To be very confused about Christmas?

[Kat256M]

My kid is getting to the age where he understands presents, Santa etc. so need to put a bit more effort in it this year!

I am not from the UK and heard people discussing Christmas stockings today at work. I have only seen them in mostly American Christmas movies before-I thought they were only decorative!

So what do you put in? What can even fit in there? Is it just for kids or adults too? Does one person(let's be real, me!) do them or everyone does someone else's? And mainly-does Santa bring them usually?

I have been here working here a long time but raising a family sometimes makes me realise how many small things are different country to country. Thank you for your help!

We do them:
My parents did them for me until I was 18, now we do them for my DS 12. My socking, which was mine before him, was a big old walking sock of my Dad's. Little things go in it: note pads, socks, Pokemon Cards, pencils, dolls house furniture, chocolate coins, tiny craft sets....

We do stockings in our house and everyone gets one, even me and DH. They are left at the end of beds by Father Christmas and filled with wrapped little gifts such as bath bombs, lip gloss, pens etc. We open these all in our bed together before going down to open the main presents Father Christmas has left downstairs.

People do it differently. For me, the stocking comes from Santa. Then presents under the tree are from us.

Our stocking (or sack in our case) is usually something like a toy they would like, but not something super expensive. New underwear, a book, a pair of pyjamas, chocolate, then just small little wrap ups - colouring books, pencils etc.

Actual stockings are just decorative in my house, my sister made the most beautiful ones for my babies when they were born, she’s amazingly talented for arty stuff like that, but they each have a big red sack from B&M, one of the red velvet ones with their initial on, that gets left at the foot of the bed Christmas Eve and ‘Father Christmas’ chucks some stuff in there; new PJs, socks, pants, some sweets, a colouring book, a toy or two, a book or three… that sort of thing. Always a little pack of chocolate coins (DHs childhood tradition) and an orange (mine!). Nothing massive but stuff they’re happy to get and will use. I refuse to just stick cheap shite in there just to fill it, the world has enough tat in as is!
Then their main presents are from us and are wrapped under the tree for them to come downstairs to.

What are your countries traditions? You don’t have to do a stocking at all or you could mash it up with your own traditions?

you could go make a stocking at a local craft place if you want that sentimental aspect.

In my family we'd do stockings first, then we had to get dressed and have breakfast before we could get to the presents under the tree. I live three hours from my mum now so I'm not back for every Christmas, but my sister is still in the area and mum usually goes to hers for Christmas. They do stockings for each other and I get one if I'm there. There's the usual stuff, soap, candles, little knick knacks etc, but there's always a tube of Pringles!

As above for kids, everyone does it differently!

For the adults in our house we each take three categories and buy one each for the adults, so one person might by everyone a small candle, some chocolate, and a pair of socks. So in your stocking you have three things you've bought and three things each from other adults. Doesn't cost much and is a nice little way of making it not one persons chore. Often that's all we buy present wise for each other

We also use pillow cases as that’s what I had growing up. Main presents are from family under the tree. Pillowcase is small value stuff

chocolate selection pack
chocolate coins
favourite sweets
one small item from Christmas list
stationery
toiletries
books

all wrapped and available first thing Christmas morning

We do them for the kids (19, 19 and 15) who still climb into the end of the big bed and open them before breakfast. My favourite bit of the day.

A sweet relative bought our DC personalised stockings when they had their first Christmas. They are really lovely, velvet backed and not too big!

My DC are a bit older than yours but we put in sweets and small toys, maybe things they need like socks and stationery. I was brought up not having mine wrapped but DH did, so we do a mix of wrapped and unwrapped. I try to avoid plastic and if I can get second hand bits I will.

I love this question! I am currently living in the US and they are a very popular part of Christmas. My kids are all adults and I still fill their stockings. Its one of their favorite parts of christmas. Enjoy your child at christmas!

I love this question! I am currently living in the US and they are a very popular part of Christmas. My kids are all adults and I still fill their stockings. Its one of their favorite parts of christmas. Enjoy your child at christmas!

