stockings...question

[ProudGrandma]

When my now adult kids were born, my MIL made each of them HUGE stockings....it's the kind where she sewed a bunch of beads and felt to make a santa scene or something....they were kits....but they were A LOT of work. 

Now that the kids are college age or older, I am trying to decide if it's time to put those away as keepsakes and buy more reasonably sized and age appropriate ones for the future....or if, for nostalgia sake we keep using them? 

What would you do? 

[maize]

I'd keep using the ones they used through childhood.

I still use my childhood stocking.

They don't need to be filled full!

[fairfarmhand]

cans of pringles fill a stocking pretty easily. Just sayin’

[vonfirmath]

6 minutes ago, kfeusse said:

When my now adult kids were born, my MIL made each of them HUGE stockings....it's the kind where she sewed a bunch of beads and felt to make a santa scene or something....they were kits....but they were A LOT of work. 

Now that the kids are college age or older, I am trying to decide if it's time to put those away as keepsakes and buy more reasonably sized and age appropriate ones for the future....or if, for nostalgia sake we keep using them? 

What would you do? 

My parents stopped doing stockings once we hit college age

 

[ProudGrandma]

Just now, fairfarmhand said:

cans of pringles fill a stocking pretty easily. Just sayin’

I have been doing that every year....as well as those little boxes of fun cereal.....so yeah....I was mostly trying to decide about the keepsake part of my question. 

 

[fraidycat]

I think it depends on the personalities of the kids. For this year, I might buy the smaller stocking and fill it, then place that inside the larger stocking as transition if you've got any sentimental types.

Then you could explain that you're putting the old ones away for keepsakes and using the new ones going forward, but it doesn't "ruin" Christmas.

(I have a sibling for which Xmas would be "ruined", so I know that this type of thing can be distressing.)

Edited November 23, 2022 by fraidycat

[Ali in OR]

I would keep using them. The Christmas season is so short that it's not like they'll get ruined if they're used--they're still keepsakes. And I think it's likely that there's a connection to these particular stockings that helps make Christmas special.

That said, we did have to replace everyone's first stockings when a snow globe broke in the attic, got everything wet, and the stockings grew mold. It wasn't the end of the world to get new stockings.

[fairfarmhand]

1 minute ago, kfeusse said:

I have been doing that every year....as well as those little boxes of fun cereal.....so yeah....I was mostly trying to decide about the keepsake part of my question. 

 

I have one married dd an I decided that I’ll only do stockings for people who wake up in my house on Christmas morning.
 

My mil did stockings for everyone one. So there were like 16 that she passed out. She loved it, and it seemed to get very expensive over time and much less personalized. Which is fair. It’s hard to do special for that many people along with several gifts per person.

I’m ambivalent about stockings. So I’ve decided that this is a tradition that will end at my house when the last bird flies the nest. For me, some traditions are for  when I have people living here and others can go away when they leave my house. 

if the giant stockings aren’t working for you any more, it’s ok to switch to something simpler.

[Lecka]

Well it would depend if I wanted to keep using them.  If I thought it might upset other family members and I wanted to ask them — I would.  If I thought it might upset them but I knew I wanted to change — I would tell them.

 

I think it is fine either way.  
 

I think you can keep them and might display them in future years, or give them to your adult children at some point.  You can look at them when you get out decorations.  It’s still sentimental.  
 

I can’t say what I would do, because I would either still like them, or I would want a change.  But I have put out a new thing for a few years and then gone back to an old thing, sometimes, when I turned out to just want to do something different for a while.  

[Lecka]

I don’t do stockings at all.  I think it’s fine!  
 

My kids all get one of those popcorn tins and can get into them pretty early.  That is our thing. 
 

Edit:  I had stockings years ago but never found a way I liked to hang them, we have never had a place where they would look good.  Plus we open presents on Christmas morning so we don’t have a need for “something” on Christmas morning.  
 

We usually give a candy as a wrapped gift, as well, so I need that to pad out our wrapped gifts!    Especially now that my kids are older.  They are hard to shop for but I would like them to unwrap a few things.  

Edited November 23, 2022 by Lecka

[EmilyGF]

24 minutes ago, kfeusse said:

I have been doing that every year....as well as those little boxes of fun cereal.....so yeah....I was mostly trying to decide about the keepsake part of my question. 

 

Love the idea of fun cereal boxes.

My dad still uses the stocking his mother made for him as a child (felt, with felt scenes and bells sewn on). I have a similar one, which I still use.

