My 8 year old has never had a stocking...

[EarlGreyTeaAndToast]

Well, I think she did her first year as a baby but she can't remember and neither can we really To her, this has suddenly become a travesty of the highest order and she has started telling people with a dramatic tearful quiver (wannabe actress!) that she has never one 😏

And so I was thinking I would buy her one this year. Where sells the nicest most traditional stockings? I guess I ought to get one for the teenager too? I don't want a massive one, just a normal sock size I guess but a bit nicer?

Also, does anyone have any ideas when would be the best time to do it? We are in Austria every Christmas. Christmas Eve morning we ski, then we decorate a tree in the afternoon and in the early evening we tramp around the mountain in the snow with candles singing German carols. Then we go back and the "Christ Child" rings a bell and all the presents have arrived. The kids open everything and we get changed and have a big dinner.

Christmas Day we just get up, have a normal breakfast and ski all day.. The little one normally does ski school and isn't even with us. I guess Christmas Day morning would be best as that's normal in the Uk, and I will just save some little things or extra things back for then. To be honest, we buy them very little indeed anyway. Although if anyone ever needs to know this, there are very few stockists of sylvanian families in Austria and after a fruitless search around last year the christ child had to leave a note and some money instead to buy them later 😂

She is 8 and still believes I think although her thoughts are muddled with Father Christmas and the Christ Child. She imagines they combine forces I think 😏

No stocking!

Stockings go up on Christmas Eve to be opened on Christmas Day morning.

You can get lovely ones on Not on the High Street but you could just buy a pair of traditional wool walking socks (knee length sort) in Austria and use those if you aren't planning a massive stocking. Growing up we always used my Dad's heavy duty wool walking socks.

You could take a mixed cultural approach and fill their shoes with sweets, chocolates, candied nuts etc like the Austrians do for St Nicholas Day (Dec 6th) but do it on Christmas Eve instead.

John Lewis have had nice ones over the years. Both adult and children's designs

No stocking! We've always used an ordinary adult sock though there are nicer and much larger proper Christmas stockings on sale just about everywhere.

No view on the stockings, but man does your Christmas sound wonderful!

Yes your Xmas sounds fabulous. 😂 that she feels hard done by'
I would let her have the stocking at the same time as other presents.

We've never had stocking here either. I never had them as a kid so it's just not been the done thing for us.

We all manage to enjoy Christmas without stockings or Skiing!!

I can't believe some posters are about no stockings - did you read the rest of the post?! Guaranteed snow and skiing! I hope my DCs never find out that some children have this for Christmas 😂

OP - do you know which friend she got the idea of stockings from? Then you could just copy whatever his/her family do?

You've never had the joy of filling a stocking (pillow case in this house) and watching your child's excitement on Christmas morning?
We bought little bits over the year, hid them away and then had a huge wrapping stint on Christmas eve after they had gone to bed.

We do Xmas eve as main gifts also abroad, and then stocking 25th in the morning. Ours are a bit younger though so believe santa brings the stocking overnight still.

Stockings here have something to eat, read, wear, want in. I.e. Some chocolate coins, new book, new pjs and some slyvanians in your case

Ps you can order sylvanians from Amazon and they deliver to Austria

www.amazon.de/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s_ss_i_0_3?k=sylvanian+families&sprefix=syl

I've never had a stocking, I'm 28!

Does my 2yr old DS need one?
What do I put in it?

Am I going to be kicked off mumsnet now

DS1 was 2.5 last Christmas and even 10 months later he still talks with great pleasure about his 'big sock'. It seems to be the highlight of his Christmas.

ilovenannyplum for a little one - satsuma, raisins, crayons, socks, book, dvd, little toys like duplo animals or Holztiger stuff, bubble stuff, a Christmas decoration, toy cars, slinky, bouncy ball, a fun whistle...

Carrot
My DS will also be 2.5 at Christmas - he's getting a 'big sock' too this year now, that's so sweet that he remembers
Thank you, fab ideas

No whistle! My DD got a kazoo last year, nearly resulted in infanticide....

Your Christmas sounds amazing OP! I second notonthehighstreet.com for great stockings.

You've never had the joy of filling a stocking (pillow case in this house) and watching your child's excitement on Christmas morning?

I said no stocking not no Christmas presents

Someone DP bought DS a Nemo recorder from the £1 shop.

Don't ever buy a 2yr old a recorder. Ever. Bad. Bad. Bad.

Unfortunately, we've lost it.
That's a shame

When will you do it though OP? If you do it on Christmas Eve..as in she opens it then...that's all wrong!

Since you do things the German way, opening gifts on Christmas Eve then will you be putting the stocking out for her to find on Christmas morning?

Also never buy a 2 yo a tin drum

DS has never had a stocking - he has had a big Santa sack, filled to the brim, until his needs started to come in small expensive boxes. (so now he has a sack but it has some big items like bottles of pop, and tubs of haribo as ballast).

I would do a stocking on Christmas morning. Amass some precious tiny items.

I'm 40 and have never had a stocking. They just were not part of our household tradition.

I'm also cracking up at the lip quiver from no stocking when she spends Christmas skiing.

I know, she is incredibly lucky. There's a sad reason behind why we always go at Christmas though, we lost her big brother at Christmas and we realised "doing something" away is the only way we can get through it so we make it our yearly holiday.

Plus, it's a lot cheaper at Christmas than it would be going in half term

I love love love the idea of filling a stocking with German sweets and candied nuts and things. That sounds wonderful! Thank you.

She does have a few presents on Christmas Eve. I don't take much though (as skiing is the treat really!) so extending the presents and having the stocking on Christmas Day morning sounds fun.

I am off to do some searching. I want to be organised this year. Not running around Salzburg like last year when bloody sylvanian families was only mentioned by the little one on the 23rd 😬😬😬 She's getting a set whether she wants one or not this year 😂

It would be wrong to do it Christmas Eve, I do agree. And Christmas Eve morning would be even more wrong! It's going to have to be Christmas Day.

I'm also cracking up at the lip quiver from no stocking when she spends Christmas skiing.

Yes, this, exactly.

Also- excuse my ignorance, but who is the Christ Child? Is it baby Jesus? If so, how does he ring a bell? I'm intrigued by this.

We are Germans and a stocking wasn't really a think until DD was around 4 when she realised that Father Christmas (DH and I) and the Christ child (my mum) deliver the present a day earlier than all her friends. She was a bit sad that she was different (she suddenly made a fuss about having dual nationality and telling everybody she is British too).

So we acknowledge it and since then we still do presents on Christmas Eve in the German way but all presents from British friends and a stocking come overnight and are opened Christmas Day. FC and Rudolph do a double trip and get a double helping of wine/milk and carrot/biscuit. Also the "British" rabbits get their treat Christmas Day.

In a way most of dual-nationality children/dual-cultural upbringing have at one point in issue because they realise that things are done in two different ways. Most of these families do a mix and as long as it fits your lifestyle it doesn't matter.