Receiving gifts
Printed From: OHbaby!
Category: General Chat
Forum Name: General Chat
Forum Description: For mums, dads, parents-to-be, grandparents, friends -- you name it! And you name the topic you want to chat about!
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=37736
Printed Date: 27 August 2025 at 11:16am Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.10 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Receiving gifts
Posted By: AandCsmum
Subject: Receiving gifts
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 1:30pm
Now I'm not sure if this is just me being picky but how hard it is to put a child's gift in wrapping paper or a bag.
I get annoyed with this at Xmas time too & it is only my in-laws that do it.
I received Alia's gift yesterday so this morning I thought I'd better take it out of the plastic bag & the paper it has been wrapped in (xmas paper turned inside out) has been ripped. It's really thin crap paper.
How hard is it to go & get that $1 wrapping paper, it works well & is cheap & not out of their way by any means.
Part of receiving a gift for a child is the fancy wrapping & unwrapping it.
At Xmas I had to fix all the wrapping on their Xmas presents as well as it had ripped or not been stuck down. Now I have to go & get wrapping paper to wrap up her present properly as well.
Am I just being bitchy? I am very grateful they have sent her a present, if not I'd probably buy something on their behalf.
Also DH is shocking at wrapping presents as well but he is getting better & has been getting cards as well, so I wonder if it's something they've never every bothered about?
------------- Kel
http://lilypie.com">
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12
|
Replies:
Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 1:36pm
i dont think you are being bitchy - a bit picky maybe!
I dont do cards and sometimes i wrap prsents in crepe paper and use stickers to stick it down. Kids dont care what its wrapped in.
Its the gift that matters!
------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker">
|
Posted By: lilfatty
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 1:36pm
Hmmm well for us, my inlaws send the kidlets pressie in fancy paper with bows and stuff, but Isabelle and Elias cant open them so it kind of defeats the purpose ..
So in my special circumstance, the cheap thin paper would work better.
------------- Mummy to Issy (3) and Elias (18 months)
I did it .. 41 kgs gone! From flab to fab in under a year http://www.femininefitness.co.nz/category/blog - LFs weight blog
|
Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 1:38pm
Dh was mortified when I re-used the paper from his b'day present for Christmas, it was only 3 days earlier and was for Catherine's presents, she wasn't going to notice and we go thru enough of the stuff as it was, maybe I'm being a cheapskate.
My Mum used to keep wrapping paper and re-use it.
------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">
[/url]
Angel June 2012
|
Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 1:46pm
I don't have a problem with paper being re-used. I do it myself.
I'm not really bothered by not having a card, although it's a nice gesture plus DD loves looking at her cards all year!
Maybe I should take a picture of it?
They've used the paper like you would brown paper, as the outer layer than you protect the gift inside, so addressed. If it hadn't then been sent in the plastic postage bag (probably the cost effective way of sending it) the paper & there for gift would have been destroyed on the way.
You can buy decent quality paper now in huge rolls really cheaply at those cheapy shops.
Dunno, I guess I just like to present the gift really nicely when I do it.
------------- Kel
http://lilypie.com">
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12
|
Posted By: Mucky_Tiger
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 1:48pm
I dont mind the cheap stuff if people can wrap it in the first place.
I was given pale yellow like pale pale lemon wrapping paper to wrap a black box with white writing on it. I could blatantly read through it (and was supposed to wait till xmas day, leave it under the (imaginary) christmas tree, and be totally suprised about what it was.
|
Posted By: BeLoved
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 2:00pm
I totally agree with you, I am a stickler for nicely wrapped presents, I reuse paper but only if its not ripped etc. My IL"s are the same when it comes to gifts lucky if they are wrapped and sometimes write in vivid on the paper and never do cards, to me its rude, but thats just me.
------------- http://alterna-tickers.com">
|
Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 2:38pm
As I discovered at Christmas time well wrapped present are a PITA for little kids to get into, my 7 and 9 year old nieces were having trouble undoing all the tape.
Did they use brown string? Or did they wrap it like fish and chips?
------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">
[/url]
Angel June 2012
|
Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 3:12pm
My two had no problem getting into the gifts at Xmas, once big sis taught lil bro he had it down pat too. He was an utter pro when it came to his birthday.
Beloved, OMG yes it's got vivid on it!
C&J, last year they only folded the paper like it is when sellotaped but didn't put any sellotape on it, just put it straight in the box. Only half the presents were wrapped too.
------------- Kel
http://lilypie.com">
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12
|
Posted By: Babykatnz
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 3:20pm
For littlies I tend to get gift bags to put presents in if I can rather than wrapping paper and tape thats a bit too fiddly sometimes (plus the 1-2y olds LOVE pulling things out of bags!), but older kids I am always careful about wrapping, and if it rips between wrapping and gifting, I try and mend it with more tape lol.
I have been known to write the name on it in vivid if theres more than one child (I dont generally buy cards as they end up getting thrown out in my experience) getting a gift at the same time, just so theres no confusion over who gets which gift.
