Your Chance to Be Right
There is a little something that Mr. Husband and I have fought about for a very long time. I thought we had resolved the battle last year, but it seems to have come back to life again this holiday season. It is of the utmost of importance that we come to an agreement on the issue, because the fighting is seriously getting ridiculous.
One of us is under the impression that Santa wraps his gifts and the other one of us thinks that Santa does not wrap his gifts.
I'm not saying which one of us believes what because I do not want to sway you into knowing which one of us is right. Yes, only one of us can be right. It's vital to the serenity in our marriage. (I know I have had this discussion with some of you before, so do me a favor and don't hint to what you know about who is on which side, mmkay?)
The argument is as follows:
Person A, who says YES Santa wraps gifts, is of the opinion that part of the fun of presents is opening them. He or she believes that Santa makes sure that toys are taken out of their packages as necessary, but that he then finds the perfect box for them so he can wrap them in paper that CLEARLY did not come from House 'o Burgh Baby. Person A says that Santa is magical and can instantly wrap even the oddest of shapes, although his wrapping skills are not quite on the level of Martha Stewart.
Person B, who says NO Santa does not wrap, believes that since Santa and his elves make all of the gifts, they never make it to the assembly line where they are packaged as if a national secret is dependent on that Little Person not shifting so much as a quarter inch to the left. Person B maintains that Santa doesn't have time to wrap, so he leaves the gifts fully assembled around the base of the Christmas tree.
So, prove I'm right, please and thank you.
(If you are using a feed reader, please click over for a poll.)
Thank you for participating in this VITAL DISCUSSION.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Reader Comments (84)
St Nick wraps. The fun of the present is removing the paper. End of story. And, I LOVE Meg in her sweater. Does she get Meg slobber on it?
OH, and FIRST
@Anglophile Football Fanatic--Meg slobber gets on everything within a one-mile radius. It's a fact.
Are you KIDDING me? Wrapping all that weird-shaped crap? Hell no!
I reserve the wrapping for items that are easy TO wrap.
I'm a fan of wrapping all gifts, except the odd gift that can be put out to see first thing in the morning before the unwrapping begins. But that isn't a rule, either. Also, Santa always bought my toys at stores, never "made" all of them, so they could be wrapped as-is--no need to take them out of packaging.
And..OMG?! Meg in that sweater is amazing.
Before we get to Santa, let's talk about that dog sweater... That is teh awesome. Did you purchase it, or was it handmade?
Now, Santa... Santa always wraps most of his gifts in special Santa paper (see, it has Santa ON it, proving what a narcissist Santa really is). There are usually one or two big gifts from Santa that are not wrapped.
Gifts. Are. Wrapped. Period.
If Santa-gifts were wrapped, than what would child play with at 4 am when she sneaks out of bed. Our Santa gifts were not wrapped & we were allowed to play with them QUIETLY on Christmas morning.
Didn't you watch polar express? The other santa movies? The gifts are always wrapped. Santa has elves to do all the hard stuff! Last year the elves wrapped 100 hotwheels and over 100 pokemon guys individually! Crazy elves should've known the kids would get tired of it after the first 20!
In our family almost all of the Santa gifts have always been wrapped, and yes, in a different type of paper not used by our household, labeled in a different kind of handwriting. (Usually Christmas morning involves sleep-deprived adults who finish getting the gifts wrapped about three hours before the kids wake us up!) But Santa also does leave a few special, larger gifts unwrapped, and the things in the stockings are unwrapped.
I agree with Uncle Crappy. Exactly.
Although Santa has put only lots of bows on ride-on-toys that he built the night before with a stripped screwdriver and a vodka screwdriver.
Santa has his gifts wrapped perfectly in all the same type of wrapping paper different from any of the paper found anywhere in the house. Usually, Santa's a little cocky and uses wrapping paper that displays an image of himself. Also - Santa's handwriting looks as though he needs some special services at school - almost as if someone wrote it with the wrong hand or something.
