Blogmas 6; When do we open presents?

Christmas Day. Mostly.

Everybody gets a small stocking on their bed or near their bed. I think last year I got so fed up of waiting for the children (teenagers) to go to sleep that I threatened to put the bl**dy things outside and make them get their own in the morning. But Christmas goodwill prevailed. It might be something small like a lip gloss, or a cd or a joke. Some years the ubiquitous socks make an appearance here and several years a toothbrush and paste popped up. The contents don't change much and usually include something to read, something to eat and something really stupid that nobody knows what to do with but everybody has a fiddle with during the day. Don't ask.

Big Presents are sitting under the Christmas tree in three neat little piles and waiting until the time is right and we make it down. Pyjamas must be worn, often a clean and new for Christmas and we try to space them out nowadays after a few good grab and unwrap as quickly as possible years.  I say Big Presents but as the years go by the size of the present pile has shrunk proportionally as the cost has increased. They may only have two or three small gifts, but value wise they are BIG presents.

I  don't open mine until later on in the day when I'm free to enjoy and fiddle with them. I usually buy my own stocking fillers and have a habit of buying books, accessories and things I would like for myself and wrapping them up as a treat to me. And I send Mr AJ out to the shops to buy me something nice. He enjoys this much more now that the Princess has matured into such a good shopper that she takes him around solely to provide the credit line for her shopping for me as well as paying for the afternoon coffee they need when she's dragged him out.

And then the children (teenagers) have their inbetween presents. Everyday between Christmas and New Year's Eve, Santa delivers a new gift just for them. In the early days these were the overspill presents bought in bulk by doting grannies and over-eager Mum, a way of spacing out their small stocking fillers. The past few years I actually plan these gifts. There might be a book, a craft set, a set of socks, chocolates, a T shirt, or something I know they want but would never see to buy themselves. I try to keep these cheap, a couple of pounds at most, but sometimes I see the thing that is Just Right for one of them and I have to have it. I'm not sure who enjoys them most, the kids or me. Probably me, although the Princess is mad for them, and JW has been known to remind me that they need their presents on the odd occasion I forget to put one out.