Anyone else NOT stuff stockings?

[gatorsmom]

I don't typically put stuff in the stockings hanging over the fireplace. Ours are just decorative. My mother used to put little things in our stockings when I was a kid but I don't. Don't know why exactly. Maybe because it's just one more thing to add to my todo list.

Anyone else out there who ignores the stockings?

[SASM]

Hi Lisa,

Sorry...I am a stocking stuffer, although I cannot blame you one bit for NOT stuffing! I will say that our stockings are not "purely decorative", though ~ the kids all have huge mismatched PBK's, DH's and mine are mismatched from our first year together, and our cat's has some huge random stocking so nothing pretty over here. As far as I am aware, DH didn't have a stuffed stocking while growing up, whereas I had a small stocking with wrapped trinkets ~ I went with my tradition.

[kijip]

Stockings are important to me. I'd honestly give up doing the other present/s before skipping the stocking.

[katerinasmom]

You are not alone. We do not stuff the stockings at our house. They are purely decorative. And because my 1 year old would climb the couch to pull them off the mantel they are stuck to the large mirror in my living room with small suction cups. We couldn't stuff them if we wanted to. They'd fall down.

[Octobermommy]

Stockings have always been my favorite part of Christmas morning. I much prefer those little gifts to other wrapped presents so we stuff all stockings here.

[WatchingThemGrow]

When ours get stuffed, they come down off the wall/mantle (depending on where we wake up).

[Corie]

The stocking stuffers are my favorite thing to get AND to buy!
I love the stocking stuffers!!

But I don't stuff the stockings. I don't want to knock down the
stockings and I don't want to ruin my beautiful stockings!

I use our coffee table for the stocking stuffers. Nothing is wrapped.
I just display it very nicely. One side of the table is for my DD
and the other side is for my son.
It works for us! :)

[egoldber]

My stockings are cheap ones from Michaels and they are not that big. Some of you guys must have huge ones from what I have read that goes in some of them! I also make sure to only put very light weight things (e.g. play foam, but not playdough LOL) in there and nothing gets wrapped.

[lfp2n]

I love doing DDs stocking, but we don't even have decorative ones you put over the fire. Our tradition, continued from when I was a kid, is that you put a great big ski sock/tube sock on the end of your bed on Christmas eve and wake up and its lying there like a big fat sausage with lots of small things/sweets/toothbrush/new underwear/orange in it. Definitely one of the best parts of Christmas.

[bubbaray]

Stockings are my absolute FAVE part of Christmas! I would rather not get any presents under the tree and just the stocking presents. Our stockings are the LE ones (which rock, BTW). I think of them like loot bags for Christmas, LOL.

I actually haven't started thinking of things for the girls stockings. I have DH's covered, mostly (gotta get him some chocolate).

Stockings don't have to be elaborate or expensive. What about little notebooks and pencils from the dollar store (Cars movie stuff?). A couple of Matchbox cars (Walmart has them at a good price), crayons. Maybe a Klean Kanteen for each of the kids instead (1 bigger thing, instead of smaller stuff).

My DH didn't grow up with fab stockings. They did the gift opening on Christmas Eve and small stockings Christmas morning, mainly food/chocolate. He's kinda at a loss for stocking ideas. I just tell him to go to the Body Shop and look helpless and the staff will help him, LOL.

[Happy 2B mommy]

We don't have stockings. I've put off buying any because MIL is making one for DD, but this is DD's 3rd Christmas and we still have nothing.

That said, I LOVE stockings and all the little things in them - especially the orange or apple in the toe. I will probably do them next year.

[AuGoldie]

In our family we never had this tradition but I know that this is something I will do with my kids in the future because it sounds like so much fun. Most of the time we already know what those big presents under the tree are already so there's no fun in that. DS#1 will be born after Christmas, so Christmas 2009 will be our first year with Stuffed Stockings.

[BeachBum]

They are our favorite part too.
We are silly in that we do lots of dumb games and knick knacks that get recycled year to year as well a candy, and at least one "good" thing. Any gift that is small enough to fit in a stocking is fair game. For example even if my 'big' gift was a pair of diamond earrings...I could just as easily find them in my stocking as I could under the tree.

All those little brain teaser type games, and junky stuff like bubba teeth and wind up toys, or particularly ridiculed gifts go into a big box at the end of the weekend/ day. Then we "sneak" them back into the stockings for the following year.

We also take turns each pulling one thing out of our stocking at a time. Some things are wrapped, some aren't. If it is a toy or gizmo we play with it for a bit before moving on.

While I agree, searching for things can be a PITA...it can also be really fun. I would be so sad if we didn't do them.

