afternoon. I’m in NZ, brought up as Presbyterian, but I don’t think that has much to do with Christmas present opening time. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/56 "2010-12-15T02:26:51Z")
We did all on Christmas morning. My brother and I were allowed to open the stuff in our stockings before Mom and Dad got up, but everything else had to wait. The days of bouncing around waiting for them to wake up so we could open gifts ended sometime in high school. I distinctly remember my parents having to haul me out of bed at noon one year. Last year we didn’t even bother until about 8PM Christmas night. I enjoy Thanksgiving much more than Christmas. Edit: I’m in Maryland. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/57 "2010-12-15T02:58:39Z")
My parents got tired of us all (there were six of us) bouncing off the walls, so they started a tradition of giving each of us a book on Christmas Eve. We would all settle down with the books for the rest of the evening, giving them much needed peace and quiet. The other presents were all opened on Christmas morning. (For some reason, the tradition on Christmas morning was that the youngest kid had the job of handing out the presents - one to each person, opened in age order, youngest to oldest. This continued until the presents ran out.) ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/58 "2010-12-15T03:15:22Z")
Mom always told me to open the pajama present, so I would be wearing those in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![Rahne\_McCloud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@Rahne\_McCloud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rahne_McCloud)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/59 "2010-12-15T04:32:52Z")
As a kid it was 1 present in the evening (usually pjs), all the rest in the morning only after we checked our stockings to see if we got coal and willow switches [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/smilies/frown.gifor](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/smilies/frown.gifor) if it was filled with fruit and toys.[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/smilies/biggrin.gif](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/smilies/biggrin.gif) Willow switches and coal no presents from Santa,[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/smilies/frown.gif](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/smilies/frown.gif) just family, toys and fruit, Santa and family.[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/smilies/biggrin.gif](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/smilies/biggrin.gif) Only one year did we get the willow switches and coal [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/smilies/eek.gif](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/smilies/eek.gif) and we cried for 4 hours [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/smilies/frown.gif](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/smilies/frown.gif) until my older sister and dad came to lure us down stairs with the promise that there were gifts under the tree [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/smilies/dubious.gif](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/smilies/dubious.gif). My 2 younger sisters and myself remember it well, I was 11, and my sisters were 6 and 4 we can now laugh about it.[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/smilies/biggrin.gif](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/smilies/biggrin.gif) Now it depends on if Christmas falls on the weekend we open on Christmas Day, Czarcasm works days Mon.- Fri. even on holidays, so if it falls on the weekday we open at night. New England, Episcopalian ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035/60 "2010-12-15T05:35:03Z")
This almost cost us our marriage the first year. My wife is from a very German Catholic family from Milwaukee and they opened everything on Christmas Eve. I’m a presbyterian Swede from Indiana and anything opened before Christmas morning was sacrilegious. We finally settled on one or two on the Eve and most on the real morning. I’m still not happy about it, but I do like remaining married. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-presents-christmas-eve-or-morning/564035.md?page=4)