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Two questions today…..
1. What book are you reading right now? I ask this all the time, but it changes and I love getting ideas from everyone on good new books! Or just good books in general. I’ve been on a little reading break, but was thinking about picking up Andy Cohen’s new book. However, the reviews on Amazon aren’t so great. Has anyone read it? What do you think? Any other recommendations?
2. Does Santa wrap Christmas gifts at your house? This is one of my all-time favorite holiday questions. I ask it every year and I love hearing everyone’s answers and traditions. I always used to think that Santa wrapped everyone’s gifts, but I learned that this was not at all the case. Sometimes he just leaves items under the tree and then the kids can run down and start playing with everything right away. Who knew? He wraps everything for us (including stocking stuffers which I am sure he finds tedious to wrap ;)) in Santa wrapping paper (just like my Santa did for me) so we know what is from him as opposed to the other gifts under the tree. What about your Santa? Any special Christmas Eve / Christmas Morning Santa traditions?
I am totally looking forward to hearing everyone’s answers today!
Santa wraps all the gifts!! I think when he forgets he may have may had too much of the punch. Our Santa has to deliver two places – wherever we are for Christmas and then all the big stuff at home so mom & dad don’t have to ship it back. However, Santa tries to leave most of the stuff wherever we are because it turns out a giant box only costs $30 to ship UPS and presents on Christmas morning are priceless. Santa will not make mom & dad ship back the art table & imaginext space rover.
Your Santa works hard! Where will you be this year?
My parents had Santa wrap all of the “stocking” which included the pile of presents underneath the stocking, but all of our other presents were labeled and in a different paper, even when we were older. My hubby and I have decided to do the same thing.
Stocking stuffers never really all fit in the stockings do they??
I’m like you… when I was young, santa wrapped everything! Thats how I like to do it. I think the unwrapping process is the funnest part! My husband, on the other hand, always had santa leave the presents unwrapped. So we compromised with our son. Santa brings some things a leaves them out, and then the presents we wrap are from mom and dad.
The unwrapping is the fun part! It builds the anticipation.
OH YEAH. I forgot. I don’t label anything. It already infuriates them.
How on earth do they know who gets what???
they don’t. only i do.
So do they just open whatever?
no silly. they have to wait to open everything. there is NO simultaneous ripping into the presents. i’m totally OCD about it. i hate having it all over in 5 minutes. it takes us hours!
Ohh, that makes much more sense. LOL.
We do that too though. The kids know which stack is theirs, but I still hand them all out one at a time.
I wrap everything but I try to remember whose paper is whose….since one of my daughter’s name begins with a B I always try to find some paper with blue in it so I always know what her gifts are lol. I try to make my son’s a more ‘boy’ christmas paper. It’ll be easier this year (I think) because now that my son found out last year are Santa (he was in third grade and one of the boys told him), I’m not trying to find places to hide gifts and remember where I hid them.
I’m reading “Blood Games” right now. I love every genre of books but I do love my paranormal ones. I just finished up the latest Mercy Thompson series book and I really hope she comes out with another–too many unanswered questions and possibilities! lol. Goodreads is the best place to find books–I found so many great books from there.
I believe there is some talk in 1st grade that Santa isn’t real, however, L thinks that is pure crazy talk!
Captivated by You just came out – 4th book in the Crossfire series! So that is what I have just started today!
When my kids were little, the big presents were from Santa and they were never wrapped: the kitchen set, the tool bench, the fisher price bug, etc.
I don’t even think L realizes that some gifts are from Santa and some are from us!
I got back to reading the Sherlock Holmes books. I just finished my FScott Fitzgerald run, and Leo Tolstoy’s the Death of Ivan Ilyich (good read). I also like some self help, Power of Now and I have The Charisma Myth in my queue. Oh and I have Great Expectations in there too. one of these days, ill squeeze in my learn to speak spanish set too haha GOALS
Your book selections make my reading choices seem like a 12 year-olds picks.
I just read The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks {I know, it’s not new}. I’m also reading Fly Away by Kristen Hannah {the sequel to Firefly Lane, also not new!}.
