opening presents

kdrew · Guru

RE: opening presents

Juanita · Guru

kdrew wrote:

Corey wrote:

i personally hate going to parties where the child does not open the gifts. i love to see their reaction to what i got. it is the norm here to open them at the party, but one family i know does it after and they also don't send thank you notes. if a child opens the gift in front of me and thanks me then i'm fine with it, but if you open it alone then i expect a thank you in the mail.

That's crazy. Even if they DO open it in front of you, they should still send thank you notes. I can't imagine not sending something. I guess some people are raised differently.

If the kids open the presents in front of you, which is what has always happened here, and they give a verbal thank you, I don't expect a thank you note, and we've never received one from any other child either.

LucsMama · Senior Member

Lucas has always opened his presents at the party after cake. I don't think we've ever gone to a party where the birthday child opened them later.

Erin · Guru

Corey wrote:

i personally hate going to parties where the child does not open the gifts. i love to see their reaction to what i got. it is the norm here to open them at the party, but one family i know does it after and they also don't send thank you notes. if a child opens the gift in front of me and thanks me then i'm fine with it, but if you open it alone then i expect a thank you in the mail.

Generally here, the norm is to open at the party, but last summer, as someone mentioned, we had a party where it was hard to pull the kids away, and there were too many kids to sit around and do that. So, we sort of opened them as people left. As they left, they would bring the present over, we would ooh and ahh, and the kids would play with it for a minute, but the other kids didnt have to sit around bored and watching.

We did not get around to Thank yous because we did not keep good track of who gave what, since we werent sitting down and wirting it, and some cards got misplaced. I feel the same way as Corey, I dont need or want a written thank you, if I have a personal thank you.

Not that that is what you asked. I say, do what works and keeps people interested and entertained.

daisy · Guru

a_mastermom wrote:

I guess I am in the minority, but my kids have never been to a party where the presents were opened, unless it was a family party. We have been to tons of friend's birthday parties - Chuck E Cheese, bouncy places, indoor sports places, hair salons, even McDonald's and the presents were never opened - not once.

same here alicia - i think it's a regional thing - i've never seen the presents opened - not once - unless it's a family party. when i was a kid though, we used to open presents in front of the guests. i think it's a matter of time constraint, and people are SO worried that their party guests will be bored so they dont want any sitting-around time.

thank you notes are big around here too, for sure (twice i havent received a thank you note and was seriously shocked). i usually also get a text, email, or call from the mom thanking me for the gift, but that's typically if we're closer friends.

-- Edited by daisy on Monday 8th of November 2010 06:37:53 AM

daisy · Guru

Lucy wrote:

Sonya, I love the idea of a food bank donation. I wish dh or my kids would go for it.

we have a food bank donation party coming up this weekend - but i got the kids gifts anyway (they are twins) - i'll do a donation plus a gift from R and a little thing from C too since they were kind enough to invite her along even though it's a bowling party and she definitely will not be able to bowl - and i know they had to pay extra for her.

kdrew · Guru

daisy wrote:

a_mastermom wrote:

I guess I am in the minority, but my kids have never been to a party where the presents were opened, unless it was a family party. We have been to tons of friend's birthday parties - Chuck E Cheese, bouncy places, indoor sports places, hair salons, even McDonald's and the presents were never opened - not once.

same here alicia - i think it's a regional thing - i've never seen the presents opened - not once - unless it's a family party. when i was a kid though, we used to open presents in front of the guests. i think it's a matter of time constraint, and people are SO worried that their party guests will be bored so they dont want any sitting-around time.
thank you notes are big around here too, for sure (twice i havent received a thank you note and was seriously shocked). i usually also get a text, email, or call from the mom thanking me for the gift, but that's typically if we're closer friends.

-- Edited by daisy on Monday 8th of November 2010 06:37:53 AM

Thank you notes must be a regional thing too. I would always write and always expect a thank you note. Even if there was a verbal thank you.

daisy · Guru

kdrew wrote:

daisy wrote:

a_mastermom wrote:

I guess I am in the minority, but my kids have never been to a party where the presents were opened, unless it was a family party. We have been to tons of friend's birthday parties - Chuck E Cheese, bouncy places, indoor sports places, hair salons, even McDonald's and the presents were never opened - not once.

same here alicia - i think it's a regional thing - i've never seen the presents opened - not once - unless it's a family party. when i was a kid though, we used to open presents in front of the guests. i think it's a matter of time constraint, and people are SO worried that their party guests will be bored so they dont want any sitting-around time.
thank you notes are big around here too, for sure (twice i havent received a thank you note and was seriously shocked). i usually also get a text, email, or call from the mom thanking me for the gift, but that's typically if we're closer friends.

-- Edited by daisy on Monday 8th of November 2010 06:37:53 AM
Thank you notes must be a regional thing too. I would always write and always expect a thank you note. Even if there was a verbal thank you.

definitely.

Lea · Veteran Member

I'd be mortified to have Charlie open at the party and him come off with something like "But I've already got that, or that's not what I asked for!!!"