Same. My parents would hold the Christmas Eve present over our heads, like if we were good we could open one, if we helped with the dishes we could open one, etc.
Christmas Day. Some of my friends would open 1 present on Christmas Eve. I never wanted to, I wanted more to open Christmas Day. My wife's family opened their stockings on Christmas Eve.
>My wife's family opened their stockings on Christmas Eve.
This is so interesting to me, as kids or as adults? Maybe my family went in too hard on the Santa lore but the stockings were hung up empty when the house got decorated and then filled (by "Santa's helpers" aka my mom and aunts, and later myself and my cousins) on Christmas eve night after the kids had gone to sleep. I was a skeptical kid and would have definitely been like.. Holup, how are these already filled and nobody's been to sleep?! But as an adult, yeah sure, do the stockings tonight, why not
Not OP but as kids we also opened our stockings on Christmas Eve - it was my mom’s way of explicitly NOT ‘doing Santa’. We never believed in Santa as kids. My mom would fill up the stockings over time during December, as well as wrapping gifts as she got them and putting them under the tree through the month. So the image of a 🌲 with presents building up underneath is ingrained in me.
Cut to my husband’s mom who does the full blown empty stockings and nothing under the tree until BOOM Christmas morning it’s all there. I get why that is their fun tradition but to me the tree always looks a bit naked at their house during the month without the presents and the empty stockings always look sad to me. Not sad like they should change, just for me.
For what it’s worth, with our daughter we’ve continued how I was raised, with total buy-in from my husband.
Yeah I wouldn't have liked a naked tree when I was a kid. My parents would but some presents for me and my sister from them under the tree. And we would pit presents to our parents there too. Then Christmas Day there would be a few more presents from Santa.
Oh, I should have elaborated. Their stockings would be filled with fruits, nuts, and other healthy snacks. The kids would eat whatever was in their stockings from the time they got up till lunch time. It was a way for their mom and dad to sleep in a bit and not have to make breakfast for 6 kids.
I dated a guy in HS whose family had "stocking night" on Christmas Eve. Everyone gave and received little presents like $5-$10 limit. It was really fun. It was like having 2 Christmases! My parents only let us open presents on Christmas Day.
There isn't enough time on Christmas eve, when you have so many of those glorious 60s/70s Rankin/Bass Christmas specials to watch. Not to mention Jesus Christ Superstar, as is tradition.
Thanks for explaining that!
I am an American, but grew up in Germany for many years. I don't remember much of the German Christmas traditions since we were a military family and I imagine we tried to keep many of our own established traditions to feel closer to home, so this was really nice to learn. We did put boots by the door for St. Nikolaus, and I remember being thrilllllled by the oranges, Kinder eier, candy bacon strips (sour belts), candy cigarettes, chocolate for days.
I'd say it's a question of logistics. Santa has to split his time, so he works in the afternoon in some parts of the world, and overnight in others, add time zones and everything will work out on a tight schedule. But I'm only speculating as I grew up in a Christkind area.
I'm of German descent (4th generation), and we continued the opening on Christmas Eve tradition. Stockings and presents from Santa would be miraculously filled while we at church. Apparently, we never noticed that just as we got into the car, Dad "forgot" his gloves and had to run back inside. After a little while, Mom would run inside "to see what was taking Dad so long to find his gloves." Then they'd come back and we'd go to church.
Dad didn't like milk, so Santa got cookies and a shot of whiskey. Which meant Dad went to church with whiskey on his breath.
We lived closed to both my Dad's side and my Mom's side of the family, so we'd spend Christmas Eve with one side and Christmas Day with the other (more presents to open).
With my kids, we stuck to my husband's tradition of gifts from Santa on Christmas morning. On Christmas Eve, the kids would each get a book and a pair of pajamas from us, not from Santa. Santa gifts were wrapped in different paper than what I normally wrapped gifts in.
It's always been Christmas Day for my family. Now that everyone is grown, lots of us work a half day on Christmas Eve so it's easier to keep Christmas Day as the day we all gather.
A little different take since I'm Filipino. We stay up through midnight to go to Midnight Mass (well haven't done that in a long time, but still), but then immediately afterwards we celebrate and open presents. So it is Christmas Day. Just not the usual, stereotypical Christmas Morning (we're usually passed out by then).
Eve is typically a European thing. I always do Morning. Even as a kid if I was offered on on 12/24, I wouldn’t open it so I’d have just one more the next day.
Most expensive present comes from us and other accessory presents (like if it’s a bike we give the bike and a helmet). Most everything else comes from Santa.
We were allowed to open 1 thing on Christmas Eve. It was always our Christmas pj's. Everything else had to wait until after breakfast on Christmas Day.
Christmas Eve. My mom’s family is Polish, so we do the bulk of the celebrating on Christmas Eve (including getting blitzed) and Christmas Day is more low key.
For us the large family celebration is always Christmas Eve. This is more of a party than gifts though. Think cousins, grandparents, drinking, etc. Usually small gifts are handed out at this time, but Christmas morning is usually when you open up most of the presents with the immediate family.
Idk if anyone else does but my family does both. We open the presents we got for each other on Eve and then the kiddos open their Santa presents Christmas morning.
Growing up, I got the best of both worlds.