I wrap all of the kids’ gifts in brown paper and decorate with red and green ribbons, bows, washi tape, etc. Red is for Jordyn’s gifts {3} & green is for Cullyn’s gifts {1 1/2}. Stockings & Santa gifts are never wrapped! How would Santa have time for all of that?! Also, I always thought it would be cute to tie a string around the Santa gift and trail it to their room, but I’ve never actually done that. We’ve never done the reindeer food or anything like that {the kids have been too little, IMO} but we may do that this year. We do leave milk, cookies, & Carrots out for Santa on Christmas Eve. They also each get one gift on Christmas Eve, new jammies for Christmas morning and a movie or game to watch/play while drinking cocoa in front of the fireplace on Christmas Eve before bed. Last real tradition, we make a Birthday Cake for Baby Jesus on Christmas Day. Also, we have Christmas music & eat cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, just like I did growing up.
One tradition my in laws do, that I just love, is that all of the grandkids {8} grab one of grandpa’s big hunting socks and set it out for Santa to fill the night of their Christmas. I think this will be a good memory for the kids one day. 🙂
Sorry for the novel! 🙂
Santa stays up SUPER late and is 100% exhausted on Christmas morning.
Santa didn’t wrap our gifts, however he did always put them together so we could play with with them right away… With the exception of the year we got a trampoline, he let my dad handle that one. He was even real sneaky when my brother got a go cart and put him on a scavenger hunt to find it out in the shed in the back lot! I had to believe in Santa a good six years longer so I could also get presents since I was the oldest of three… You know the whole, you don’t believe you don’t receive. Basically my parents were bribing me not to tell my siblings! The best part is that even thought we’re grown now we still tell mom and dad what we want for our “Santa presents” each year! 🙂
That was smart of Santa! That is true about Santa though. If you don’t believe you don’t receive!
Im reading the lovely bones, old book but super good!!!
I have never read it either! Do you recommend??
1. Currently reading Cress, I know it’s YA but I love the idea of putting a sci-fi twist on classic fairy tales!
2. My sister and I are ALWAYS the first ones up on Christmas day! We love sitting under a blanket to watch the sun rise and the general peace of Christmas morning. Also Dad always makes crepes for breakfast!!!
Nothing wrong with YA books!!!!
Santa wrap is different than other presents wrap for sure. Stockings only get filled by Santa. We do a Christmas eve box with new pjs, a movie, movie snacks, cocoa, a mug, and a small toy for the girls 1 goody l gift on Christmas eve. Mom and dad gifts can go under the tree before Christmas and usually do.
I really want to do that on Christmas Eve, but we have a family party that night, so last year I did it on Christmas Day. We kinda just chill on Christmas, so it gives us something to do when the craziness of the morning dies down.
I’m reading Yes Please and Bossypants right now.
1. I am reading the 3rd book in the Pretty Little Liars series, I LOVEEEEe the show so I wanted to see how different the books are.
2. OHHHH the biggest debate topic in my house!! I am from the South, down here Santa does not wrap presents he just leaves them out so when you wake up you run in and see all your Santa presents. My husband is from New York and Santa wraps EVERYTHING up there. I never knew people did that until I met him I thought that was crazy. Every year we have our annual holiday fight about which is the *correct* way. Normally I win because lets be real he isn’t going to wrap any presents. However this year I am considering wrapping all the Santa gifts because my kids think unwrapping presents is sooooo much fun so why not give them even more to open!
Report back on the books! I would be really curious.
I am seriously fascinated with the wrap vs. no-wrap thing. I couldn’t even believe that some Santas didn’t wrap gifts. But you are right, the kids love the unwrapping!
Santa always had special paper he used. If it was a big gift, too big to wrap, he used a blanket or something. And my stocking always has wrapped gifts. 🙂
Have you heard of bookbub? You sign up via email and pick what type of books you like to read, then every day they send you discounted books – some free, some $0.99. I think the most expensive I’ve been sent was $2.99. I’m discovering lots of new interesting books! 🙂
Your Santa was like mine. Busy wrapping those little tubes of chapstick ;).
