Does everyone handover stockings?

[Methe]

I never had stocking as a child and nor did DH so we have never done them for our children.

Every post I read on here mentions stocking presents, which I understand to be things like hair boobles ( ;) ) sweets and little bits and pieces which I would just wrap and stick on the pile.

Anyone else not have stockings?

Stocking presents are from FC in this house, he normally brings one very much wanted present as well as the usual bits and pieces. Isn't necessarily an expensive present, just much asked for. Rest of the presents are from the giver and are opened after lunch.

Stockings are my favourite bit, everyone in our house has them mixture of useful thing (dm always gets a spatula in hers! And everyone gets new pants), edible things (mostly chocolate ) and random nice bits you can't justify buying yourself (lush bathbombs for me, Lego for dh, and random maps for df). Dd gets a mixture of small toys and useful bits. This year absolutely gutted as dm & df don't want stockings as 'Christmas this year will be complicated'... Dd2 is due dec 17th!

We have stockings but we don't have a pile. The dc get one present from us.
It's mostly boring stuff like hairboobles and toothbrushes. A few silly things I would never buy. Maybe some tat eg a fortune telling fish. Chocolate, sweets and a satsuma.

The excitement is all in the anticipation, and then feeling the weight of the stocking at your feet when you wake. The contents are pretty irrelevant (although ds says they're the best bit)

Wipsglitter - we choose to spend the day, just the immediate family. We see parents, etc on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, through our choice.

Er, ok.

Sorry, was just responding to the "We're lucky enough to see family on the day" comment. Just saying that we choose to spend CD as the three of us, always have done - and love it. Love both our families, but also love the one day a year we allocate to just us. Nothing more - just saying it isn't to do with not being able to or anything.

The dc's (youngest now 18) always have stockings because I never did as a child and felt left out. They are about 18 inches long, knitted and stretchy, the presents in them come from Santa and everything that is downstairs is delivered by Santa on behalf of other people and thank yous must be said for everything that is downstairs!

Santa's rule for stocking presents is that is you are naughty TWO presents come off your pile and when you are good one goes back on :-)

In the stocking you always get, regardless of age:

toothbrush
magazine
socks
undies
magazine
chocolate coins
pez

other things over the years include

miniatures
small toiletries
scratch cards
cotsa vouchers
rubber balls
magic tricks
bobbles
cars
scarf
gloves
handwarmers
pens
pencils
rubbers
puzzles
small scented candles

they love them and I love seeing them sat on the end of our bed opening them - last year was our last year of that as this year DD will have her own baby and she will be doing the stocking thing with her new family :-)

Yes, we have stockings.
Plus one 'big' gift from Santa, one from us and LOTS and LOTS of smaller packages. We don't have much family and see none at Xmas so do go a bit nuts
It is usually the smaller gifts, plus choc, tangerine, nuts, choc coins, a book / colouring / pens etc.
Can bring myself to put pants I after I was once given slippers and curtains for my Xmas as a child...
Doesn't keep them quiet for long though.
Ds was up at 4am this year.
Up at 1.30am for his birthday today.
He is 10....

Yes we have stockings even the adults though Santa doesn't bring those.

Santa brings stocking and one big asked for present.

Rest of presents under tree are marked from giver eg grandma, auntie joan, mummy and daddy etc. There are a lot of tree presents because dh and I are both from big families.

In the stocking (for Ds 8 and dd 4) are things like:
New electric toothbrush
Bath stuff
Mini figures
Football cards
Stickers
Mini lip gloss set
Hair bobbles and clips
Socks
Tights
Sweets
Small soft toy
DVD or cd
Small books
Small toys
Novelty gifts though tbh I am sick of tat so try and avoid these mainly
Stationery

Generally things like socks / bath stuff/ hair bobbles etc are fancier than what I'd usually buy .

If Santa doesn't give presents isn't he just the Christmas Day postie?!?

We do stockings hung on the bedroom door for the DC (don't do adult ones) which are from Santa and designed to keep them amused so we can have a bit of a lie in (same as others - combination of tat/bath stuff/ books/ choc). Then after breakfast we open the tree presents which Santa delivers but only the ones from DH and I are from Santa, all the rest they know who they're from so they can write thank you letters. DH and I don't expect thank you letters so we're happy to let our presents be from Santa

My girls have always loved their stockings the most. I've never filled them with tat, though. Just lovely little gifts that aren't too expensive, plus a load of treats. When they were little there was always a little teddy or soft toy sitting at the top. I wrap everything so that it takes ages to unwrap with lots of little surprises

In our house Santa brings the stocking. All the other presents are from who ever bought them. Means Santa isn't this crazy thing where you get anything you want free!

I love stockings- and it's the first thing the kids open. that's the real "proof" that Santa has been.