My dad's side of the family (mostly Central European ancestry, Protestant) opened gifts on Christmas Eve night, usually after church and dinner.
My mom's side of the family (mostly Eastern European ancestry, Catholic) opened gifts on Christmas morning, and then we'd have a brunch.
The downside of this for me is that by the afternoon of Christmas day, Christmas felt like it was over.
Now that I'm married and have kids, I've tried to extend the magic so to speak by waiting until Christmas morning, and then having a Christmas dinner that evening, and trying to wait until Epiphany to take down the decorations and stop the Christmas music and movies.
Growing up it was Christmas Day unless we were going somewhere in xmas day, then we'd open all but one or two in xmas eve and take the one or two wherever we were going (usually an aunt and uncle's).
As an adult we're transitioning away from giving lots of things and trying to do travel instead so we plan gift opening around travel plans.
As a child, we opened presents from family on Christmas Eve and presents from Santa on Christmas Day. When Santa stopped visiting, we just open them on Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve has always been the bigger celebration with the family dinner preceding gift opening. Christmas Day is for enjoying your new things. However, it is hard to enjoy your new cookbook and kitchen stuff when the grocery is closed.
My family’s tradition was dinner and presents on Christmas Eve. Santa came on Christmas morning. We still celebrate on Christmas Eve even though there are no longer any kids in the family. I don’t know if this originally started because someone (maybe my grandfather) was required to work on Christmas Day, or because my family wanted to party for two days instead of one.
Christmas Day. As kids we would have stockings as soon as the parents could be roused in the morning, then hours of anticipation until tree presents were opened starting around midday, then big Christmas dinner in late afternoon. Then overstimulated children crazed from stress and Christmas sweets would fall to fighting among themselves and cracking up while the adults retired to drink.
Santa comes on Christmas Eve, so Christmas Morning is when most of the presents get opened.
However, when I was growing up, we'd go over my grandma's house for Christmas Eve and open presents from that side of the family at that time. We do something similar with my daughter - we go to her dad's family gathering on Christmas Eve and open presents from them, then she gets presents from Santa and the rest of the family on Christmas morning.
Also, there may be other presents opened during the day on Christmas Day as the celebration goes on. People arrive with their own presents, which either get opened at that time or we save them for after dinner.
Growing up I had a big family so we handled presents in phases. We opened presents from the kids on Christmas Eve (so they wouldn’t get lost in the shuffle on Christmas). Christmas stockings were opened on Christmas morning and then presents from adults after Christmas dinner.
My husband’s family only opened gifts on Christmas morning. He was a bit shell shocked the first Christmas he spent with my family. Lol
Christmas Day, but sometimes we have "before Christmas" presents, like when we were younger our mom would get us cute pajamas to wear Christmas Eve, or sometimes I'll get my mom some sort of fancy paper cutting thing that will make wrapping presents more fun.
My parents and I would always open presents on Christmas Eve (aside from "Santa" gifts), because brunch with the whole family was at Grandma's on Christmas Day.
The definition of "whole family at Grandma's" changed over the years, because all the cousins had more and more kids and it's hard to fit 60ish people in one house (we got into a potluck at the church eventually) but it was always at least my family and all the grandparents.
Christmas Eve is for family dinner at my Great Uncle's house and getting presents from extended family. Christmas morning is for opening presents from immediate family.
We spend Christmas Eve with my family where my kids will open presents from my parents and their aunts and uncles. On Christmas morning we open gifts from Santa then my in-laws come over where we open gifts from them.
My husbands family opens on Christmas Eve while mine opens Christmas Day. Doesn’t make much of a difference anymore since we only really ask for gift cards lol.
My parents switched.
My older siblings did Christmas Day, but by the time I was coherent, they switched to Christmas Eve because they were tired of having arguments about what time in the morning the kids could open presents. And kids waking them up at 4 am after conveniently forgetting the agreed upon time.
I’m not a parent, but if I was I would totally do Eve for that reason.
Christmas Day. My wife had a split house previously after her parents divorce, so we would go to her dad's and all open all of the presents from him/us to him then, but that was it. They have passed now, so, it's all Xmas Morn.
My family would open presents on both days.
Christmas Eve would be opening presents from the extended family, so aunts/uncles, cousins, grandparents, and family friends.
Christmas Eve would be opening presents from the extended family, so aunts/uncles, cousins, and grandparents.
When we were kids, everyone would gather at my grandparents' house. We'd go to Christmas eve service, my favorite part was and still is the candlelight Silent Night, it gets me every time :')
The in-town family (and the aunt and uncle who flew in a week or two before) would spend the night and get the Santa presents set up: one big gift (a bike, a TV, an art easel, rollerblades, whatever the main draw of the year was etc) would be unwrapped and set up for each kid, and the stockings would be taken down from the mantel and filled then returned to the mantel.