I have not heard of that but it sounds great!
I pretty much only read sci-fi and fantasy novels. Have lately been reading more than one at a time — Echopraxia by Peter Watts in hardcover (am supposed to review this although I’ve put it off for a long time), #7 in Glen Cook’s Garrett, PI series on the Kindle app during my downtime at work (shhh), and another one that has left such a small impression on me that I can’t currently think of the name (it’s too long and I’ve been plugging away at it forever because I can’t stand to leave books unfinished).
No wrapping of presents. I don’t have kids, if I get my dog and cats something they don’t care about that, and I don’t live near family or travel around the holidays. I mail gift cards to my sister so she can pick out something her kids will like (I don’t know them well enough to choose, myself).
I won’t tell anyone! It’s probably better than playing on the internet!
When I was young, Santa employed my mom to make a large fabric bag for each of us kids. (She did a wonderful job – Christmas fabric and each bag had our names embroidered on them!) Every year Santa would put all of our toys in the bags and tie them up so that he didn’t have to wrap the presents individually, but we still got to “open” the bag.
That’s great! Hopefully I remember that if I ever have a kid.
So your mom really was Santa’s helper!
When I was growing up Santa never wrapped any of our presents, they just magically appeared under the tree. My husband’s presents were always wrapped (someone else mentioned the south vs New England traditions – this may be the case since my parents are from MS and my husbands are from MA). Now that Santa leaves presents for our son he wraps most of them in black paper – it satisfies Daddy that they are wrapped, but also gives the obvious visual cue that these presents were NOT here last night. I find that wrapping Santa’s presents has the added benefit of concealing the gifts from snooping children should Santa choose to hide them in my closet prior to Christmas day. The other Christmas tradition that we did as kids was that we always got to open 1 present on Christmas Eve – pajamas. I always thought it was kind of lame, so we don’t do it with our son!
Santa sometimes stops at older kids houses before Christmas. That way he can get more done on Christmas Ever ;).
1.Right now I am reading mostly light-hearted reads. I want to read Food A Love Story sometime this winter. My customers are passionate about food and have an expectation that I am aware of all food trends, books, and movies. I also enjoy being on top of that. The books I am reading are Happy Women Live Better by Valorie Burton, The Tattered Quilt by Wanda Brunstetter which I am reading at my son’s TKD lessons. It’s easy reading allowing me to watch him at times and pick the book back up with no problems. I started the Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion.
2. I had no idea that people did not wrap presents from Santa until I married my husband. He married a woman who thinks wrapping presents is a form of art 🙂 We compromising with him picking a few that remains unwrapped. Everything else is wrapped including pet presents and stocking stuffers.
I like books you can pick up and put down easily without losing anything!
I wish I considered it a form of art! Or I wish my wrapping skills were good enough for someone to think it looked like art!
Growing up, Santa presents were never wrapped. I don’t think they were labelled either, but it was obvious who they were for and the kids always organized wrapped present by recipient to make Christmas morning run smoothly. I remember one year, when I was like 12 or 13, I sneaked to snoop through the presents in the middle of the night and there was no Santa present for me. I went back to bed and cried myself to sleep (my mental health was not great, lol) only to wake up and find my Santa present was in my stocking all along- a shiny new pager.
My family no longer really does Christmas, since the kids are all grown. My siblings with kids still do presents like we did though.
My boyfriend’s parents still give us Santa presents, but they are wrapped. Last year, everyone got presents to everyone from my dog, so he was kind of like Santa Paws.
I’m still reading Rue McClanahan’s autobiography.. but I misplaced it. Also re-reading my anatomy & physiology notes in preparation of a&p 2.
I am dying that your Santa present was a pager! This was clearly in the 90’s because I remember pagers well!