Oh - but Santa is allowed to leave some presents unwrapped - such as a rocking horse, bike, vacuum cleaner (for the kids darn it), or other big items.... but mostly wrapped in Santa paper with love.
I seem to recall that my parents would definitely wrap SOME presents from Santa. But the BIG gifts (like a stroller, chalk board, something that needed to be pre-assembled) were never wrapped. I think they said they were too big to be wrapped.
For me, there's no paper in Santa's sleigh! Half the fun of Christmas morning is running to where the tree is and immediately spotting THE THING you asked Santa for. Big things are left out, small things get hidden in the tree and among the other wrapped gifts from family members.
Since you both have your own feeling about the issue, why not compromise and wrap some and leave some unwrapped. Regardless of what you decide, though, as long as whatever it is becomes part of your family tradition it will hold lots and lots of cherished memories. And in the end, isn't that what it's really all about anyway? xoxoxo
in our house santa leaves one big/cool present at the bottom of the stairs and then wraps the rest...
No way! ;-)
Santa is not a wrapper ;-) i never even knew this was up for question. hmmm. I'm interested in the results.
the fun of running downstairs (out, whatever) and seeing the Santa gifts and getting to rummage unencumbered through them with delight and glee. Priceless.
the jewish girl says that santa wraps.
the end.
1997. My now ex inlaws are coming to stay with us for Christmas (the first and only time.) My now ex husband insists that we do it his family's way and leave the Santa presents unwrapped. And not only will they be unwrapped, they will be left in individually sorted piles nowhere around the Christmas tree. I HATED IT! I can't stand to look at those pictures to this day. Where is the fun in sitting in front of your pile of presents? I much prefer the search involved. I also prefer watching the kids unwrap all their Santa gifts.
In our house the little ones have wrap that is themed to something they like that year (Saoirse gets Hannah Montana, Sophie Winnie the Pooh) and the older two have wrap with Santa on it. The tags are done by a friend or by my right hand. And of course ,the tags are different from those used on the other gifts.
I hope the Santa wrapper wins this arguement. Oh, I thank God William doesn't care for Christmas so goes along with everything I say.
I see the "no's" are not winning in the poll, but when I was little Santa never wrapped gifts and now that I have kids, Santa doesn't wrap gifts. Santa leaves some gifts in 2 piles, one for each girl. Santa usually gets something with their name on it, so they can tell which pile is theirs. This makes things much easier on so so so many scales!!! No having to wrap kitchens, skis, snowboards, each and every book, etc.. Also, this gives Santa the chance to unpackage everything so mom and dad can enjoy some coffee without prying things out of boxes!
So my NO is an adamant NO and should probably count 3 or 4 times!
WRAP WRAP WRAP!!
But honestly, who cares what you do for her gifts when she has a bulldog that looks like that?
Stick a bow on dog and call it even!!
Hallie
Yes, Santa always wrapped my gifts, and we wrap all of Santa's gifts. But my hubby's "Santa" left Santa gifts unwrapped and "mom and dad" gifts were wrapped. So I guess I have to really answer "yes" and "no".
I can see both sides...sorry to be of no help.
Yes, Santa absolutely wraps gifts. What is the fun of getting an unwrapped gift?? (Unless of course its a bike or a giant teddy bear or something)
However at my house, I leave wrapping paper out for Santa to use. After all, it takes a lot of resources to make all those presents, its only fair the parents pony up a little. He wraps them by magic at our house. (Your explanation makes more sense, but that's the way it goes at our house!)
Best comments EVER! Thanks y'all!
Every single thing is wrapped at my house. EVERYTHING. But unless it's something like a bike....not about to attempt that one!!
Every year I buy my daughter something big...a kitchen, a dolly bassinet, this year a spring horsey, she always crawls, walks and now runs for the wrapped gifts. She shoots right past the best one! Her favorite part of morning is unwrapping. Last year I went a little crazy and the child got bored and had to take a break. So this year I think I may try a little bit of both.