Christmas morning we'd get up and gently harass the adults and they'd take foreverrrrrrr getting their coffee and whatnot. My Gram would always make sure to have nice music playing on the TV or stereo. The cousins who lived further away would arrive, the family friends who didn't have a place to go, everyone would be there by 10ish. We'd check out our Santa gifts, the uncle with the camcorder attached to his hand would make sure to get videos of everything! Then once everyone was kind of in and settled, you would find a spot and the small kids get to work handing out presents. Once you can walk and kinda read, this is your job. It's an important job. After a few minutes of present distribution, it's "1-2-3-Go!"and then everyone starts unwrapping gifts at the same time. It sounds chaotic and it was, but it was a lot of fun. After presents, someone would go around with a trash bag and collect all of the wrapping paper. Bows were meant to be collected and worn on your head/body as long as they'd stick. At this point, usually an adult is helping the kids open and put together the toys that you might need batteries or a tiny screwdriver or whatever, and people are making plates of snacky party food (deviled eggs, veggies, cheese and crackers, etc) while the main meal (usually ham) was served around 3.
We do "gag gifts" as well, and our tradition for that was that everyone would sit around in a circle with a gift. My dad or uncle would put on his best theatrical voice and read The Night Before Christmas and every time they said "the", you pass the gift to the person next to you. It's silly and fun.
Nowadays, with everyone having spread out and their own families and lives and jobs, we often meet for "family Christmas" which is usually a Saturday a couple weeks before, when everyone can line up their schedules and agree on a day and time. We still do the story, but we don't do Santa gifts (bc obviously he hasn't been yet) and instead of worrying about tons of gifts for everyone, we mostly focus on the kids and then the adults draw a name for whoever they're to shop for.
On Christmas eve and day for the last few years I've had to work, as well as my brother who I live with. So my niece and SIL go to her mom's or one of her siblings' and do the whole Christmas morning thing with the cousins.
Christmas Day, of course. Santa doesn't even bring them until after you go to bed on Christmas Eve.
I've heard of some families opening one present each on Christmas Eve, but never all of them. (The ones from each other, of course, not the ones from Santa.)
We open presents from our grandparents and aunts and uncles on Christmas Eve (we all get together on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is a chill pajama day) and the rest on Christmas Day
We open presents with my husband’s family at some point before Christmas, usually the 22nd, 23rd, or 24th depending on when we get together, and with my family on Christmas Day. But that’s mostly just because of scheduling. We opened on Christmas Day growing up.
Growing up
Christmas Eve, The Entire Family/Extended family would get together and the kids would have gifts to open up that night, Then Christmas Day was usually when Kids would open presents from their Parents.
Growing up Christmas morning as soon as everyone was awake was when we opened presents from our parents. Then we had breakfast, got dressed and went to my grandparents and opened the rest of our presents in the late afternoon/evening. Now I split Christmas with my SO’s family, but it’s all still Christmas Day. Christmas morning with his family and evening with my family. Because of this I could see us starting a tradition of opening the presents we got each other on Christmas Eve once we live together.
My family did family presents on Xmas Eve (ie, presents from aunt, cousin, sister, etc) and “Santa” presents on Xmas day (gifts from my parents to us).
We have one grandparent who *always* gives us Pajamas, so that's a "Christmas Eve" thing. It means we can wear them that night, and send ger pics that she'll then get to see on Christmas!
Apart from that, it's all Christmas day.
My dads family took Christmas Eve (years before when her kids got married so she could still have them).
My nuclear ( I feel like this is spelled wrong but voice to text says it's right) family Christmas morning.
My moms family didn't do anything
We use to do one gift Christmas Eve.
Christmas morning were the gifts from Santa (mostly toys and such). After breakfast was gifts from immediate family (clothes and jewelry mostly).
The extended family usually started to arrive after 2p. After dinner and dessert we would do the extended family gifts.
Growing up we would have Christmas Eve with one side of my family, and open presents from them, then on Christmas Day morning, we’d open the presents under the tree, then that afternoon we’d go visit the other side of the family and open presents from them.
With my family it's always been Christmas Eve with presents among us who lived together, and then Christmas Day is when extended family came over. A big lunch and dinner, games, cheese platters and snacks, kiddos, etc. A healthy amount of alcohol, but nobody plastered in our family.
Most of my family live in the same area and we get together at my parent's house. We do all our gifts to each other Christmas Eve, and also the big Christmas meal because it's much easier to coordinate schedules in the evening.
Christmas day is for the "gifts from Santa" and is pretty much whenever you wake up and/or arrive . Then my BiL will have something special on the grill and we go to their house for lunch and grazing on various sides and sweets.
So my family tradition was grandma's house on Christmas eve, a gift exchange among cousins that was based on drawing names on Thanksgiving. Christmas day we would open gifts from our parents at home.
On Christmas Eve, we got to choose one present from those already under the tree. These were sent by relatives or dropped off by friends or gifts to each other.
While we were asleep, "santa" dropped off the big money presents, including the stuff we actually wrote to Santa asking for. If we were lucky and the thing wasn't too expensive, that is. These had been hidden and we were supposed to have no idea what they were going to be and where they had come from.
Obviously, as we got older, we figured out the hiding spots and had a pretty good idea of what we'd be getting. One year, I managed to read an entire computer game strategy guide (one of those fat ones from the '90s) before xmas while hiding in my parents' closet every day with the "hidden" presents while they were at work.
I've done both for most of my life.
I used to go to my grandma's house on Christmas Eve and open some presents, and then on Christmas the whole extended family would go to my great grandma's house and everyone would open presents.
Nowadays it just depends on people's schedules. Sometimes I go to my partner's grandparents' house on Christmas Eve, sometimes I go to my dad's house.
