Where do YOU hide the presents?

me Christmas 62, dont laugh at the tree

It is an age old problem for every parent, where do you hide the presents until Santa is ready for them?

The first Christmas I remember looking for things was Christmas 1971, by this time my brother who was two years older than me had found out the truth.  At this point we lived in Berlin, where they had cellars and attics. Due to varying factors in our live at that time we were often left without an adult (back in the days it was acceptable, I use to babysit for pocket money at 10 years old.) while my dad worked shifts.

my sister in 62, note the matching outfits

This year I remember my brother making us stand as look outs while he went into the attic and nosed around. He peeled off some of the sellotape and looked inside some of the parcels before sticking it back down.

I guess our parents cottoned onto their hiding places being rumbled as the following year they were not in the attic. My brother found some in amongst packing boxes in the cellar. My sister and I would not go down there as the spiders were about the size of elephants and they terrified us.








As my own children were growing up with had the pleasure of neither a cellar or an attic or even a cupboard under the stairs, for many years we lived in a  flat. When they are young it is not a matter of hiding them, its a matter of storing them as they are not clued up to hunting for them. My favourite place was behind the wardrobe. We use to move the wardrobe to the corner of the room, put it on the diagonal, and hey presto you have created a storage area the kids will never get to.

As they got that bit older I use to store presents for my friends son, he was an only child and got more than all my lot put together, and the older children use to see their Auntie C bringing over mountains of wrapped presents, so when we use to pile the neatly on top of the wardrobes I just use to slip in some of their amongst her stuff.....and that I know off they never cottoned onto this.


This post is an entry into the Hudl Christmas cheer competition