It's the whole ritual too, leaving out a biscuit and milk for Santa, a carrot for Rudolph, hanging up an empty socking on Christmas Eve.- it doesn't get much better.

I don't fill with tat either, although there is always a satsuma, a coin, candy canes, but I fill with hair clips, erasers, pencils, gloves, lip stiff, fancy tissues, small toy, bubbles, skipping ropes. all things that get used.

My niece and her husband are coming to stay from abroad this christmas. Although in her 30s, she has never had a stocking as my sister's deep christian beliefs prohibit her from things like stockings and christmas trees.
I can't wait to give my adult niece her first taste of the excitement of a christmas stocking!!

I loved getting a stocking as a child and I do the same for my children. They usually get chocolate coins, a Satsuma, slipper socks, disposable camera, something for the bath and a small toy.

Agree with others who said the stockings were the best bit! The stocking presents should be wrapped, inexpensive but don't have to be tat. My parents used to get a few things from the "pocket money toys" section John Lewis had - things like little puzzles and decent quality but cheap toys. I can still remember some of my sticking presents! One year I got a Japanese ball puzzle made of wood which I kept for years as an ornament (it was fiendishly difficult to put together); another year a gyroscope; another year a little wooden bee's eye kaleidoscope and another year a "grow a crystal tree" set. When younger we'd get wiggly snakes and bouncy balls; when older things like Body Shop fruit soaps, hair bobbles and a magazine each. And always the apple, tangerine, nuts and a small net bag of choc coins.

I have to say I don't quite get the MN thing of putting useful things like pants and toothbrushes in the stockings. I think it sounds like a good idea at first but stockings should be purely about fun I think! I tried it last year with DD who was only one at the time and she was already rather markedly less impressed with the packet of bibs and some socks I'd put in than she was with the toys and chocolate coins, so I won't be making that mistake again

I love stockings, definitely used by mum and dad to try and delay us waking them up when we were kids. hoping ds age 2 will stay in/on bed a bit longer to play with stocking toys. he will get a bunch of small items, car, mini figure, bouncy ball, cuddly toy, crayons, stickers, that sort of thing. plus a toothbrush, flannel, socks. might convince him that it is nice to brush teeth!

Planet - but surely you are not trying to impress a one year old with the selection of stocking gifts - of course a one year old isn't going to be impressed with a packet of bibs or socks but it's a useful tradition to start so that as children get older they know they get new underwear/socks each Christmas as part of their stocking. I am not sure if my teenage son is actually impressed with his pack of new boxer shorts each year but at least it's part of the fun and tradition of stocking presents .

I think it's nice that different families do different things. I love reading threads like this!

I absolutely love doing stockings. It's so much fun finding things to put in them! I don't put loads of party bag type tat in, but there will be some silly fun - eg this year I've got them a colour-your-own spinning top each which they will love, and some oidroids as they loved them in DS' party bags. Other things will be little lego figures or tiny sets (maybe mixels this year), a top trumps set each, that kind of thing. When they were little they got happyland figures for example - so fun to play with first thing in the morning, but not tat as they get added to existing favourite toys.

Stockings are from Santa. We get brightly coloured tissue paper and use a different colour for each person (currently six of us as my parents will be with us) which makes it so much easier when we fill the stockings before stumbling to bed in our baileys-induced Xmas eve tipsiness :o

The DCs get one main present in the living room - all set up ready, this year playmobil. A family present like a board game will be labeled to all of us. These two things are from Santa too.

Everything else is labeled from whomever bought it (mostly DH and I as we don't have a big family).

They don't write an Xmas list yet but generally the Santa present is a complete surprise, and DH and I give the things that they've mentioned, eg they've both said they really hope they get more lego this year.

I have duplicate stockings for the children- I can stuff the spare one a week or so before christmas, I like to make them pretty with candy canes, a little bauble and label etc.

The kids hang the empty one then go to bed one christmas eve- the ( tipsy) adults then just have to swap over the empty one for the full one. Saves mix ups and late night fumbling around trying to stuff a stocking.

That's a good idea, but ours were from Woolies years ago so no chance of duplicates now, and much loved so not going to be replaced. Wish I had thought of it at the time though!

I did consider it as I've read that (excellent!) tip on MN before, but it would've cost too much tbh

Our stockings are from Poundland- so no problem.

I had a pillowcase as a child and DD had (and still has despite leaving Uni this summer ) the same. That wonderful feeling of heavy rustling on your feet when you woke up. Oooo how exciting.... All the 'Father Christmas' presents went in there.

we do stockings with a few toys/sweets, satsuma, etc and hang them on the kids bedroom door handles. It kills a bit of time before we need to get out of bed. Only the children get stockings here, not the adults

Ohhh I can't miss the children opening their stockings.... oficially the start of Christmas day. I am up like a spring on christmas morning!!