Emily

[SKL]

If they look nice, keep them as a decoration.  If they don't look that nice, hide them, or give them to your kids as keepsakes.  🙂

Every year, I think I'm going to have trouble filling the stockings, but then I end up with so much stuff, the stockings overflow.  I buy bulky things like boxes of Ice Cube gum, Pringles, etc., and also put small gifts (like jewelry) in the stockings.  For young adults, maybe hot chocolate powder with a pretty mug along with some candy they like.  A pair of mittens or a hat can also bulk it up.  Some people also include an orange/apple.

[gardenmom5]

What do your kids want to do?

I made needlepoint stockings, they're lined and pretty sturdy.  still sturdy after low this many decades.  tbh, I wouldn't mind something more subdued.  (Maybe next time I do a snowflake tree, I'll buy something more subdued.)

When the kids have christmas elsewhere (have their own place) - I've given them their stockings.  (I bought one off ebay that was similiar - I put dsil's name on it - for his first christmas with our family.  which was *right* *after* they were engaged. - he ran over and gave me a big hug when he saw it.)  2dd has bought stockings for her family, so her's and dsil's stockings are packed away.

[Annie G]

Once our kids flew the nest we stopped doing stockings for them. They took theirs but only the oldest even does stockings, and she doesn’t use her childhood one because she has matching ones for her family.  So they loved the tradition but didn’t really have any strong attachment to their childhood stocking. And didn’t love the tradition enough to continue it as adults.
Same with their Easter baskets.  
 

I think it’s just different now. When I was a kid in the 60’s, a lifesaver book and a slinky in my stocking was a Big Deal.  My adult kids just kind of buy what they want whenever so stocking stuffers aren’t as cool as when I was a kid. 

[Loowit]

So much depends on the family.  Some families aren't very sentimental and it wouldn't be a big deal to switch them out, but for others it would be a huge deal.  I am a very sentimental person, and would have felt very sad if my mom had decided to switch out my stocking suddenly one year for a different one.  She made my stocking herself, along with my sibling's stockings and they all match in style.  It always meant a lot to me when she would get them out every year on Christmas Eve and put them up.  They still got filled each year until we moved out, at which time mom gave us our stockings to take with us.  We each still have them and put them up in our own homes.  I plan to do the similar with my kids.  I will probably keep filling them until they have someone to take over, or they decide they don't want to do it anymore.

I just find bulkier items to fill the stockings with so I am not spending a lot of money on stocking stuffers, but my kids stockings are not huge.  I would stay they are about average size.  None of my kids have a lot of money right now so being able to get them a couple small gift cards or some candy is a treat for them.  I am sure that things will change as they get older and more established in their adult lives though.

[heartlikealion]

I would just ask them for their input. 

[Spryte]

I’d use the huge stockings as decorations (you could tie them on a banister instead of by the fireplace or wherever you normally put them). Then I’d spring for some more grown up stockings that are smaller. Pottery Barn has some great sales on personalized stockings, and you can choose the size.

[QueenCat]

Fun t-shirts make great fillers for large stockings.

[Katy]

I’d ask them. I like to buy needlepoint stockings from LL Bean embroidered with names

[Elizabeth86]

Oh I’d keep using them. I don’t think size matters. It doesn’t have to be full.

[rebcoola]

I would probably keep using them my dad still uses the one his Grandma made for him.  As adults they just put regular gifts in there instead of wrapping them.

[Starr]

I still use mine from my childhood. My dc decided they don't want theirs anymore and I am making new ones for them. I was kind've surprised they wanted new ones. 

[Eos]

I'm an outlier, but we've only ever laid down our actual socks.  I didn't grow up with handmade oversize stockings so didn't do them as a parent. I would probably keep using their childhood ones and maybe fill the space with bulky socks or a scarf.

Last year we were at my mother's and decided that every person would put one thing into everyone's stocking, plus I did our usual tangerines and candy canes.  It was really fun and satisfying so we've decided it is the new tradition and we're continuing this year.  Dh is a little nostalgic for being the omnipotent parents but he wasn't the one who organized and bought the stuff.  The kids really like surprising each other and us.

Edited November 24, 2022 by Eos

[Longtime Lurker]

My siblings and I have huge stockings. Our parents stopped filling them a long time ago and now we draw names and fill each other's stockings. The rule is that you can spend no more than $10 (may spend $0), but you must fill the whole stocking! This has become one of our most enjoyable holiday traditions and the results are often hilarious. At our house, we set aside random stuff all year to stick in the stockings. Spouses also usually opt in (we use smaller stockings for them but put extra stuff next to them if needed to make things comparable-ish). Regifting is encouraged. Extra points for creativity.

[knitgrl]

My mother did a wonderful job of filling our stockings when we were kids. She always found unusual items, and it obviously took her time and thought to find things, since these were the days before internet and amazon. And then my step father died and depression kicked in for my mother and she stopped doing stockings when I was in my mid-20's. I still miss the stockings my mom put together when she was put together.