How to stop the guessing of wrapped Christmas presents

I wait until everyone goes to bed on Christmas Eve and then put the presents & stockings out.

My kids are ds-20 and dd-24 and I still do this although I usually go to bed before my ds so I put them out before my dh and I go to sleep and make him stay up in his room then I cover their gifts with bedsheets so he cant see when he goes back downstairs.

The day before while kids are out, I take the gifts from attic and bring in my dining room and cover with sheets. Same with stocking gifts.

Now they are older and both in school so cash is mostly requested but still get some surprise and requested gifts. So, OP, I would just put out on Christmas Eve night before you go to bed.
 
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We bought my son a TV for Christmas a few years ago. I removed the TV from the box, covered it with large trash bags and hid it in the basement. I put an Algebra textbook that he needed in the TV box, wrapped it and put it under the tree. He was confident for weeks that he was getting that TV. The look on his face when he opened it on Christmas morning and found the book was priceless (I'm kind of a mean mom). We brought the TV up after everything else was unwrapped.
 
My stepdaughter has become quite a pro at guessing what is wrapped in Christmas presents. This year we are getting her a tv as one of her gifts. Obviously she will guess what it is before Christmas gets here.

I need an idea of how to trick her.... ?? Either in the way we wrap it or should I wrap something else and trick her?
One Christmas morning my mom said STOP! All nametags that say “ mike” are really for “ sue” and all nametags that say “ sue” are for “ Jenny” and all that say “ Jenny” are for “ mike”
 


Alternately, don't put names on presents. Instead, buy one roll of paper for each family member -- all different -- and only you know whose gifts are in snowman paper vs. whose gifts are in red-with-snowflakes.

I tried that strategy once, and came down Xmas morning to find every single present unwrapped by my DS. When I lost it, he said, "Well, how was I to know which ones were for me without opening them? You forgot to label them."
The concept of waiting for other people to wake up was fully lost on that child.

DH grew up with no presents under the tree until it was time to open them, which to me is a total waste of wrapping effort. I love to create nice packages, and those are the only decorations that I put out (we are traditionalists and put the tree up Xmas Eve), so I like for the gifts to sit out and be seen for awhile.

I happen to think that trying to guess what is in the package is half the fun of Christmas, and my DH has been trying to deprive the family of that for nearly 30 years now. It's a never-ending battle between us.
 
We celebrated two different holiday traditions back to back starting w/ the Eve.
After attending Christmas Eve service, we came home to a Reveillon meal (all fish, all the time). Children were given one present to start their joy: a pair of new pjs that they put on after shower/bath. Then we watched channel 11's Yule Log musical presentation or TBS's "A Christmas Story" until they fell asleep and their leaden bodies were carried into their beds.
Christmas Day, the tree was fully lighted and decorated, and they woke up to the rest of their presents.

We still laugh (kinda) about the year the kiddos woke up earlier than the parents and opened every present under the tree whether it had their name on it or not.....
 
Wrap a smal box with a piece of paper in it containing a clue. Then send her on a scavenger hunt ending in wherever you're hiding the TV.

The best gifts come in small boxes.
 


My parents told me that if I snuck around trying to guess my presents, they'd go back. My dad never made idle threats, so I believed them.

This is my tactic with my kids, too. If they're poking around their presents trying to figure out what they are, the presents go away and they don't come back. . Same thing with sneaking around trying to figure out where presents are hidden - they did it once, and I returned the presents they found and they didn't get them that Christmas.
 
As kids our gifts were not under the tree until we went to bed Christmas Eve night. They were locked up where we couldn't get to them. It kept us from guessing.
 
I happen to think that trying to guess what is in the package is half the fun of Christmas, and my DH has been trying to deprive the family of that for nearly 30 years now. It's a never-ending battle between us.

This is my husband and me but opposite. I "won" way back when the kids were babies, but now I feel a little bad that I have deprived him of that. But I also like that it was done my way. ;)
 
This is my husband and me but opposite. I "won" way back when the kids were babies, but now I feel a little bad that I have deprived him of that. But I also like that it was done my way. ;)

We put everything under the tree Christmas Eve after the kids go to bed (the "kids" are now 18 and 25 and are both living in a different province, but will be home for Christmas) I also leave the tree and the lights on overnight Christmas eve. My oldest has said that walking down stairs and getting the first look at the lit up tree and all the presents in the morning is always one of her favourite Christmas moments, so there are advantages either way.

I still remember one Christmas as a teenager when my mother put a carefully wrapped long, awkward-looking package under the tree shortly before Christmas and my dad (accurately and without thinking) asked "Who's getting the umbrella for Christmas?" Mom was ready to kill him!

M.
 
I would put the remote inside one of those tubes that a poster goes in, fill it in with packing peanuts and wrap it up. Tie ribbons on the ends so it looks like a giant piece of candy. You could also use a wrapping paper tube, if you have one that is wide enough.

We don't put the kids' (17 and 15) gifts under the tree and fill the stockings until after they go upstairs on Christmas Eve. Last year, there was one lone gift under the tree before Christmas, it was from the kids to me. They put it there over a week before Christmas, and it drove me crazy! It was a plain Amazon box with about 12 layers of packing tape all the way around the box with a red bow--they picked the gift, ordered it and wrapped it themselves, and I wasn't allowed to touch it until Christmas.
 
When my kids were younger I didn't put things out until Christmas Eve.
Now that they are older I put them out as I wrap but I don't put tags on them. They get their own wrapping paper and don't find out which gifts are theirs until Christmas morning.
If I had a large item I was trying to hide that they didn't know they were getting I'd just keep it hidden and bring it out Christmas morning after they've opened everything else.
 
I hide gifts at my mum's house. Mum did the same when DSis and I were kids. They came over in the car with my grandparents on Xmas eve and put under the tree after we went to bed.
 
My parents told me that if I snuck around trying to guess my presents, they'd go back. My dad never made idle threats, so I believed them.
I do the exact same thing. I love the look of the presents under the tree and consider it part of my Christmas decorations. You touch it, it goes back! They knew I was serious. It also helps that the tree goes in the living room a bit removed from the playroom so less temptation.
 
No matter what she says, don’t answer. Just ignore it. She’s not going to stop guessing and your only giving yourself aggravation.
 
Small box with broken glass in it. When she shakes it, it will sound like she broke it.
 

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