I like wrapping presents but sometimes Santa does not have a lot of places to hide them :S, so usually we wrap the presents we open on christmas eve and Santa brings his presents unwrapped, the tradition I have is letting a getting the kids putting a shoe below the tree so Santa can put it at the top of each pile of presents and the candy box he usually leave for everyone at home, I really like the kids looking for the shoe they think Santa will like, clean it (I think is the only time during the year they really do it LOL) and putting it below the tree, they usually put one dad and mom shoe so Santa does not forget us (so cute).
That is an adorable idea with the shoes so that the kiddos know which pile is theirs!!!
In my family, Christmas is HUGE! We spend thousands on gifts just because, especially for kids. Our family has always gotten together and opened the gifts from each other from under the tree (yes- all the gifts that aren’t Santas). Then in the morning Santa has came and brought all the toys. None wrapped and all opened and functioning. The stocking isn’t wrapped either. Also on Christmas we do our prime rib dinner for all 10 of us.
It’s really special considering my daughter will be old enough to enjoy it more (she will be 2 in March), although next year I think she will REALLY get it!
We did a Prime Rib dinner while growing up. It was always a delicious meal.
I think my 2.5 year old is going to “get” it a lot more this year. Last year he could have cared less about opening gifts. LOL.
I love that you asked about Santa wrapping the gifts. I had never heard of the opposite until the first Christmas with my husband and he asked me why I was wrapping my stepsons gifts! He said the unwrapping takes away all the fun. What?!? That’s the best part! Luckily we stuck with my way 😉
I agree. That is the best part!
I’m not currently reading anything but I’m getting in the mood so I know some reading is coming. We are however listening to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when we are in the car. The boys love the HP books and it something we can all agree on so that works well.
Santa does not wrap gifts at my house. He leaves his gifts and the stocking in front of the tree. He usually leaves the “big” gift which might not always be the most expesive but the one that is hardest to wrap. LOL All the wrapped gifts are from mommy and daddy. I love to wrap so I usually wrap everything except the couple santa gifts individually. Santa also only brings a couple things since he has so many kids to get gifts for and mommy and daddy give the rest. This is how we did it when I was growing up so I kept it up. M’s family wrapped everything but I find it funny that both his brothers family and ours do it the same way with unwrapped santa gifts now. 🙂
I wonder what L would think of Harry Potter! I should show him the movie!
When I was growing up Santa always wrapped our gifts and signed Tags with a certain block writing. The stocking gifts were not wrapped. My brother is 14 and a half years younger than me so Santa has been busy for A LOT of years.
In 2000 (the year the Jim Carrey Grinch movie came out) I was 25 and my brother was 10. We came down Christmas morning and EVERYTHING was gone: the stockings, the gifts we had put out for each other, the cookies we had left out- everything. The only thing under the tree was a book propped open- The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. We were stunned but knew that my parents had something up their sleeve. We looked around the house, and when we went into the garage my parents 4Runner was covered in fake snow(we live in So Cal). It was sprayed on the windows, sprinkled on the tires. It looked like it had just returned from a joyride thru the North Pole. We could see thru the windshield that there was a stuffed Grinch sitting on a present behind the wheel. We opened the car and it was loaded with our presents! The stockings and everything were in there. (My parents have stockings and Santa fills them too.) We shuttled it all back inside- overflowing stockings back to the hearth, presents from Santa and the family back under the tree. It was so much fun. I’m pretty sure we all know whats up with Santa but I can tell you that he will still be bringing us presents this year too. And you wonder why Christmas will always be my favorite Holiday?!
That is hilarious!
Santa has been busy at your house! That block writing must be perfected by now 😉
And I absolutely love that story! Your parents are awesome!
I just finished reading What Alice Forgot. It was so good! I want to start a book club just to discuss this book. 🙂 I obviously highly recommend it!
Santa wraps his gifts in santa wrap here too but doesn’t wrap the stocking stuff. That would be very tedious indeed!
I need to read this!!!
Santa wraps the stocking stuffers in Santa paper, but the gifts under the tree from Santa are never wrapped. That’s the way it was growing up in my house, so we’ve continued the tradition.
I wrap everything but stuffed animals – those I use to “decorate” the packages. However as E gets bigger and more things need to be put together, there’s going to be a lot of bows and less wrapping!