I love this question! I am currently living in the US and they are a very popular part of Christmas. My kids are all adults and I still fill their stockings. Its one of their favorite parts of christmas. Enjoy your child at christmas!

Trying to get someone else to suffer as you do with Elf on the Shelf is just plain cruel!!

I think these days its open to however you want to do it. I like to fill it with little treats like chocolate, fidget toys, book, etc. DS puts it at the end of his bed and I fill it up (when he is eventually asleep) I dont see him open them but he gets so excited. I think he enjoys having the privacy to open them also. Then we go downstairs and we all open gifts as a family.
Are you thinking of doing it this year OP?

Small toys, chocolate coins, new toothbrush, pack of underwear, doesn’t actually matter, it’s lots of small things that fit.

in my house that’s all Santa brought, we bought the nice gifts which were under the tree

Teens here now

Stickings are froM FC and they have. A variety of things in but always include the following-
new undies
socks
chocolate orange
small game
pens
scratch card
novelty socks
practical joke things like silly glasses or a fake dog poop
something smelly like a shower gel or bath bomb
Crazy food that I have picked up along the way like died octopus or melon flavoured crisps
more sweets/chocolate- their favourites
when they were little a can of coke!
now it’s a mini bottle of Prosecco or a cocktail in a can.

American stocking tend to be just decorative ime, though American traditions around Christmas are multitudinous, so it could be that there are entire regions where stocking are central to Christmas...

I never do them (in the US), apart from tiny stockings containing a few chocolates, and I don't know anyone who does them. We didn't have them growing up in Ireland.

We open gifts from each other and from other family on Christmas Eve, leaving the space under the tree open for Santa to deliver gifts to be opened on Christmas morning. Santa gifts are always from me, obv.

Aha that’s why I didn’t get them and pass that tradition on. DM was Irish

Ours used to be the cut off leg of a pair of tights each, taken to bed on xmas eve and laid out at the bottom of the bed before the xmas story. The warning was santa would only come to fill it when they went to sleep. At some point in the night we would collect the empty one and replace with one filled choc coins in the toe, an apple and an orange and lots of individually wrapped gifts like little cars, pencils, sox, chocolate orange, box of maltesers, book, story tapes, all sorts of novelty tat really, as they grew older things like toiletries, aftershave etc crept in. They would wake up at silly o clock all excited and sit feeling the presents until we were awake enough to let them come through into our bed where they would open it all up and start the chocolate 😆 both boys did this until they were mid teens when by mutual agreement they fave up the stocking and had all presents in a sack downstairs. We have breakfast now at a sensible time then take our time opening a present in turn and spin it out as long as possible before starting late afternoon dinner. Love xmas with my boys who even now are both here every year.

Same re cut off leg of a pair of tights each.

It's similar to the Dutch Sinterklaas tradition - you leave a shoe/stocking out overnight, and it is full of small gifts in the morning!

In our family only children leave out a stocking, along with a letter to Santa, a mince pie, and a glass of whisky. Our stocking contents always include a bag of chocolate coins in the toe, and a Lindt chocolate Santa at the top. The rest is always small and relatively inexpensive items, like bookmarks, sweets, a puzzle of some kind.

The Christmas section on MN has a few threads with stocking contents ideas!

Santa brings the stocking in our house and does adults too.

The children know not to ask Santa for big gifts because we have the money to buy them ourselves so he saves those for families that can’t.

they’ve got into the habit of asking him for what he actually brings - socks, chocolate, a small fidget toy, that kind of thing!

Stockings used to be a pillow case or Dad’s sock. Today you can make or buy your own.

Many people hang them up in their sitting room then transfer them to the child’s bed on Christmas Eve after Father Christmas has been.

Traditionally they’d contain a few coins, a tangerine, an apple, maybe a sugar mouse. Today we do a satsuma, chocolate coins, a sugar mouse for old times sake, maybe a candy cane then small presents like Brio Thomas trains, Lego mini figures, card games such as Uno or an Airfix model kit. For teens it’s often make up/toiletries, something funny or lighthearted. Some people are more extravagant and do more expensive presents in stockings, but ours are usually little things.