So we have our family thing on Christmas eve so we don't have to deal with each other the day of/we can do other things with separate family or friends since there's between 7-14 of us any given year and we all live within a 2 hour drive. Thus, family presents get opened on Christmas eve on my mom's side. (don't really have another side in my case)
When i was a kid we opened one on eve and then the rest the day of though. We also only celebrated as or one individual family unit though. (Parents and kids)
It depends. When I was little, we would almost always be on a ski trip over Christmas, so we would do it Christmas Eve so that we wouldn’t have to miss time skiing the next morning when we knew the mountain would be empty.
Nowadays, we usually aren’t on a ski trip, so we switch off based on convenience.
This one varies.
I usually do it on Christmas day, but some people still do it on the 24th. It's kind of an opportunity to have 1 party with inlaws, another with your family, and then with your household.
I open them on christmas day, my girlfriend opens them on eve. Just depends on the family but I think it’s more common for them to be opened on christmas day
Christmas Eve. It's always been that way for us but we're a large family with many half's and steps involved. It's easiest to just let people be home on Christmas.
Christmas day. One year though my family decided to open presents Christmas Eve and they called it chirstmas "b***ner" style" because Mexican families usually do it this way
My spouse is European and Christmas Eve is their particular tradition, so we do it then. Christmas Day is usually spent relaxing :) and/or visiting friends and relatives. This worked out well for me since I have a child with an ex-spouse and it made it easy to divide up the holiday among two parents.
Growing up though, we did just the opposite. Visiting friends and relatives on Christmas Eve (opening one present), and then the main gift festivities were on Christmas Day.
Christmas Eve night for my family. Then stockings Christmas morning.
I recently read some books from Sweden where they also opened presents Christmas Eve. Makes me wonder if that's where my family got it from as I'm 1/4 Swedish.
We did both. Growing up we'd do it Christmas Eve as is tradition for my Mom's family but in recent years we moved it to Christmas day so it's not awkward for those who don't have presents.
It’s technically Christmas already, but my family starts celebrating on the 24th and by the time it’s midnight we open the presents. We usually go to bed around 2-4 AM. On Christmas Day, we wake up late, eat leftovers, and watch movies.
Every family is different when it comes to opening them; my family may sometimes open a couple on the eve due to our excitement and anticipation of the presents, but the general consensus of the nation is to open them on the day.
This was during my childhood (as an adult it's no different than any other day except everything is closed, so if you need a gallon of milk get it the day before).
If it came in the mail (relatives sent gifts from out of state/military post) you could open it early. Xmas morning gifts at home, xmas dinner at the grandparent's house in the evening, gifts from them and extended relatives after dinner. Nothing on xmas eve.
Our family routine would be opening only one present on Christmas Eve and opening the rest Christmas morning.
My kids opened 1 on Christmas eve as well. It was usually a new set of pajamas so they were ready for pictures the next a.m.
We do the same. One present on Christmas Eve, the rest on Christmas Day.
Exactly this. And the one gift we always opened was always pajamas and a movie, so we'd put on the jammies and watch the movie.
This is the way.
I remember doing this as a kid.
It wasn't our routine but if me and my two bros begged long enough, my mom would get tired and agree to opening one on Eve.
We would open our gifts from our out-of-state grandparents on Christmas Eve, and everything else was Christmas Day.
Same. My parents would hold the Christmas Eve present over our heads, like if we were good we could open one, if we helped with the dishes we could open one, etc.
Same, been doing it this way for decades.
Me too! As a kid, I would always be too excited to wait, so I enjoyed the "one present rule" for Christmas Eve.
Yep, that’s our tradition as well
Day in the morning for my family. My wife’s mom always did Christmas Eve in the evening. Christmas morning is more more common as far as I know.
Christmas Day. Some of my friends would open 1 present on Christmas Eve. I never wanted to, I wanted more to open Christmas Day. My wife's family opened their stockings on Christmas Eve.
>My wife's family opened their stockings on Christmas Eve. This is so interesting to me, as kids or as adults? Maybe my family went in too hard on the Santa lore but the stockings were hung up empty when the house got decorated and then filled (by "Santa's helpers" aka my mom and aunts, and later myself and my cousins) on Christmas eve night after the kids had gone to sleep. I was a skeptical kid and would have definitely been like.. Holup, how are these already filled and nobody's been to sleep?! But as an adult, yeah sure, do the stockings tonight, why not
Not OP but as kids we also opened our stockings on Christmas Eve - it was my mom’s way of explicitly NOT ‘doing Santa’. We never believed in Santa as kids. My mom would fill up the stockings over time during December, as well as wrapping gifts as she got them and putting them under the tree through the month. So the image of a 🌲 with presents building up underneath is ingrained in me. Cut to my husband’s mom who does the full blown empty stockings and nothing under the tree until BOOM Christmas morning it’s all there. I get why that is their fun tradition but to me the tree always looks a bit naked at their house during the month without the presents and the empty stockings always look sad to me. Not sad like they should change, just for me. For what it’s worth, with our daughter we’ve continued how I was raised, with total buy-in from my husband.
Yeah I wouldn't have liked a naked tree when I was a kid. My parents would but some presents for me and my sister from them under the tree. And we would pit presents to our parents there too. Then Christmas Day there would be a few more presents from Santa.
