Are gifts opened at birthday parties?

[AnnieW625]

Here in SoCal I seem to see the following trends:
Parties at non home venues (even at a casual venue like the park), never opened at a party
Most parties at a home and a party for <than 5 yr. olds, not opened
Larger parties of >than 10 kids invited at a home, not opened
Family parties at home, opened
Smaller kid parties with <than 10 kids invited, esp. when the kids are older than 5, opened
Gifts opened at the end of the party after the bulk of the friends have left, only one or two kids remain

We have done all of the above at one time or another, and each situation is unique. While I do like to see gifts open at a party especially for 1 yr. olds or kids over the age of say 4 so they can tell their friends "thank you" in person I am not offended if a gift is not opened in our presence. I don't see one wrong or right answer IMHO.

Dd1 is having a sleepover (yesterday to today) and invited 3 friends, they opened gifts after dinner last night.

I voted other

[KrisM]

I don't think it's wrong to open gifts. But everyone keeps saying the enjoy the reactions, but after the third gift or so, I'm done. I fake it though. it just takes so long. Kid shakes gift, opens it, no one can see, parents tell him to pose with the gift so they can take a bunch of pictures. I know I sound cranky, I just don't see the appeal. At least at a shower the gifts are interesting, and the bride/new mom keeps things moving. And there's alcohol.

Of of course the last party I went to where gifts were opened were at our cousin's triplets' party. 3 times the gifts, woo hoo!

See, I think watching people open a cooking pot or a set of sheets is way less interesting than kid gifts. At least kid things give me ideas for my own kids sometimes. My youngest is 6 though, so we are well into drop-offs and I'm no longer there. I kind of missing getting ideas! And showers are huge, so it's like 30 minutes of gift opening at least! Alcohol most definitely helps .

[carolinacool]

I don't think it's wrong to open gifts. But everyone keeps saying the enjoy the reactions, but after the third gift or so, I'm done. I fake it though. it just takes so long. Kid shakes gift, opens it, no one can see, parents tell him to pose with the gift so they can take a bunch of pictures. I know I sound cranky, I just don't see the appeal. At least at a shower the gifts are interesting, and the bride/new mom keeps things moving. And there's alcohol.

Of of course the last party I went to where gifts were opened were at our cousin's triplets' party. 3 times the gifts, woo hoo!

I am so with you. That's majority of parties we have been too, the guest of honor has opened the gifts. For DS' first and second birthday parties, we did open. Even though we were at a venue, it was okay because we got through them relatively quickly and there were only six or seven to open. We did not have a party when he turned three. For his fourth birthday we had a double birthday party with some very good friends in a very large party venue. Between kids and adults there were easily 40 to 45 people there, a lot of people. The other mom insisted on opening the gifts, which I knew would be a disaster and it was. It was loud, chaotic, and they had to open them at the same time because we are running out of time to be in the room. Awful. For his fifth birthday party a couple of months ago we did not open. We were at Chuck E Cheese, and no group of four- and five-year-old boys want to sit and watch presents be opened when there are games to be played. Lol

[Momit]

I have almost never seen gifts opened at a party. When it has been done, in just about every case it seemed like a filler. "Whoops, 15 minutes til the party is supposed to end and I am out of ways to entertain the kids. Let's open gifts!" I prefer for it to be done outside of the party - it's dull to watch, kids may not have the most gracious reaction if they get a duplicate gift or something, etc.

[waver]

Younger kids, no we didn't open presents.

After my kids turned 6 or 7, we started opening presents. The other kids love it and feel appreciated. There a lot of "oohs and aahs!" We have small parties no more than 15 kids invited. It doesn't take time.

I think it is also excellent training for my kids to acknowledge and thank the gift giver right away, learn to show respect and appreciation even and especially when it is a gift they don't like as much (for example, a duplicate or something she just doesn't like). We discuss before hand how to handle these situations.

At parties where the host opens presents, my kids also enjoy seeing. I remember as a kid feeling a little embarassed and nervous when my present was being open, though!

[gatorsmom]

I voted other. Gifts are opened here if there is time. Sometimes parents here use it to use up some party time. But most kids don't want to sit through the gift unwrapping.

[lalasmama]

They are around our area. That being said, our area is quite "behind the times" and small home parties are still the overall norm here. When we took DD and her friends to the local pool for DD's b-day, everyone thought it was a pretty novel idea!

[Gracemom]

We usually have the birthday kid open the present from the friend who is about to leave. Then the friend gets to see the reaction, gets a thank you and goody bag and goodbye. Seems to work pretty well. Other kids can watch if they want or keep playing. Our parties are pretty small - 15 kids max.

[trales]

Always opened around here, no matter what age or the venue. The venues build the time for opening into them. We had a bowling party yesterday and the kids were so excited to see her open the gifts.

[wellyes]

Younger kids, no we didn't open presents.

After my kids turned 6 or 7, we started opening presents. The other kids love it and feel appreciated. There a lot of "oohs and aahs!" We have small parties no more than 15 kids invited. It doesn't take time.

I think it is also excellent training for my kids to acknowledge and thank the gift giver right away, learn to show respect and appreciation even and especially when it is a gift they don't like as much (for example, a duplicate or something she just doesn't like). We discuss before hand how to handle these situations.

At parties where the host opens presents, my kids also enjoy seeing. I remember as a kid feeling a little embarassed and nervous when my present was being open, though!

My kids open gifts at Christmas and from family, so they do get plenty of exposure to that aspect of etiquette.