Do you open presents Christmas Eve or Day. If you celebrate at all.

[Dunkopf]

If you exchange gifts for Christmas. Do you do it Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?

My family always did it Christmas Eve. My Dad loved to go to Midnight Mass, so we opened gifts about 8pm when my Dad got home from work. My Grandma would take us in the bedroom and say that Santa was coming. Then my Dad would come in and act like Santa and they would put the presents out with 3 unwrapped ones from Santa. Then we had to get dresses in our new clothes and go to church.

It made it much easier to sleep on Christmas Eve and my parents got to sleep in on Christmas morning.

With our children we always celebrate on Christmas morning with a traditional breakfast from my DW's side. Then we open gifts and the house is trashed for 2 hours till I get all the trash out to the garage. Then it's time to take the tree down and eat dinner. Then it's off to bed and another Christmas thankfully over and done with.

 

[Louieandthecrew]

We usually celebrate on Christmas morning with my family, then Christmas evening with the whole family, parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. But, when my parents got a divorce we started celebrating with my father on Christmas morning and mother that afternoon and I guess it just stayed like that

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

For the past few years my oldest son will go to his DW's family on Christmas Eve, the rest of us will go to my sister's. Then when oldest son is done at in laws he and his DW will come spend the night here so that all of our kids will be here Christmas morning to open gifts and celebrate.

 

[BlackBart]

Day.
I get everything ready the night before, Christmas Day we open the gifts then I put the turkey in the oven and we all go for a horseback ride.

 

[herefordlovinglady]

growing up we always did Christmas Eve for presents. We would wake up to Santa on Christmas Morning.

Now we go to my folks on Christmas Eve, do Christmas morning at home and then off to DH's in the afternoon.


No children to do Santa with Christmas morning.

 

[woodmort]

My granddaughter's parents are separated so she spends Christmas Eve with her dad and then she and my daughter come here Christmas Day. Since they live 2.5 hrs away we have to wait until they get here to open presents. This drives my poor grandson nuts as they spend Christmas Eve here. Fortunately, now that he's 12 it is easier to explain to him. Also, the paternal side of his family live in the UK so they open the presents that come from there when they first get up. That helps.

 

[Karrie13]

My DH's family always opened their gifts on Christmas eve and santa's gifts on Christmas morning. My family always opened gifts at like 2:00 in the morning... that was because that was when dad got home from work. We would open gifts and see what santa brought. Once all the gifts were done mom and dad would go to bed and we would visit both sides of grandparents on christmas afternoon.

Now in my house we will sometimes open one gift on Christmas eve but mostly we do everything in the morning.