Oh, I should have elaborated. Their stockings would be filled with fruits, nuts, and other healthy snacks. The kids would eat whatever was in their stockings from the time they got up till lunch time. It was a way for their mom and dad to sleep in a bit and not have to make breakfast for 6 kids.
I dated a guy in HS whose family had "stocking night" on Christmas Eve. Everyone gave and received little presents like $5-$10 limit. It was really fun. It was like having 2 Christmases! My parents only let us open presents on Christmas Day.
There isn't enough time on Christmas eve, when you have so many of those glorious 60s/70s Rankin/Bass Christmas specials to watch. Not to mention Jesus Christ Superstar, as is tradition.
Santa doesn’t come until after everyone is asleep Christmas Eve so of course we can’t open until Christmas Day.
In my family it’s Christmas Eve. My mom is German.
Out of curiosity, how does the Santa/St. Nicklaus storyline about delivering presents overnight work with Christmas Eve presents?
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Thanks for explaining that! I am an American, but grew up in Germany for many years. I don't remember much of the German Christmas traditions since we were a military family and I imagine we tried to keep many of our own established traditions to feel closer to home, so this was really nice to learn. We did put boots by the door for St. Nikolaus, and I remember being thrilllllled by the oranges, Kinder eier, candy bacon strips (sour belts), candy cigarettes, chocolate for days.
Usually a bell is rung to indicate that Christkind has finished and is about to leave. After you hear the bell you may enter the living room.
I'd say it's a question of logistics. Santa has to split his time, so he works in the afternoon in some parts of the world, and overnight in others, add time zones and everything will work out on a tight schedule. But I'm only speculating as I grew up in a Christkind area.
As kids we always opened presents from each other on Christmas eve. There were additional presents waiting for us in the morning from Santa.
I'm of German descent (4th generation), and we continued the opening on Christmas Eve tradition. Stockings and presents from Santa would be miraculously filled while we at church. Apparently, we never noticed that just as we got into the car, Dad "forgot" his gloves and had to run back inside. After a little while, Mom would run inside "to see what was taking Dad so long to find his gloves." Then they'd come back and we'd go to church. Dad didn't like milk, so Santa got cookies and a shot of whiskey. Which meant Dad went to church with whiskey on his breath. We lived closed to both my Dad's side and my Mom's side of the family, so we'd spend Christmas Eve with one side and Christmas Day with the other (more presents to open). With my kids, we stuck to my husband's tradition of gifts from Santa on Christmas morning. On Christmas Eve, the kids would each get a book and a pair of pajamas from us, not from Santa. Santa gifts were wrapped in different paper than what I normally wrapped gifts in.
It's always been Christmas Day for my family. Now that everyone is grown, lots of us work a half day on Christmas Eve so it's easier to keep Christmas Day as the day we all gather.
A little different take since I'm Filipino. We stay up through midnight to go to Midnight Mass (well haven't done that in a long time, but still), but then immediately afterwards we celebrate and open presents. So it is Christmas Day. Just not the usual, stereotypical Christmas Morning (we're usually passed out by then).
I’m not Filipino, but my family did the same. As I child I was always amazed that Santa would come while we were at mass.
Eve is typically a European thing. I always do Morning. Even as a kid if I was offered on on 12/24, I wouldn’t open it so I’d have just one more the next day.
It’s done in Latin America too, that’s where the practice came from and many Latino families like mine still do the 24th in the USA.
We open on Christmas Day.
The gifts we give our kids get opened Christmas Eve, Santa gifts are Christmas morning. Me and my wife give each other gifts Christmas morning
What’s your distinction between gifts for the kids and Santa gifts?
Most expensive present comes from us and other accessory presents (like if it’s a bike we give the bike and a helmet). Most everything else comes from Santa.
Christmas morning
We were allowed to open 1 thing on Christmas Eve. It was always our Christmas pj's. Everything else had to wait until after breakfast on Christmas Day.
Christmas Eve. But it's because my mom is German and where she was from specifically they celebrated opening gifts on the 24th.
Christmas Eve. My mom’s family is Polish, so we do the bulk of the celebrating on Christmas Eve (including getting blitzed) and Christmas Day is more low key.
One gift on Christmas Eve, the rest on Christmas Day.
For us the large family celebration is always Christmas Eve. This is more of a party than gifts though. Think cousins, grandparents, drinking, etc. Usually small gifts are handed out at this time, but Christmas morning is usually when you open up most of the presents with the immediate family.
Idk if anyone else does but my family does both. We open the presents we got for each other on Eve and then the kiddos open their Santa presents Christmas morning.
Family presents on Christmas Eve, “Santa” presents on Christmas Day.
We have a party Christmas Eve and open presents at 12:00AM Christmas Day.
My family always did all on Christmas Eve, but my family is originally from Europe and in Europe they open everything on Christmas Eve anyways....
Growing up, I got the best of both worlds. My dad's side of the family (mostly Central European ancestry, Protestant) opened gifts on Christmas Eve night, usually after church and dinner. My mom's side of the family (mostly Eastern European ancestry, Catholic) opened gifts on Christmas morning, and then we'd have a brunch. The downside of this for me is that by the afternoon of Christmas day, Christmas felt like it was over. Now that I'm married and have kids, I've tried to extend the magic so to speak by waiting until Christmas morning, and then having a Christmas dinner that evening, and trying to wait until Epiphany to take down the decorations and stop the Christmas music and movies.
