Millennial parents struggle to keep gift-opening joy alive amid kids’ questions

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Parents are all about the holiday hype: a new survey has found 55% get just as excited as their kids when it’s time to unwrap gifts.

But the real challenge, according to the poll of 2,000 U.S. millennial parents, is keeping the joy of opening gifts alive on holiday mornings from persistent, curious children.

Amidst the chaos of opening gifts (which nearly all 98% said they love), many let their morning coffee or tea go cold (48%), miss phone calls and texts (44%) and will stop everything to assemble or set up gifts as soon as they’re opened (37%).

Commissioned by Lowe’s (https://www.lowes.com) and conducted by Talker Research, the study revealed that kids ask their parents about their gifts an average of 51 times over the course of the holiday season.

Data shows parents are using gifts as a bribery tool an average of 39 times during the holiday months, with over half (56%) using a holiday-related character (i.e., Santa Claus, Krampus, Jack Frost, etc.) to deter their kid from snooping for their gifts.

To keep those presents a secret, most parents are putting major effort into hiding them ahead of the holidays. Two in three (63%) disguise gifts as something else to keep their kids from suspecting, and 34% will let their kids find decoy gifts to throw them off the scent.

However, over half (55%) of parents admitted their hiding skills sometimes get the best of them —they’ve forgotten where they’ve hidden gifts, only finding them after the holidays. In fact, 29% have had to re-buy gifts because they were too well hidden or misplaced.

The study found many parents are sticking to their tried-and-true hiding spots for gifts, like in closets (56%), their bedroom (54%), in their car (26%), in the basement (22%), and even in the garage (20%).

Others are getting even more creative: hiding gifts at a family member’s or friend’s home (19%), in the attic (15%), in suitcases (13%), in sheds (13%), at work (10%), inside appliances (8%) and in the trash (4%).

Some shared the more bizarre places they’ve tucked away gifts: basement crawl spaces, behind hanging artwork, in cereal boxes, in dirty laundry and even in the doghouse.

Despite the lengths they go to hide what their kids are most excited for during the holidays, parents can’t help but feel excitement (62%), joy (44%) and nostalgia (39%) when keeping their gifts hidden successfully.

TOP 10 THINGS KIDS GET EXCITED ABOUT DURING THE HOLIDAYS

Gifts – 81%
Holiday lights/decorations – 72%
Holiday foods/treats – 67%
Winter break / time off school – 66%
Holiday entertainment – 62%
Family traditions – 60%
Snow – 52%
Outdoor activities – 51%
Staying up past their typical bedtime – 44%
Seeing extended family – 43%

Survey methodology

Talker Research surveyed 2,000 American millennial homeowners who are parents of children aged 3 to 15 who have access to the internet; the survey was commissioned by Lowe’s and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between Oct. 13 and Oct. 20, 2025. A link to the questionnaire can be found here.

To view the complete methodology as part of AAPOR’s Transparency Initiative, please visit the Talker Research Process and Methodology page.

Survey questions

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