------------- Brandon - 05/12/2003

|
Posted By: lil_l
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 5:07pm
I'm addicted to wrapping paper etc... I love getting handmade cards, where a bit of effort has been put in. In the future I will always get DD to make cards to go with gifts for family, it has so much more meaning. I think if someone has gone to the effort to nicely wrap something then it's extra effort they've put in for you.. my opinion anyway
|
Posted By: kiwi2
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 5:19pm
I totally get you. We used to get all kids birthday and christmas presents in one post bag no wrapping paper. 3 kids. So I would then wrap up the birthday ones in birthday paper and the christmas ones in christmas paper. There were cards so I just stuck them on. I learnt after the first year not to leave them to the morning of the birthday expecting it to be wrapped. Imagine opening a present and there being 5 other unwrapped gifts in there.
I think it is a learnt behaviour. DH learnt the hard way when he gave me an ipod for my birthday in a supermarket plastic bag. It sat on the bench for nearly a year untouched. I also bring it up publicly just to remind him never to repeat it. lol.
|
Posted By: RicKer
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 6:08pm
DD's grandma brought her 1st birthday present around in an old new world plastic bag and that was it
|
Posted By: T_Rex
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 6:34pm
hehe, you'd all hate me then. My little sister ended up coming for christmas at the last minute, and I was so not organised for her to be there. I'd run out of wrapping paper, it was xmas eve, and DD had been in hospital the day before and I live way out of town. I had some stuff I was gonna give her, so one gift when in a shoe box, one stayed in the farmers bag, one I tied up with a ribbon off DD's dress (but I made her give the ribbon back) and one was in a new world bag. We both thought it was hilarious. She appreciated the presents, so it was all good. When we were students, it was standard practice to wrap gifts in the student newspaper!
If it's an important occasion, then I'll do them nicely, but otherwise, meh, who cares? (more people than I thought, obviously!)
------------- http://lilypie.com"> http://lilypie.com">
|
Posted By: kiwi2
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 7:07pm
I think when circumstances dictate I would be a bit forgiving but if it is just because they don't care and can't make your birthday or christmas a bit magical then that is when it irks me.
Although I just did the worst booboo ever and had to wrap a birthday present in christmas paper. I have kids with birthdays around christmas and hate it when there are christmas wrapped presents for birthday. It was good quality pretty paper though. I thought I had paper and didn't so rather than nothing I used the christmas paper. lol.
|
Posted By: My3Sons
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 7:08pm
Posted By: Kimnthekids
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 8:09pm
I'm possibly bad then,
I reuse wrapping paper - or get the kids to help 'make' some by painting/ fingerpainting on paper and also get them to help make handmade cards.
We havent had a great budget this year for 'extras' and so id rather spend the few dollars it would cost for wrapping paper and a card, on the actual gift.
------------- http://lilypie.com"> http://lilypie.com">
|
Posted By: kiwi2
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 8:25pm
Kimnthekids wrote:
I'm possibly bad then,
I reuse wrapping paper - or get the kids to help 'make' some by painting/ fingerpainting on paper and also get them to help make handmade cards.
We havent had a great budget this year for 'extras' and so id rather spend the few dollars it would cost for wrapping paper and a card, on the actual gift. |
Handpainting and homemade cards aren't bad in my opinion. The whole thought for me is the effort behind it. If it is a slapdash cheap nasty effort that is how it makes me feel. Handmade is far above fancy paper as the effort is there.
|
Posted By: pudgy
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 8:32pm
Kimnthekids wrote:
I'm possibly bad then,
I reuse wrapping paper - or get the kids to help 'make' some by painting/ fingerpainting on paper and also get them to help make handmade cards.
We havent had a great budget this year for 'extras' and so id rather spend the few dollars it would cost for wrapping paper and a card, on the actual gift. |
We do this too, everyone so far has loved their 'one off original' cards and paper
To make no effort whatsoever to wrap a gift is just lazy and rude.
eta spelling
|
Posted By: rachelsea
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 8:56pm
I reuse wrapping paper too, and will just use xmas paper for someone's birthday if I don't have any birthday paper lying around
Unless it's a present for my mum, I have to wrap those properly. I'm still slightly traumatised from when I was 16 and bought her a pressie (it wasn't xmas or bday, just saw a fridge magnet that said "Mothers hold their children's hands for a while, but their hearts forever" or something like that, that I thought she'd like) and just gave it to her in the bag from the shop. Well she didn't even look at it, just threw it across the room while shouting that it wasn't a present if it wasn't wrapped now I think *that* was over reacting (she did come an apologise later after telling her friend about it, and said "I'm ready for my present now" )
------------- DD 4yrs DS 2yrs
http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">
|
Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 9:22pm
OMG Rachel, that is I'm just meaning gifts at Xmas & birthday.
Hand done paper is tops, especially if the kids do it, as you've actually put time into doing it, it doesn't matter about the value of the wrapping, it's the effort.
T-Rex, I'd completely understand & you did try, this is not bothering.
I said to DH & he said what not again, I said shall I leave it & he said show me & even he said we'll get paper & it's looks like paper from 15 years ago.
Also I was going to say I wonder if it's an age thing but then again they're way older than me obviously so that doesn't make sense. This is also from a lady that owned a flower shop in auckland, no wonder it failed!
------------- Kel
http://lilypie.com">
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12
|
|