So we plan to do Christmas morning at my sister's house and I asked her if she minded if we put the presents away before he gets there and put them all out on Christmas Eve night so that he thinks Santa came and left them. She basically said no and that she wanted him to know that the gift(s) she got him were from her, even if mine were from Santa.
For some reason, this really bugs me. I feel like it's kind of selfish to need to 'get credit' so to speak in a three year old's eyes for a gift. You only get a few years where children are so innocent that you can pretend things like Santa Claus exists and I want that full experience for him.
So tell me, am I being ridiculous? Am I still so RBTTF that I'm not thinking straight?

Re: Is this petty?
I'm not sure how to put this into words, but I'll try. It doesn't matter to me that all of his gifts are from Santa by any means, it just bugged me that she insisted that her gifts were from HER only. Does that make sense?
It kind of ruins the impact of "Santa's coming tonight!" if there's a tree full of presents when we arrive the day before.
I don't think I was making my point well I guess.I don't want her to pretend her gifts are from Santa. I just don't think he's old enough to realize that "Santa" came and brought more presents than the mound of presents that were already under the tree when he got there, so I didn't see the harm in putting them in the closet overnight even if she tells him that her gift is from her when we open them.
ETA: This bugged me because she refused to do this to make sure she got credit for her gifts. I'd rather just stay home and do the whole Santa thing at home, but she'd blow a gasket if I do that for sure.
Yeah, I think you're being a little petty/RBTTF. That's great that you want to give your kid the magic of Santa, but you can't expect everyone else to alter their plans to play along. And just as much as you're thinking "What's the big deal about putting the gifts in the closet?", she's probably thinking "What's the big deal if he sees some presents and knows Santa hasn't come yet?"
Would a compromise be pushing some of the gifts toward the back of the tree?
I know I'm probably petty and shallow, but personally, I don't think my tree looks complete unless there are a bunch of presents under it so I'd be a little put out if someone asked me to put them away.
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No, that's probably a good idea. I'll unbox them and make sure batteries are installed and all that.
This is how my mom & dad did it, and it worked for my brother and me. We never had Santa at our own house, it was always at my Grandma's house, but it was never confusing for us because they made sure to make these little distinctions so it was very clear which were the Santa presents
We didn't have stuff under the tree from santa. We would get our stockings from santa and then there would be a few things in front of the stocking (like my dad would have assembled the barbie vanilla kitchen or the barbie corvette).
Would she be okay with him making room for Santa's presents before he goes to bed?
She could have the presents under the tree when you guys get there but before bed on Christmas eve he could maybe move them around and clear a spot for Santa to leave the extra presents.
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i think you're overthinking it. Connor is going to be so excited about all the presents and stocking stuff that he won't think twice about anything else.
in our family there was nothing under the tree before we went to bed, but by morning ALL the gifts were under the tree, including the ones from my aunt, sister, grandparents, parents and Santa. our stockings were on the end of our bed, things in there were from Santa only.
All of our Santa gifts were unwrapped. the wrapped gifts were under the tree ahead of time. Santa would also fill the stockings and decorate our tree.
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Our Christmas tree was always in the living room, but the fireplace was in the den so all our Santa crap (stockings, one or two big presents) were all by the fireplace in the den. Santa crap was also unwrapped and all put together. It was nice because my mom always insisted on eating breakfast before we opened presents, so we had something to play with while we waited for breakfast and dishes to get done.
I think when kids are the age that Santa sounds completely plausible, they're able to reason away a lot of things. It's only when you're older and suspicious that you start putting the pieces together.
When my BFF and I were growing up and living in the same house, we did the Santa thing for awhile. Then when the jig was up, our moms did "mystery gifts," which were a bunch of random stuff that they'd wrap and put a "?" on the tag and we could each pick 3. That was kind of neat.
Last Christmas I was at my dad's and I could hear him and my stepmom up wrapping gifts and sneaking them under the tree as I was falling asleep. I thought it was hilarious and kind of adorable they still did that, even though the youngest kid was 15 at the time. It was all very Norman Rockwell/Donna Reed stuff.
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I never remember having any trouble distinguishing which gifts were from Santa and which were from relatives. I agree with whoever said that I would want my sibling's kid to know my gift was from me. I don't think 2 or 3 year-olds think in terms of money, so it's not like wanting credit for buying something. It's more like you want them to know you thought of them and love them. I've never heard of a toddler whose presents all came from Santa. Usually people have separate family and Santa gifts.
I actually never got presents from my parents, but I did get stuff from grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. I never thought to question why my parents didn't get me stuff. I was just happy to get gifts.
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All of this, yes. And hell, now as an adult, I can still look at some things and think "My aunt gave me that!" and it's all special and warmfuzzy.
Husbands should be like Kleenex: Soft, strong, and disposable.