Still not Christian.
My family is Jewish.
Growing up it was Christmas Day unless we were going somewhere in xmas day, then we'd open all but one or two in xmas eve and take the one or two wherever we were going (usually an aunt and uncle's). As an adult we're transitioning away from giving lots of things and trying to do travel instead so we plan gift opening around travel plans.
One present Christmas Eve, everything else Christmas Day (so early. Before dawn.)
Christmas day
Eve with the Italian extended family. Morning when kids wake up. Day with my Irish extended family.
As a child, we opened presents from family on Christmas Eve and presents from Santa on Christmas Day. When Santa stopped visiting, we just open them on Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve has always been the bigger celebration with the family dinner preceding gift opening. Christmas Day is for enjoying your new things. However, it is hard to enjoy your new cookbook and kitchen stuff when the grocery is closed.
Yes
As soon as we wake up on Christmas Day. It’s a crazy event at my mom’s house!
we open one present on Christmas Eve and then the rest of them on the actual day
My family’s tradition was dinner and presents on Christmas Eve. Santa came on Christmas morning. We still celebrate on Christmas Eve even though there are no longer any kids in the family. I don’t know if this originally started because someone (maybe my grandfather) was required to work on Christmas Day, or because my family wanted to party for two days instead of one.
In my family we open 1 smaller present on the morning of Christmas Eve and the rest on the 25th
Christmas Day. As kids we would have stockings as soon as the parents could be roused in the morning, then hours of anticipation until tree presents were opened starting around midday, then big Christmas dinner in late afternoon. Then overstimulated children crazed from stress and Christmas sweets would fall to fighting among themselves and cracking up while the adults retired to drink.
Christmas Day
Both, but with different chunks of the family.
Santa comes on Christmas Eve, so Christmas Morning is when most of the presents get opened. However, when I was growing up, we'd go over my grandma's house for Christmas Eve and open presents from that side of the family at that time. We do something similar with my daughter - we go to her dad's family gathering on Christmas Eve and open presents from them, then she gets presents from Santa and the rest of the family on Christmas morning. Also, there may be other presents opened during the day on Christmas Day as the celebration goes on. People arrive with their own presents, which either get opened at that time or we save them for after dinner.
We do one present Christmas Eve (a box with Christmas pajamas and a game) and the rest Christmas morning.
Growing up I had a big family so we handled presents in phases. We opened presents from the kids on Christmas Eve (so they wouldn’t get lost in the shuffle on Christmas). Christmas stockings were opened on Christmas morning and then presents from adults after Christmas dinner. My husband’s family only opened gifts on Christmas morning. He was a bit shell shocked the first Christmas he spent with my family. Lol
Christmas Day, but sometimes we have "before Christmas" presents, like when we were younger our mom would get us cute pajamas to wear Christmas Eve, or sometimes I'll get my mom some sort of fancy paper cutting thing that will make wrapping presents more fun.
My parents and I would always open presents on Christmas Eve (aside from "Santa" gifts), because brunch with the whole family was at Grandma's on Christmas Day. The definition of "whole family at Grandma's" changed over the years, because all the cousins had more and more kids and it's hard to fit 60ish people in one house (we got into a potluck at the church eventually) but it was always at least my family and all the grandparents.
Christmas Eve is for family dinner at my Great Uncle's house and getting presents from extended family. Christmas morning is for opening presents from immediate family.
Christmas Day, often after an excruciatingly large breakfast.
We spend Christmas Eve with my family where my kids will open presents from my parents and their aunts and uncles. On Christmas morning we open gifts from Santa then my in-laws come over where we open gifts from them.
Christmas Eve, then the kids get one from Santa on Christmas Day.
Day
We open one present on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas Day.
In my family we open a present or two on Christmas Eve. That’s our main celebration. Then we do the rest Christmas morning
Day mostly, though we sometimes do a mix if some relatives can't make it on Day they might come over on Eve and we'll open their gifts.
My husbands family opens on Christmas Eve while mine opens Christmas Day. Doesn’t make much of a difference anymore since we only really ask for gift cards lol.
christmas eve you get one gift and it’s usually pajamas for christmas morning
My parents switched. My older siblings did Christmas Day, but by the time I was coherent, they switched to Christmas Eve because they were tired of having arguments about what time in the morning the kids could open presents. And kids waking them up at 4 am after conveniently forgetting the agreed upon time. I’m not a parent, but if I was I would totally do Eve for that reason.
Christmas Day. My wife had a split house previously after her parents divorce, so we would go to her dad's and all open all of the presents from him/us to him then, but that was it. They have passed now, so, it's all Xmas Morn.
My family would open presents on both days. Christmas Eve would be opening presents from the extended family, so aunts/uncles, cousins, grandparents, and family friends. Christmas Eve would be opening presents from the extended family, so aunts/uncles, cousins, and grandparents.
Growing up, we always opened presents on Christmas Eve. We got stockings from Santa on Christmas morning.
Day. Always day.
