1. Novice fail
I'll never forget the year I made a total novice mom move and hid the Christmas gifts under my bed, only later to walk into the room and find the kids with their feet sticking out from the underneath, whispering and giggling as they checked out their presents. That was just the beginning. Since then, it has become a competition to find the most creative spots to hide their presents.
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2. How-the-heck-did-they-find-those
One year, they found their Christmas gifts in some luggage that was placed at the back of my closet, behind some boxes of photo albums. I have no idea how they moved the boxes, much less found the gifts.
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3. Bait and switch
After they found the gifts in my closet, I decided to plant some “bait” presents to throw them off of my scent. I placed some math books, socks and cleaning supplies in Christmas gift bags and hid them where I knew they would find them.
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4. Use their own toys against them
Last year, I decided to hide their Christmas presents in the guest bedroom closet, in a box marked "Halloween decorations." I used one of their own toys, the Spy Gear door alarm, and hooked it up to the door. When the door is opened, it makes a loud noise. I later found them on the computer, looking up tricks for deactivating it, but they never figured it out.
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5. When they knew the gift was coming
The hardest gift I have ever had to hide was the year we purchased them the large Y Fliker scooters. The boys really wanted these and they suspected they were getting them. I kept the scooters in the boxes in my car in the back with a blanket thrown over them (I can’t believe they didn’t find that) — but once they were assembled, things got trickier. I couldn't hide them in the garage (way too obvious) so I kept them in the office, behind the door with a large fake plant concealing them. They spent a lot of time searching the garage only to come up empty handed.
I could tell they were disappointed on Christmas Day when they didn't see the scooters sitting out. I had wrapped two tiny boxes with a picture of the scooters and told them to go out in the garage to find the scooters, ready to ride. Their expressions were priceless.
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6. Right under their own noses
My favorite place to hide their Christmas presents is in their own room. That's right, on their own turf. They will search the entire house, outside and inside, when the entire time their presents are in a box under their bed (insert evil mom laugh here).
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7. Tricked out boxes
This year, I plan on wrapping their gifts early in crazy shaped boxes and have fun watching them try to decipher what's in them.
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Bonus: I may be keeping Santa's presents in our storage locker — which should be safe, unless they can suddenly drive a car and figure out the key code to get in... although I wouldn't put it past them.
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