Your kid is too smart to believe in that "elf makes all the toys" bulldoody.
Santa wraps.
Santa definately wraps! Some things r left in original packaging (the easy open packaging) others are removed-or at least the 10 million ties n bands are removed (Santa learned that particular lesson the hard way!)
When I was young Santa also left the half eaten carrots the reindeer couldn't finish in the yard.
Mia
Boxed toys and the like, yes. Plush toys and bulky stuff (like a bike), no. But maybe he'll add a big, festive bow.
Santa wraps, except for the big stuff. But he never de-store-packaged them to re-package for me. I love that idea and may have a chat with Santa about it for my house.
I love Jennifer leaving paper out for Santa to use. love it.
Hubs and I have this same fight every year....Santa DOES NOT wrap! Want proof? Just watch any stop-motion Christmas movie (Rudolf, etc). Santa is shown with unwrapped gifts in his sleigh that just have a bow on them!
If that isn't scientific proof, I don't know what it!
Ugh, that's hard. I thin I'm with Danielle. Boxed toys, etc are wrapped, but other things (odd shapes, big items) don't have to be. Sorry. I know this doesn't help.
Santa does not wrap presents. Only presents from Mom and Dad (& others) are wrapped.
When i was a kid, my sis and I knew which presents were our because they were located on the same side of the tree that my Mother had laid the stocking out. (No fireplace, meant no hanging stockings)
Santa wasn't above hiding a few unwrapped presents in the back, just to confuse us a little.
Growing up all presents that came from Santa were in your stocking and everything wrapped was from mom. Husband on the other hand wraps presents from Santa, so I am completely confused as to which one I like better.
Seeing how I already have a hard enough time getting anything wrapped (seriously, gift bags have been my friends for years), Santa would be lucky to have me do the dirty work for him.
Growing up, they were always wrapped, different paper, different tags. But Person B's argument is awfully sound to me. Santa always brings one big present, so assembled and ready with a big bow on it makes the most sense.
So no, Santa (Mommy) is too lazy to wrap. :-)
I learned a long time ago, I have a 22 yo and a 19 yo too, that Santa has to wrap all gifts. No matter what the shape. It is the only way to assure all gifts are seen. My boys would have zeroed in on their BIG gift and forgot the rest. Now Santa does not put bows on his gifts, the bows would get smushed in the bag. (SSSHHHH, makes it easier to hide them too. ssshhhhh.) BTW My MIL says Santa doesn't wrap gifts, he doesn't have time. I wonder what the elves do once they are done making toys, besides they are now getting some gifts straight from the manufacturer. Hope that helps.
When I was growing up, Santa never wrapped gifts, and I never thought anything of it.
However, now that I have kids, Santa wraps his gifts. In plain red and green paper (or sometimes striped paper when Santa has a plain red/green shortage).
No wrap was fine, but we really love the crazy unwrapping on Christmas morning.
I would just like to say: THANK YOU MINDI! Who can argue with that scientific data?? DUH!
I also remembered that the way each boy knew what was his was by the stocking with his name on it.. THAT WAS ALSO STUFFED WITH UNWRAPPED GOODIES!
Ok - I think I'm done now. Maybe. tee hee hee
My husband believes that Santa wraps while I kind of think it would be cool to have all of the stuff out of boxes, artfully displayed and ready to play. That being said, he grew up with a mom who made cookies and wrapped gifts. My mom didn't even bother to remove price tags and the tooth fairy once left me a CHECK.
Santa will be wrapping our gifts this year.
At my home, Santa wraps gifts, but occassionally I help him. (That's to explain to my kids why a gift from Santa and a gift from us to their cousins is in the same wrapping paper)
NO, Santa emphatically does NOT wrap. At least he's not supposed to, though in our house he does NOW.
Part of the glory of Christmas morning is waking up and seeing all your STUFF laid out there!
