How can my cousin and I postpone opening gifts on Christmas Eve?

Sam: How can my cousin and I postpone opening gifts on Christmas Eve?
My dads side celebrates together on Christmas Eve. My cousin and I always like to make the day last as long as possible every year. Although we eat dinner early around 5pm. Then we end up opening gifts around 7pm. Does anyone have any idea how we can keep the family busy for a while longer and then open gift later. Please Help! Thanks!

Answers and Views:

Answer by girlonahorse
do the dishes and clean up dinner before presents and take your time

Answer by sw_3896
tell them you were planning on making a cake but you just realized that you forgot one of the ingredients. get your dad or something to take you to the store to get it but when you’re at the store you should remember that your mom needed something that they didn’t have at the store. be sure her phone is hidden or your dad leaves his phone at home so he can’t call your mom and ask her. then once you get home you would have to make the cake and that will take a long time. ok i really don’t know if that would really work but you could try.

Answer by minimickimichelle
Read a christmas story before opening gifts. Have the family prepare and perform a talent show. Read THE Christmas Story from the Bible. Sing christmas carols. Share the highlights of this past year. Play a game. Watch a christmas movie.

We have done all of these at one time or another. We have currently just kept our tradition to reading THE Christmas Story from the Bible and singing one or two carols. Even the younger kids don’t mind the wait because it’s part of the ambiance and family time that we all enjoy at this time of year.

Answer by blues breaker
reminds me of me and my sister. as adults and the only sisters, we tended to buy alot for one another. we never did it on purpose but it never failed that we were opening gifts for at least an hour after everyone else was done. we both liked to make sure the table was cleared and the major portion of dishes were cleaned before we settled down to the fun stuff.then we would hand things out to all the kids and our other family members and by the time that was done, we’d each have a pile waiting for us and we’d open together while everyone had desert. god that was so much fun. i really miss it all as she passed nearly 5 yrs ago. sorry, i’m rambling.
in answer to your question, just do what we did. play santa for everyone else. take things slow and enjoy the evening. play a game with the family too. that always makes things last longer. we used to do that. it was a lot of fun.