What is a stocking in your home?

[CatchesTheNightTrain]

In our house we have a stocking handing from the mantle piece which we put little token presents in , including a satsuma and other such bits I got as a child.
My children then also have a large sack each which all their presents are in.

One of friends commented this means they have 2 stockings??
This confused me - surely they have a stocking and a sack or does a stocking mean different things to different families.

A stoken in our house is token gifts , usually inexpensive items. Just for fun.
Their sack contains all their presents and all are from Father Christmas.

There is no order in our house for what the children open first - entirely up to them.

After dinner we give the children one gift each from us.

Just interested in what others do and what a stocking is in different homes.

A stoken should read stocking! Stupid autocorrect!!

A stocking in my house is a traditional stocking not a sack or pillowcase. It is filled with between 8 or 10 gifts none of which costs more than £5 each and is opened first thing Christmas morning while I lie in my bed and watch while drinking tea.
Can I ask if your have a stocking on the fireplace and gifts from Santa in a sack what goes under the tree?

Dds stocking hangs on her bedroom door, the only thing that goes in it is chocolate as I refuse to buy stocking fillery little toys. Her proper presents go under the big tree in the living room

Stocking in ours slowly became a pillowcase, but was left on the bed with (well sellotaped) bits and bobs, funny boxers and Christmas socks, satsuma, carton of juice, couple of quality st, and (don't ask) a babybel. Bought us an extra 40 mins or so, hence the juice.

Stockings in our house are put out at the end of beds on Christmas Eve and are then filled by Father Christmas with small toys, annuals, DVD, selection box, choc coins, new pants and socks and bubble bath etc. Under the tree will be a sack from Father Christmas with usually one or 2 large gifts inside and then all the others presents are from us and family.

the d's have a stocking hung on the handle of their bedroom doors, we started off with a small stocking but they have got bigger, they have tat in them, most things cost £-£2 each and maybe one item that cost around £5 (dvd, book, teddy). The plan is that they have these when they wake up which gives dh and I time to wake up and get ready for the big presents under the tree, the presents under the tree are from father Christmas and us as well as a few from family members, father Christmas doesn't put tat under the tree, just in the stocking as he cant be bothered to wrap small bits of tat (nothing in the stocking is wrapped) .

In my house:

Stockings: cheapish toys, books, sweets and a few useful things like umbrellas.

Main presents under the tree.

Xmas eve hamper - new this year, will probably be a pillowcase/sack with pjs and a toothbrush - stuff that would have gone in the stocking.

'dd's'

Yep, a stocking is a stocking here too. About 12 small-value gifts in it.

All other gifts are labelled and under the tree.

Your stocking-plus-sack combo does sound a bit like two stockings to me, as your DC are getting two helpings of Father Christmas' bounty each. Each to his own, though.

I made a stocking for each of my DC when they were babies. It's about 50cm long, and we fit in about 10 small token presents, an apple, a satsuma and q bag of chocolate coins. These are from Father Christmas, and are opened first thing on Christmas morning. Or at least, after I have stuffed the turkey and had a cup of tea! All other presents are under the tree, and opened after lunch.

stocking has bits and bobs in - books, choc, new underwear, toothbrushes, deodorant, shower gel, couple of novelty items. Fair amount of useful stuff tbh, when DC were small it would be a character toothbrush and character shampoo, when I would as a parent only buy plain ones. The stocking comes from FC even though my children are too old to believe.

All other presents are from parents, or other family members - FC has never brought a big present. No expectation then for thingsthat we cannot afford/do not choose to buy.

Stockings here contain things like gloves, fluffy socks, character pants, battery toothbrush, whoopee cushion, pens, notebook, small cuddly toy, book, chocolate coins, stickers.Father Christmas brings the stocking.

Other gifts are placed under the tree, we don't have sacks.

A stockiing is a traditional stocking in our house. However FC brings 2, one small one with chocolate and small stocking fillers to distact early in the morning, the other he leaves downstairs with better (but still smallish) presents to be opened while adults are having coffee and breakfast. The rest are under the tree from us and family.

we have a pillowcase plus stocking as father Christmas gets a bit carried away
they both go downstairs by the tree
then a present from us under the tree

No stockings anymore. All gifts are wrapped up. The DC don't get as many small gifts as they did when they used to get stockings but they don't seem to mind.
Stockings were abandoned as a concept because lots of money was spent on filling them and after the initial excitement of looking through them, it would all be scattered around the house and left on bedroom floors to be trodden on, and then eventually the contents would be sent to charity shops. Everyone's poorer nowadays, even Santa - he can't afford to spend roughly £40 on unappreciated stocking fillers.

Our stocking presents are wrapped. Except the apple and satsuma.

We don't have stockings at all. We deposit presents in piles on the living room floor and we all come down sort 7oclock and open them together.

In our home it is a pillow case filled to the brim with about £100 of toys, books etc. the dcs don't receive any presents from us. The presents they get from other family members are put under the tree.

It would be either/ or here, ds has a stocking and pile of gifts underneath from Santa. Both are in the living room. Presents from/ to me, dh and ds are under the tree and presents from/ to other people are given in person.

Stockings are made of felt here and are hung with sellotape on the mantlepieces in the dcs' bedrooms. Last year they contained satsuma, chocolate, a Christmas decoration, packet of Gogos, a DVD and then a couple of other things like a wallet, swimming goggles, spy glasses etc. Stockings are all opened on our bed.

Then Santa leaves a main present (or maybe two) plus some books downstairs on the hearth - a pile for each dc.

All presents are wrapped. My Dad thought wrapping Christmas presents was waste of paper - which is incredibly bah humbug imho - so I wrap absolutely everything even if it means throwing a sheet over a new bike!

purplepippin how do you get an annual into a stocking?

This is really interesting. Our stockings are small traditional stockings that hang above the fire .
The sacks are under/ next to the tree :-)

Seems like most people are very similar to is in what they also put in the stocking.
I was just very confused by my friend referring to a sack as a stocking as in my head they're 2 different things.

In the stockings this year will be chocolates, sweets, satsuma, nail varnish, bubble bath etc, small inexpensive bits and bobs.

In this house the Dses (now teenagers but still get them) stockings contains tat, or now things like socks pants shower gel etc.
Then they used to have a sack with "santa" presents, and under the tree would be presents given to them by other people.

I have friends however who fill the stockings with dvds, books xbox games etc. Then one big santa present and ones from family

and yet another friend who tells her Dcs that all rpesents come from santa, even ones from grandparents - the grandparents send them to santa to deliver she tells them

Sorry for multiple posts, our sacks kind of go next to/ under tree. Mostly under the tree will be gifts for family and friends and each other. So the children but gifts for family etc. So the tree always is full, but not typically for our children as they're gifts in the stocking.
However gifts given to us from friends and family for the children, prior to Christmas do go under the tree.

The gifts we bring out after dinner are kept hidden upstairs and always pretend that's it.