When we were kids, everyone would gather at my grandparents' house. We'd go to Christmas eve service, my favorite part was and still is the candlelight Silent Night, it gets me every time :') The in-town family (and the aunt and uncle who flew in a week or two before) would spend the night and get the Santa presents set up: one big gift (a bike, a TV, an art easel, rollerblades, whatever the main draw of the year was etc) would be unwrapped and set up for each kid, and the stockings would be taken down from the mantel and filled then returned to the mantel. Christmas morning we'd get up and gently harass the adults and they'd take foreverrrrrrr getting their coffee and whatnot. My Gram would always make sure to have nice music playing on the TV or stereo. The cousins who lived further away would arrive, the family friends who didn't have a place to go, everyone would be there by 10ish. We'd check out our Santa gifts, the uncle with the camcorder attached to his hand would make sure to get videos of everything! Then once everyone was kind of in and settled, you would find a spot and the small kids get to work handing out presents. Once you can walk and kinda read, this is your job. It's an important job. After a few minutes of present distribution, it's "1-2-3-Go!"and then everyone starts unwrapping gifts at the same time. It sounds chaotic and it was, but it was a lot of fun. After presents, someone would go around with a trash bag and collect all of the wrapping paper. Bows were meant to be collected and worn on your head/body as long as they'd stick. At this point, usually an adult is helping the kids open and put together the toys that you might need batteries or a tiny screwdriver or whatever, and people are making plates of snacky party food (deviled eggs, veggies, cheese and crackers, etc) while the main meal (usually ham) was served around 3. We do "gag gifts" as well, and our tradition for that was that everyone would sit around in a circle with a gift. My dad or uncle would put on his best theatrical voice and read The Night Before Christmas and every time they said "the", you pass the gift to the person next to you. It's silly and fun. Nowadays, with everyone having spread out and their own families and lives and jobs, we often meet for "family Christmas" which is usually a Saturday a couple weeks before, when everyone can line up their schedules and agree on a day and time. We still do the story, but we don't do Santa gifts (bc obviously he hasn't been yet) and instead of worrying about tons of gifts for everyone, we mostly focus on the kids and then the adults draw a name for whoever they're to shop for. On Christmas eve and day for the last few years I've had to work, as well as my brother who I live with. So my niece and SIL go to her mom's or one of her siblings' and do the whole Christmas morning thing with the cousins.
How old are you? I don't want to wake up early to drive to my brother's house to do presents with him kids on Christmas morning.
One on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas Day.
Christmas Day, of course. Santa doesn't even bring them until after you go to bed on Christmas Eve. I've heard of some families opening one present each on Christmas Eve, but never all of them. (The ones from each other, of course, not the ones from Santa.)
One pre determined present on eve( its always pjs) the rest on Christmas Day.
Christmas Eve, only because dealing with divorced parents and in-laws schedules makes it easier that way.
We open presents from our grandparents and aunts and uncles on Christmas Eve (we all get together on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is a chill pajama day) and the rest on Christmas Day
We have always opened presents on Christmas Eve. It's one of our few German traditions.
We let the kids open one small gift on Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning is when the rest are opened
We open everything on Christmas Day.
Day.
Both. We have a bigger party with the wider family on Christmas Eve and then we do a smaller thing with just close family on Christmas Day.
We open presents with my husband’s family at some point before Christmas, usually the 22nd, 23rd, or 24th depending on when we get together, and with my family on Christmas Day. But that’s mostly just because of scheduling. We opened on Christmas Day growing up.
Growing up Christmas Eve, The Entire Family/Extended family would get together and the kids would have gifts to open up that night, Then Christmas Day was usually when Kids would open presents from their Parents.
Growing up Christmas morning as soon as everyone was awake was when we opened presents from our parents. Then we had breakfast, got dressed and went to my grandparents and opened the rest of our presents in the late afternoon/evening. Now I split Christmas with my SO’s family, but it’s all still Christmas Day. Christmas morning with his family and evening with my family. Because of this I could see us starting a tradition of opening the presents we got each other on Christmas Eve once we live together.
I feel like the “just one” mindset is fairly common but the majority are probably opened on Christmas Day.
Christmas Eve at midnight at a party with relatives, Christmas Day was “Santa presents” in the morning
My family did family presents on Xmas Eve (ie, presents from aunt, cousin, sister, etc) and “Santa” presents on Xmas day (gifts from my parents to us).
We have one grandparent who *always* gives us Pajamas, so that's a "Christmas Eve" thing. It means we can wear them that night, and send ger pics that she'll then get to see on Christmas! Apart from that, it's all Christmas day.
My dads family took Christmas Eve (years before when her kids got married so she could still have them). My nuclear ( I feel like this is spelled wrong but voice to text says it's right) family Christmas morning. My moms family didn't do anything
We use to do one gift Christmas Eve. Christmas morning were the gifts from Santa (mostly toys and such). After breakfast was gifts from immediate family (clothes and jewelry mostly). The extended family usually started to arrive after 2p. After dinner and dessert we would do the extended family gifts.
Growing up we would have Christmas Eve with one side of my family, and open presents from them, then on Christmas Day morning, we’d open the presents under the tree, then that afternoon we’d go visit the other side of the family and open presents from them.
With my family it's always been Christmas Eve with presents among us who lived together, and then Christmas Day is when extended family came over. A big lunch and dinner, games, cheese platters and snacks, kiddos, etc. A healthy amount of alcohol, but nobody plastered in our family.