Santa wrapping gifts can be tricky. Santa cannot use the same wrapping paper as Mom & Dad.
Growing up...Santa didn't usually wrap the gifts b/c the "big gifts" came from Santa....and they were displayed under the tree, or near the tree. You know what I'm saying... the rest of the gifts were usually from Mom & Dad, but occasionally wrapped & from Santa.
My inclination is to say No, he doesn't wrap gifts.
And really---those elves are really busy, and he's a busy guy. I doubt he has time to wrap gifts.
I'm just sayin'....
All presents under the tree are from Santa...mom and dad are not responsible for any of them. Santa wraps every present (after freeing them from all the ties in the boxes so they can easily and quickly be pulled out of the boxes). The only gifts Santa doesn't wrap are big items, like kitchens, strollers, bikes and the like.
If you don't wrap them, how can you tell whose is whose? My boys usually ask for similar things so they get them, maybe in different colors, but if it doesn't have their name on it, holy hell there would be some serious scrappin' come Christmas morning! And yes, Santa is a narcissist and only uses Santa-approved paper!
Santa wraps, he wraps in paper that OUR gifts are NOT wrapped in. The tags are printed(no kiddo getting smart and recognizing handwriting here)Now if the gift is too HUGE it does not get wrapped and instead gets a big ass bow stuck to it. Nothing in the stockings is wrapped. We also leave cookies and milk and carrots for the reindeer. Santa leaves crumbs and a lil' milk and carrots are gone.
the Mumple solution? The person to whom it is important that the Santa gifts be wrapped does the wrapping--no complaints, no help. Period.
Of course, the really cool, taller-than-the-Howler dollhouse Santa is bringing this year will be unwrapped.
At our house growing up, Santa usually left ONE really cool gift unwrapped, and the rest were wrapped.
As an extra wrapped-unwrapped tip, if you have more than one Spawnling, choosing different Santa paper for EACH Spawn saves Santa from filling out tags, and makes for a pretty pre-feeding frenzy tree.
@JenniferC--I forgot to say that the sweater is actually a Minnie Mouse sweater from The Disney Store. I got it for Meg two years ago because I like to torture her like that.
The really scary part is that I bought a matching sweater for Alexis. Somehow I missed taking a photo of them donning their matching sweaters. I kind of suck for that.
First of all Santa ALWAYS wrapped his gifts to me when I was little, why would he change now?
Gifts are wrapped. All gifts. Even if you are ghetto like my family and wrap it in the bag from the store it came from, that's still wrapped. If Santa wasn't going to wrap the gifts why wouldn't he just leave gift cards with specific instructions on what toy is to be bought with said gift card? That would be just as much fun as an unwrapped gift.
WOW. lots of opinions. Casa di RPM does it this way:
1. Santa wraps, or puts in gift bags. Presents are for opening.
2. Santa (or her minions -- er, elves) shops at stores, so gifts do not need to be taken out of packaging and reboxed. Santa only has so much time on her plate.
3. Big things should still be covered.
4. Santa, oddly enough, uses the exact same kind of wrapping paper at Casa di RPM! How 'bout that?
ciao,
rpm
Santa always wrapped presents in our house - with the same wrapping paper as the rest of the presents, and ironically had the same handwriting as my mom!
I think Santa will have a printer and will print out tags (To: the baby From: Santa). That way it's harder to figure out (or maybe not, I don't know - I have probably 2 more years before I really have to worry).
At my parents house, if there were big presents from Santa, Santa would take the time to go through my parents linen closet and find sheets to cover them up. uh-huh. yeah.
100% agreement with Uncle Crappy. Gifts. Are. Wrapped. Period.
And the "watch stop-animation shows" argument fails to hold weight, because they aren't even remotely consistent. (How did Mrs. Claus go from the Italian-style grandma in "Rudolph" to the spunky American-style grandma in "A Year Without Santa"?) Besides, half of the time, the toys are alive, and wrapping them could be fatal.