thinking about not doing stockings? dc are 24, 21 and 19,

[GaryBaldbiscuit]

i am just so busy working
they are a palavar, and not really wanted.

i know i will though, but aIbu to think about not doing them.

feeling guilty for not buying advent calenders fgs

We haven't adopted the whole new elf on the shelf/Christmas Eve boxes thing, but stockings and advent calendars are important traditions in our family. We have the calendars made from card, and the DCs chose one thing from a bowl of assorted little chocolates, (like coins, sprouts, snowmen and santas), each day.

Good grief, some take this all very seriously. 😁

BlackBeltInPresentWrapping chocolate sprouts? Where do I buy chocolate sprouts?

Stop or everyone in the family does on stockling for another member of the family. Reduces your work and spread the load and still keeps it going

I want to know about the chocolate sprouts too.

oh i like that londonrach

My dc/sdc are aged 44, 46, 47, 48 and 49. All married so I now do ‘couples stockings’.if we are not together at Christmas the stockings are sent or handed over early. My eldest dss was once so appalled at the idea of waiting till Christmas afternoon for his stocking ,that he drove round the M25 on Christmas Eve to meet us for handover.
We also give contributions to dgc stockings.
I am 74 and have had a stocking every year of my life. When I was living in Sierra Leone in the 70s my mum posted a stocking.
I believe 🎅🏻

M&S do chocolate sprouts 🙂

I'm 30 and my mum still does me one! I wouldn't be upset if she stopped though.

Thank you thegreylady - I wonder if they can be ordered online. I will look immediately :o

I tried to stop last year (11 and 13 year old), posted on here and was told I was mean. Discussed it with dd1 and she said stockings are the best part so we still do them, I have cut back on other gifts though.

I love a stocking and still insist my DH and I do one for each other. My parents continued doing them for my siblings and I until we were in our late teens/early 20s. Then we changed the tradition: now everyone buys/makes one small stocking present for each other person. Usually with a price budget of about £3. We've had things like hot chocolate spoons, homemade gingerbread men decorated as each family member, Christmas tree decs, personalised mugs etc. DF always gets everyone a chocolate orange as we always had one of those in our stockings as children.

Why not put the stockings out and just put a bottle of beer and a bar of chocolate in each? Kind of a humerous way to stop. But not stop.

Oh we love our sprouts, chocolate or otherwise! The chocolate ones are quite widely available now, I think - these ones just came from a supermarket.

No demands here, no child-adults either, just one of our family traditions that bind us together.

The tooth fairy comment made me laugh though.

I'm 37 and still have one. If we're not seeing my parents, dh does it and I do his. I actually help my mum do them. But she announced she was stopping when me and dsis were on our 20s and we were horrified!

I would rather have the stocking and no presents it’s my favourite part .

The DC (9 & 6) get proper stockings & everyone else (grandparents in their 70s; BIL & DH in 40s) get a satsuma, a pair of socks, a bar of chocolate & a magazine. The women sometimes get smellies too depending on what sample size things I have been given & won't use.

Lovemusic33 11 and 13 is totally different. I have an 11 and 13 year old, as well as a younger one. 11 and 13 are still kids.

I wanted my mother to stop once I left home, it became awkward mainly because I really didn't want the contents but had to pretend i did. I never said though. Christmas was mainly about going along with my mum to keep the peace, but she stressed herself out enormously, then had hysterics if everyone wasn't blissfully happy and overtly and endlessly appreciative. It really wasn't good for anyone.

I'm not a Christmas fan but won't stop doing stockings til each child turns 18. Then I like EvaHarknessRose 's beer (or wine, or whatever - fancy hot chocolate power if teetotal) and a box of chocolates if they're home for Christmas idea.

I still do them for my adulties but they are mainly just a bunch of chocolates and sweets at this point. Maybe a few smaller bits and bobs mixed in. Can you just buy them one of those pre-made chocolate ones?

We have done it a couple of different ways since we've been adults...

Secret santa style so everyone does one for somebody (doesn't necessarily have to stay secret, depends how you feel). We now make this just 1 or 2 presents to avoid tat

Everyone gets 1 thing for each person, keeps a bit of random variety but everyone still has a few things to open

Completely random, everyone buys some gifts and it's a lucky dip as to what you get (more chance of unwanted tat this way though as you can focus your purchasing, so not as good)

Everyone in our house gets a stocking, inc. guests and me. No tat, edibles, socks, pants, nice shower gel, a book, etc.
This year, for dds and partners who'll be staying, it'll be joint ones.

For non family guests it'll usually be one nice sock with the other stuffed inside, and a few little bits. FC never leaves anyone out - perish the thought!

I love stockings ...but at that age it's more about a bottle of Tequila and some chocolate!

I love stockings!
I'm the oldest of my siblings (late 20s) and my mum still does them for us, although there has been talk of stopping. They're not full though.

DPs family do a really nice thing, which I think they've done for a couple of years now. Everyone puts out their stocking, and gets a couple of small presents for everyone else. So your stocking gets filled by everyone else. I've bought everyone socks and bubbles.

It's just him, his mum and sister though, so there are only 4 of us.

Another issue is that I can't take all the stuff back home with me because of space/weight so I often end up leaving stuff at my parents'. I also have a small flat so no space for all these things.