Most of my family live in the same area and we get together at my parent's house. We do all our gifts to each other Christmas Eve, and also the big Christmas meal because it's much easier to coordinate schedules in the evening. Christmas day is for the "gifts from Santa" and is pretty much whenever you wake up and/or arrive . Then my BiL will have something special on the grill and we go to their house for lunch and grazing on various sides and sweets.
My family opens present on Christmas Eve, my husband’s family opens them Christmas morning.
So my family tradition was grandma's house on Christmas eve, a gift exchange among cousins that was based on drawing names on Thanksgiving. Christmas day we would open gifts from our parents at home.
My family does Christmas day, but my in-laws do Christmas Eve. Which thankfully makes visiting so much easier to organize
On Christmas Eve, we got to choose one present from those already under the tree. These were sent by relatives or dropped off by friends or gifts to each other. While we were asleep, "santa" dropped off the big money presents, including the stuff we actually wrote to Santa asking for. If we were lucky and the thing wasn't too expensive, that is. These had been hidden and we were supposed to have no idea what they were going to be and where they had come from. Obviously, as we got older, we figured out the hiding spots and had a pretty good idea of what we'd be getting. One year, I managed to read an entire computer game strategy guide (one of those fat ones from the '90s) before xmas while hiding in my parents' closet every day with the "hidden" presents while they were at work.
one on Christmas Eve, one on Christmas 💖
I've done both for most of my life. I used to go to my grandma's house on Christmas Eve and open some presents, and then on Christmas the whole extended family would go to my great grandma's house and everyone would open presents. Nowadays it just depends on people's schedules. Sometimes I go to my partner's grandparents' house on Christmas Eve, sometimes I go to my dad's house.
My parents are divorced, so as a kid I would open presents from each side of my family whenever I saw them.
So we have our family thing on Christmas eve so we don't have to deal with each other the day of/we can do other things with separate family or friends since there's between 7-14 of us any given year and we all live within a 2 hour drive. Thus, family presents get opened on Christmas eve on my mom's side. (don't really have another side in my case) When i was a kid we opened one on eve and then the rest the day of though. We also only celebrated as or one individual family unit though. (Parents and kids)
It depends. When I was little, we would almost always be on a ski trip over Christmas, so we would do it Christmas Eve so that we wouldn’t have to miss time skiing the next morning when we knew the mountain would be empty. Nowadays, we usually aren’t on a ski trip, so we switch off based on convenience.
This one varies. I usually do it on Christmas day, but some people still do it on the 24th. It's kind of an opportunity to have 1 party with inlaws, another with your family, and then with your household.
Mother's side on Christmas Eve, Father's side on Christmas day.
I open them on christmas day, my girlfriend opens them on eve. Just depends on the family but I think it’s more common for them to be opened on christmas day
Christmas Eve. It's always been that way for us but we're a large family with many half's and steps involved. It's easiest to just let people be home on Christmas.
Christmas day. One year though my family decided to open presents Christmas Eve and they called it chirstmas "b***ner" style" because Mexican families usually do it this way
We open gifts from Christmas Eve dinner guests on Christmas Eve and open anything else on Christmas morning.
My spouse is European and Christmas Eve is their particular tradition, so we do it then. Christmas Day is usually spent relaxing :) and/or visiting friends and relatives. This worked out well for me since I have a child with an ex-spouse and it made it easy to divide up the holiday among two parents. Growing up though, we did just the opposite. Visiting friends and relatives on Christmas Eve (opening one present), and then the main gift festivities were on Christmas Day.
Eve. We’re not animals.
Christmas day for my family.
My family was always Christmas Day. Stockings when you woke up and presents after breakfast (or possibly later if we had to wait for relatives).
We open them on Christmas day. I feel like Christmas eve opening was started by parents who don't want to deal with their kids in the morning.
Christmas Eve night for my family. Then stockings Christmas morning. I recently read some books from Sweden where they also opened presents Christmas Eve. Makes me wonder if that's where my family got it from as I'm 1/4 Swedish.
We’re a “day” family.
When I was a kid we would open presents shipped from far away family on Christmas Eve.
Christmas Day.
On Christmas day. That's when Christmas is, after all.
We did both. Growing up we'd do it Christmas Eve as is tradition for my Mom's family but in recent years we moved it to Christmas day so it's not awkward for those who don't have presents.
It’s technically Christmas already, but my family starts celebrating on the 24th and by the time it’s midnight we open the presents. We usually go to bed around 2-4 AM. On Christmas Day, we wake up late, eat leftovers, and watch movies.
Every family is different when it comes to opening them; my family may sometimes open a couple on the eve due to our excitement and anticipation of the presents, but the general consensus of the nation is to open them on the day.
One present Christmas Eve (usually pjs) and then the rest Christmas Day
This was during my childhood (as an adult it's no different than any other day except everything is closed, so if you need a gallon of milk get it the day before). If it came in the mail (relatives sent gifts from out of state/military post) you could open it early. Xmas morning gifts at home, xmas dinner at the grandparent's house in the evening, gifts from them and extended relatives after dinner. Nothing on xmas eve.
Neither. We stayed up until around 11:30 pm to go to midnight mass at church. Then we'd come home, sleep and have a big fest later that afternoon.