[gatorsmom]

Well, I DID enjoy them when I was a child so maybe I should rethink the stocking stuffers thing.... But not this year. It's 4 degrees outside, not including the windchill. DH is going out of town for work next week. I'm not stressing about it. Maybe that will be a tradition I can start in a few years....

[brittone2]

THey are my favorite part :) I'm a Christmas baby (not born on Christmas, but just before) and came home from the hospital on Christmas Eve. The hospital put the Christmas babies in a stocking as like a baby bunting type of thing. I still have mine. My big stocking was one of the nice tradeoffs of having a holiday birthday LOL. I finally retired it and have a normal sized one as an adult, but as a kid I loooooved getting the stuff in there. In my teens there were so many fun things my mom could put in there too (books, makeup, etc.)

I spend a good bit on stocking stuffers but in many cases I incorporate a bunch of stuff I'd buy anyway like socks or CA baby wash, or Aura Cacia foaming bath packets (kind of a more natural bubble bath). For DD's first Christmas I put in new bibs, a Klean Kanteen sippy, babylegs, etc.

We hang the stockings on the mantle but once they are filled I set them on the couch, etc. waiting for kids to open them.

But...if it isn't your family tradition and you don't feel up to it, then by all means skip it :)

[Moneypenny]

We are not big into stockings. We have them and hang them (just on a bookcase because the silly previous owners of our house filled in the fire place with a built-in TV stand, WTH?!?). This year I will dump out a box of legos into the stocking for DD, but the stocking gift is always just an afterthought.

[Snow mom]

We never got gifts in our stockings in my household as a child. My stocking is actually really small (maybe the size of my hand stretched out) and it always had a little baby doll in it but I'm not sure where she came from. DH grew up with stuffed stockings so we do it now, although we are skipping gifts altogether this year with how hectic things are with a new baby. I'd say skip it if you don't feel up to it. Christmas shouldn't be about gifts anyway.


~Lisa

[cchavez]

I love doing stockings....I always had one growing up that was inconsistently "stuffed" throughout the years....mostly w/ fruits/nuts...etc.....However, I love buying stocking stuffers...and my husband's and kids are alwasy filled....mine however doesn't get fully stuffed but my DH does manage to put a few things in mine...

[ahrimie]

I don't typically put stuff in the stockings hanging over the fireplace. Ours are just decorative. My mother used to put little things in our stockings when I was a kid but I don't. Don't know why exactly. Maybe because it's just one more thing to add to my todo list.

Anyone else out there who ignores the stockings?

i didn't grow up with stocking stuffers.. and even for gifts, my parents used to take my bro and i to the mall and ask what we wanted. that was kind of our christmas gift.. on christmas day, we'd play with our toys or wear the clothes we had and just relax together.

so now that i'm married with a little baby... i recently had to buy some jeans and instead of buying cheap ones, my hubby bought me 2 designer jeans (on sale) as well as nice pumps and i told him that'll just be my birthday and christmas present (my bday was thanksgiving this year). for me, that works just fine.. i'm okay not receiving a wrapped gift on christmas day. i just like hanging out with my family that day eating and watching movies or playing games.

but after reading the comments, maybe i missed out! :P maybe next year, i'll do a stocking for DD at least :)

[KBecks]

I'm not hanging ours this year because I don't want to fill them. I'm cheap and probably should have skipped them to begin with.

[lizajane]

our stockings from my childhood were handknit by my mom's Godmother. we stuffed them EVERY year, including last year. i am 33. my sister is 36. (the stockings were made when she was born and mine was added later. then my mom's friend made my brothers to match, as her Godmother had passed when he came along 10 years after me.) they are long, but not wide. they are in PERFECT condition. even the 36 year old stocking that my sister used to put on her feet (i did this, too) and walk around in on christmas morning.

ETA: the same friend of my mom's made my DSs stockings. hand knit with their names and a santa on them.

they are always hanging when we come down to see what santa brought.

gifts are not wrapped.

i do my MIL's stocking and i do wrap because that is what SHE does. she does stockings for DH and me and they are usually in a box with the stocking laid over top. the kids get their stockings with the gifts in the stockings she got for them.

i purchase things that fit in stockings on purpose.

but sometimes, for my dad, i just put things on the mantle just above his stocking, as he is harder to shop for and it is harder to make things fit in his when you have to work harder to find anything to go in it.

[Babywhite]

I have continued my family's stocking/presents tradition...

We hang our stockings on our mantle, and Santa takes them down and fills them. Next he takes all of the presents from under the tree and separates them into piles. Then he puts the correct "filled" stocking on top of each pile.

When we wake up, we go to the pile of presents that has our stocking on top.

We love doing it this way... :)

[MMMommy]

Our stockings are decorative and not stuffed.