What are you getting her this year? I am not sure what to get WB!
Mostly educational stuff – a lot of Vtech things. She loves to read (well, be read to) so I was thinking of getting her the starter Tag system so she can read to herself. It really is a hard age because everything is 12-36 months but some if it seems too babyish for her and other things seem too old for her.
Right now I’m reading SHIFT by Hugh Howey, which is the second of the WOOL trilogy. Around 600 pages each, and totally worth the time.
Growing up, Santa had his own wrapping paper, different from the paper used to wrap presents from Mom & Dad. I have never heard of not wrapping presents from Santa (or anyone else). I have always wrapped all of each girls gifts in different paper so we can all tell who gets what. They open stockings first & then wake us up. I mark each gift with a number & they both open the same numbered gift together. They may not both get the same thing but they both have the same number. The searching slows things down a little & helps make the fun last.
That is a good idea to number the presents. I know down the road my boys will both get “like” presents that they should open at the same time!
Ok I’m the odd man out, we never made a big deal about Santa . He was mentioned but we didn’t use it as a way to get them to be good or go to bed. Santa filled the stockings and every other got credit to whomever gave it.
I wanted the kids to know that Santa sent small but thoughtful treats for them but that mom,dad, and other people went to a lot of thought to get their other gifts. I just felt wrong telling a big lie rather then a small one lol
On Xmas eve we put on our comfy Jammie’s and dinner is snack food, pizza rolls,crackers cheese, sausage and anything else that I just put out to snack on. My family is required by law to what AChristmas Story with me.
Xmas day we wake up late drink coffee open gifts then it’s ham with all the trimmings. Oh yeah Xmas eve our friends come over to share our snack, give cookies and homemade gifts. They live next door and we’ve done it every year for 14 years!!
I will also leave on A Christmas Story all day long, it’s a marathon on TBS, and only change it that night. Drives them crazy that’s why I do it
I LOVE a Christmas Story. It’s not Christmas unless you watch that!
Oh forgot to add. I’m reading two books both syfi thrillers,
Beginnings by jackie Druga and whisky tango fox trot. Zombie and end of world novels.
We also do the long held New England tradition of twelves days of Xmas and the celebrate they end of season tradition of Boxing Day. Which has nothing to do with the sport. Lol it’s the tradition of recognizing those less fortunate by ” boxing up ” items to give to others. Lots of fun and teaches a lesson
Love that!
1. Current book is my book club selection which is “Beautiful Ruins” by Jess Walter. Last book read was Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman (no I haven’t seen the series).
2. Completely blown away that not wrapping presents from Santa is a thing. I never knew! Grew up on the West coast and Santa always wrapped presents. Santa still wraps things for my husband and I (though more for my husband 🙂 with trinkets in the stockings, gifts for the cats and pj’s every year (yes for adults). Of course the cats usually give the husband presents too.
You still haven’t seen the series???
I was blown away when I first heard it too!
**** you need a link on your page so we can enter contests easier **** along with who won….
1. I am reading Gone Girl and Book 8 in the Outlander – My Own Heart’s Blood
2. Santa still wraps the big presents but it’s not the same with teens 🙁
You can see all the giveaways here and it will also show who won in the individual giveaways:
http://www.ramblingsofasuburbanmom.com/tag/giveaway/
I have thought about adding a tab at the top, but in all honestly I don’t think I would be good at updating it! It’s for sure something I have considered though!
I received several books at my birthday party this weekend, so I’m set for a while! First up is “As You Wish”- a memoir about making The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes (who played Westley). Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies and memoirs are my favorite genre, so I’m loving it. I have been REALLY wanting to see the movie ever since I started reading it, though. I’m making myself wait until I’m done, though, or else I think I’d end up watching it every day for a week!
Santa usually didn’t wrap our gifts, he just put a bow on them or something. I don’t have kids and my nephew is only 2 so he doesn’t “get” the Santa idea yet. Next year my sister will have to figure something out.
