Back in the day, when I had 3 ‘believers’ and nary a fucking minute to myself, I would assist the fat dude in the red suit by wrapping all the gifts on Christmas Eve.
Sometimes driving to pick them up from their hiding place at my parents his factory after the kids had gone to sleep, and wrapping into the wee hours of the morning.
Only to get up minutes later to oooh and ahhh over the gifts that were unwrapped in 4 seconds flat and then spend the rest of the day cooking an amazing meal.
Then I slapped myself around a bit and went to my parents house the factory to wrap the gifts a couple of days beforehand, ensuring a moderately early night and less murderous Christmas day from lack of sleep and wrapping paper cuts.
As I got older and realised that I didn’t have to do it all in one fucking session, and the kids got less gifts (but they COST MORE) I would spread it out over a few weeks while they were at school.
THIS YEAR I woke up and realised that I don’t have to do it all.
So MPS has got the day off tomorrow and he can be my sticky tape bitch and we will get it all done in time to go out for a nice lunch before school pickup.
Well, that is the plan anyway.
So tell me, how do you do your Christmas wrapping? All in one night? Christmas Eve? As you get them? Outsource to those places in the shopping centre?
P.S. Click here to see my patented gift wrapping station that made Martha Stewart weep.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
My dear, Santa is far too busy to wrap! That’s why he chucks things in a big sock! He is a bloke you know…
where were you 20 years ago before I started these shenanigans?
A sock. No wrapping? You are a genius.
Your coat bag wrapping station is genius. Because really, who actually uses coat bags for well, coats. It slays Candy’s wrapping room. Fact.
true fact.
I used to wrap and label as I bought things, then when I started buying less, I’d stash it all away and wrap everything in one go a couple of week before Christmas. Now most of my presents are gift cards with just a wrapped present for the two youngest grandkids. I’ll wrap those the day before they come to collect them.
I usually wrap a few days in advance and chuck it under the tree. Helps that Heidi don’t like the idea of a strange man wandering through our house and Annie has never believed.
Boo still does. He is so damn excited…
“sticky tape bitch” … Can I use that one?
Hiding them is getting impossible. I have to wrap them as I go.
Hide them in the laundry. In plain sight.
One year I had a whole box of them (3ft high) sitting in the middle of my room with ‘st vinnies’ written on the side. Not one of them checked in there.
Stupid kids.
Maybe I should hide them in her room. You can’t find anything in there!
Just checked out those wrapping rooms. I could implement a similar roll system in my kitchen, on a smaller scale, with rolls of gladwrap, alfoil, baking paper, greaseproof paper, paper towel, and in place of the ribbon rolls a set of cubby holes with paper patty cases, muffin cases, tubs of cake decorating sprinkles….all I need is a much bigger kitchen.
then you could post it to pinterest and become a blogging SUPERSTAR!
I have hidden them in their rooms in their cupboards – they never check there! I get as many as possible wrapped by those charity people in the shopping centres. The advantage is they use different wrapping paper to mine. My eldest still believes but I still can’t work out if it is innocence or a ruse to get more gifts! I do believe it’s real, because he is pissed off Santa never brings the thing he really wants, a really expensive gaming computer.
Christmas Eve, Blues Brothers on the telly, I don’t need a sticky tape bitch, I have a Baileys Bitch and he keeps me well lubricated. Nice.
I always have good intentions, only to find myself sitting on the floor in front of the tv late on the 23rd, wrapping the damn presents. We have family dinner on Christmas Eve so it HAS to be done by then. I have started getting them done in the shopping centre the past year or so, and I “may” have slipped a few that were purchased elsewhere previously among the pile to be wrapped *ahem*
Hang on! The Damn Emos have moved out, haven’t they? HUZZAH a giftwrapping room!!
I usually love wrapping but it’s hard to find a large surface on which to wrap. it’s around about then that I wish I had a Candy Spelling type wrapping room!
“So MPS has got the day off tomorrow and he can be my sticky tape bitch and we will get it all done in time to go out for a nice lunch before school pickup.”
HA! Great plan!
I usually wrap them as soon as I buy them. this way I don’t have to stress over it.
My parents used to keep them unwrapped in suitcases in their wardrobe. I knew about their hiding spot when I was about 3. Epic fail Mum.
Santa presents are traditionally wrapped late into the evening on Christmas eve. Other presents are wrapped by the charity wrappers at the mall or as they are bought, which is also last minute. I haven’t even started this year.
xx
It’s my, er, Santa’s, Christmas Eve tradition to wrap everything once the kids are in bed.
I get everything out on the floor in the living room, put on whatever’s Christmassy on the tv, and get to work. We don’t tend to do a huge amount of pressies, usually one Big Thing (this year it’s a PS4), and then a stocking each, plus a couple of bulky toys just so it looks a bit more interesting under the tree on the morning.
It’s all a bit different this year though, as the boys will be at their dad’s, so I’m not entirely sure when I’ll wrap their pressies. Quite possibly the night before they come home for 2nd Christmas.
I think I’d probably end up getting tears on the wrapping paper if I did it earlier … *sigh* the joys of being a divorced family!
On the up side, I’ll get to sleep in on Christmas day, and I don’t have to cook as my parents are taking me out for dinner. 😉
I used to do the same stay up all night and wrap presents and wait till the darlings were asleep,now i can wrap and put under the tree and they don’t even look xx