Early Shower gift ??

So, I got 2 early shower gifts, one from FH's aunt and 2 cousins who won't be coming to the shower (which pisses me off to no end but that's another story), and the second from his cousin who I beleive is coming to the shower, but either sent the gift to my house because it was very heavy or by mistake.
FH and our mom's and sisters say I am supposed to wait to open them until after the shower. That makes no sense. What I am supposed to do, sit and stare at 2 big boxes in my living room untill whenever my shower is? I think that's ridiculous. I say I should open them and send out a thank you ASAP. They don't agree with me, and are upset I did open them.

So, ladies, who's right? What did (or will ) you guys do with early gifts?

my shower is not a surprise and I got a gift almost 2 months early from someone not coming. since the shower was far off, i had mentioned to my mom i was gonna buy thank yous and then she said i was getting them at my shower

i e-mailed the person letting them know we got it and thanking and told her my offical thankyou will come after my shower when i get them!

I was always told it's okay to open the gifts to find what they are, but you can't actually open/use the gift itself until after the shower.

I would want to send the thank you card asap...