scott_p_1

With the big day approaching, and me spending a few days at my parents house, I'm reminded of what Christmas really means to me: Snooping for Christmas Presents.

We've all done it when we were younger (well, maybe not all, but most). Anyway, my question for you is, How much did you snoop and how did you snoop?

For myself, I was horrible. When I was young, I'd start snooping casually once December hit. Once school got out for Christmas Holidays, the race to ruin my Christmas was on. Both of my parents worked during the day, so I'd be home alone with a house full of presents.

Back in the day, my parents relied solely on the "hidden present" method, completely unwrapped. I'd turn the house upside-down looking for presents. They were good at hiding, but I was better at finding! That lasted for a few years, but they began to catch on.

Then began the big war. The semi-hidden wrapped present. As soon as the present came in the door, it was wrapped, and shoved into their closet under a few sweaters, or underneath their bed. The hiding was little more than to taunt me I think! Then came the present unwrapping skills. Carefully peeling back the tape from the wrapping paper to open the present just enough to get my peak. This was difficult, as it was very easy to ruin the paper around the tape, taking the design of the paper off with the tape, and completely ruining the wrapping job. I fell prey to this a few times.

Anyway, this morning, I managed to catch a glimpse of a rather large and (upon further inspection) heavy gift. Since both their kids have moved out now, I guess my parents have even done away with the semi hiding. Well, curiosity got the better of me and I just had to know what is was. Quick inspection of the gift proved the normal 2 layer, heavy on the tape style wrapping. I guess some old habits die hard for my parents. A quick attempt to peel back the tape showed that it was a horrible combination of wrapping paper and scotch tape. It would tear at the slightest amount of peel back.

Ah, but having nearly completed my degree in Computer Science, this wouldn't stop me! I'm smarter than they are now (book smarts, at least) and I wouldn't let them defeat me. Then it dawned on me. The hair dryer! Direct the hair dryer at the tape for 2 seconds, and it was like the tape wasn't there at all, and it reapplied perfectly afterwards! If only I had known that as a child, I would have had so many more Christmas mornings faking surprise.

In closing, yes, I am 22 and realize what I'm doing is rather childish. And to those, whose first thought wasn't that snooping was very childish, I'm getting a set of Altec speakers. Hey, it's not completely ruined; I don't know what model of Altec speakers they are.

ShaniFaye

I love the element of surprise too much....I'd never take away the satisfaction of the gift giver of seeing my initial reaction by snooping

as for my daughter...she doesnt get a chance...presents are not stored at the house....they are not brought home until christmas eve

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cyrnel

I remember doing my share of midnight snooping & shaking of wrapped presents but it wore off by the time I was 8 or so. I'd just sit in bed relishing the final countdown, thinking how if I could just get to sleep I'd wake up _and be THERE!_ Must have been my biggest pre-teen adrenaline rush!

Guthumba

I would ravage the house when my parents left to go to the grocery store or on some similar errand, searching every nook and cranny. I eventually learned that they tended to hide the items in a lockable secretary...this began my studies of lockpicking. Within a year that lock belonged to me...I could pop it open in 30 seconds with a bobbiepin stolen from my mother's vanity drawer.

Later they too began wrapping the presents early...I ruined the wrapping on my first attempt to snoop and was foiled. However, I quickly learned that I would take my pocket knife (yes, as a child I was foolishly trusted with nice minature Swiss Army Knife which I cherished as if it was Excalibur itself) and delicately slice the tape off the side of the present, enabling me to lift the flap, peek inside, and then replace with a second piece of tape. Once I woke up around 3am, couldn't sleep of course, snuck downstairs, slit open a present, found a Nintendo game (that's the original NES in all it's glory), opened it...again with delicate slicings of my pocket knife, removed the game, went upstairs, played it until 6am, won the game, went back down and repacked it before scurrying upstairs and feigning sleep for the next...eternal...hour.

My parents grew more suspicious and less trusting as my "Christmas morning surprise face" grew less and less convincing. At this point they began the present storage game with the neighbors...they kept the neighbors kids toys in our attic and the neighbors held onto ours. It was the perfect plan for my brother and I loathed those little punks next door and even spoiling Christmas was not worth 5 minutes in their company...

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Locusts and honey ... not since John The Baptist has there been a voice like that crying in the wilderness. ... Every man knows he is a sissy compared to Johnny Cash -- Bono.

Charlatan

I just give my kids coal so there is very little guess work involved.

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Janey

I think that when i have kids, the first time they snoop, we will make a trip to the local shelter to donate (all of their) gifts, on the way to church.

warrrreagl

I snooped once when I was 10, and I never enjoyed those gifts at all. I never have the urge to snoop anymore.

My folks hid our presents in the attic, and we had one of those pull-down stairs to get up there. Every year around Thanksgiving, we were warned that some of the steps had broken and were very dangerous, and we should not attempt to get into the attic for any reason.

It always worked.

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Living is easy with eyes closed.

Redlemon

Snooping takes the fun out of gift giving and receiving. I never snooped as a kid. With my wife, we now say "I'm hiding your gifts over here, so don't look there", and this works fine. I hope my 2 year old doesn't grow up to be a snooper.

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Guthumba

Hey. now...don't look down on snooping...it's an artform...

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Locusts and honey ... not since John The Baptist has there been a voice like that crying in the wilderness. ... Every man knows he is a sissy compared to Johnny Cash -- Bono.

ShaniFaye

but why snoop? I dont understand getting pleasure out of trying to ruin someones surprise

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I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!

Fremen

I and my brother snooped one year into our Christmas stockings.
We each had a mini Evel Knievel motorcycle in them, one a chopper, the other a normal one.
We switched with each other and nary a word was said about it by our parents.
I'm not sure they even noticed.

I snooped once on my presents, and as mentioned above, it ruins the whole process.

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Guthumba

It's not about ruining the surprise, it's more about the hide-and-seek/cat-and-mouse game between child and parent. It was more of a game between us...

I could usually figure out what things generally were by their shape, weight, and sound anyway...but when something totally stumped me...well...more elaborate methods were required to satisfy my curiousity.

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Locusts and honey ... not since John The Baptist has there been a voice like that crying in the wilderness. ... Every man knows he is a sissy compared to Johnny Cash -- Bono.

El Kaz

Aaah this topic sure does bring back memories

I do remember snooping on hidden gifts, but it only lasted two years though. The parents caught me during the 2nd year and from then on I don't even think any gift entered my house before christmas.. they were all kept away, like at my grandparent's.

Paranoid parents

scott_p_1

I still got the surprise, only weeks earlier, and by myself. I guess I'm just an impacient person.

Like Guthumba said, it's more about the game. I knew my parents knew I snooped. It was a game of wits! If they really wanted to stump me, they would have just wouldn't have brought them home.

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Slims

My parents had to use false boxes (so I couldn't just "peek" and numbered gifts, so nobody but my mother with her master list would know who was getting which present.

Since I couldn't figure out what was in the box simply by peeking, I got pretty good at unwrapping the entire gift, rewrapping it with new paper, and then sticking the bow/labels back on.

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