Someone just recommended that to me over the weekend… except he told me to download the audio book because Cary Elwes read it himself (with cameos from other actors). I had forgotten about it until just now! 🙂
Yeah- there’s little boxes throughout the book with quotes from different actors and people involved in the movie talking about whatever that chapter is about. That is probably a lot of fun in the audio book!
I’m kind of a book snob, so I have minor complaints like that it tends to be repeatitive, but overall I’ve really been enjoying it.
I’m 24 now and not living at my parents house but Santa still wraps one gift for me and my sister and then fills a stocking full with un wrapped gifts! We also still leave carrots for the reindeer and cookies and milk for Santa ;). As for wrapping my mom has always done Santa presents in the same wrapping as the rest of the gifts but the label says From Santa is scribbly handwriting (like someone wrote left handed) lol As for books I’m wanting to start A Beautiful Wedding by Jaime McGuire which is the third book in the Beautiful Disaster series which are sooo good.
It’s always fun to believe, no matter how old you are!
1. I’m reading “The Book Thief” right now, but have barely read recently because I just got a kitten on Friday <3 I just read "The Rosie Project" for book club, next is "Everything I Never Told You." I read a lot haha
2. My mom would keep everything unwrapped under the tree so that we would know those presents were from Santa. The wrapped presents were from my parents and grandparents
What is the new kitten’s name??
Her name is Aspen 🙂
When I was little we would lite a Yule log the 12 days before Christmas, I would blow out the candle and if I was good Santa would bring a stocking stuffer. On Christmas Eve the whole family would go to my aunts house. The family would exchange presents from aunt Annie’s Santa or cousin Karens Santa. Then on Christmas Day my presents from Santa would be wrapped. He usually brought our tree too when I was really little so I wouldn’t break it, we had a train too. Now I’m married but don’t have kids and usually work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so we make Christmas whatever day we are off together and do presents. I haven’t opened presents on the 25th in years
Where you ever not good and didn’t get one??
Your Santa brought your tree! Now that is fun!!!
Love this wrapped or unwrapped debate because I bring it up every year on my Facebook. I never knew anyone who had wrapped Santa gifts until I met my Canadian husband.. I always assumed it was an Canadian thing..He never knew anyone who had unwrapped gifts he always thought everyone had to unwrap their Santa gifts. Then I started asking on Facebook and found it to be about 50/50 among my friends. Santa NEVER wrapped our gifts. On Christmas morning they were under the tree and ready to go. If it was something that required batteries they were already in.If it had to be built it had already been done at a different location. I learned later that a lot of our gifts were put together at my grandparents house and then after we slept my grandparents got up and delivered our assembled gifts to the house.. 🙂 It’s all I know so of course I couldn’t imagine getting up and having to unwrap my Santa gifts and then wait for them to be put together, batteries added etc… lol.. I have also learned that some people put NO gifts under the tree until either Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. Our tree usually goes up on Black Friday and if there are gifts that have been purchased they are wrapped and go under ASAP. Love reading about others traditions..
I do too! “big gifts” that require assembly are put together before Christmas morning. And usually not wrapped. My 6 year-old got a bunk bed / bedroom makeover last year and Santa put all that together for him when he stopped by. Same with a mini car he got one year. Both most is wrapped!
Why yes I am reading the Andy Cohen Diary. I’m only a few pages in, but I like how easy it is to read, broken down by day… His extra little “411” on all the celebs, etc. It’s a shallow book just as it claims to be!
Santa gifts were always wrapped in the same Santa paper. Never even considered unwrapped and didn’t know George’s Santa didn’t wrap until we were heading for the teen years. In retrospect, kinda wish we had done big special made Santa bags… Santa would have been less burnt out at this point! Plus, Santa used to undo all those twisty ties and put batteries in ahead of time so this Santa was exhausted. Oh, but Santa didn’t wrap stocking stuff…
I can’t believe George’s Santa didn’t wrap! I bet the Santa at your house was exhausted!
One year when I was little, I commented to my parents that Santa had the same wrapping paper as them. Santa rectified this oversight in coming years.