Stockings in room or hung by the fire once FC has been?

[MyBalletShoes]

What do you do?

Stockings (empty) hang on the fireplace until December 24th.

In the last few years they've been filled by the big man in red and left downstairs.

This year my five year old is asking for it to be left in his room.

That's fine for now but in years to come am I going to regret starting something that ends up being a pain on Christmas Eve when he and his brother and sister won't go to sleep and all I want to do is go to bed myself?!

Plus, if he realises Santa has been when he's in his room, I'll miss the magic of 'Wow! He's been!' Which was pretty sweet last year!

Ours have always stayed by the fireplace.

Ours hung on the outside of the kids bedroom door and then they brought them through to our room to open before going downstairs. We chose the outside so we wouldn't disturb them by opening the bedroom door

Tell them if they don't go to sleep, FC won't come.

Take them out during the day and let them run around in the cold - park, bikes, scooters, whatever. Then they'll be too bushwhacked to stay awake.

We hang DS' stocking on his door handle on the outside of his door.

DH and i are usually up late finishing off some Baileys wrapping and tidying, prepping a bit of food for the next day and laying the breakfast table.

Then we turn off all the lights except the tree lights and have a Christmas Eve shag by the time we go upstairs DS is snoring away.

We don’t do santa. DD’s stocking goes on her bed.

Outside the door could work. It's not so much worrying about disturbing them going in as they're all heavy sleepers. It's the waiting for them to zonk and missing their realisation that he's been.

Perhaps I'll appeal to his better nature and say we don't want to give Father Christmas more work to do by coming upstairs, he's already so busy

Our kids lay their sacks out in the living room. I can't trust them not to wake up super early and if they saw the sacks they would want to open them at 4am.

That's a valid point Juan. Don't want Christmas Day to be starting at 3am

Foot of bed. There is no feeling like a heavy stocking on your duvet as you wake on Christmas morning!

Our elf brings the empty stocking and other treats on Xmas eve. They get laid out on living room floor at bedtime and are filled there. In the morning we do the whole "has he been". We check outside the front door first to make sure we can't hear him and "oh look the reindeers food bowl is empty" then we go in to living room

Stockings go beds, at least when they are young. We don't have a fireplace thoughh. It's a magic moment kicking a heavy stocking by your feet in the dark. It is a pain to know if they are awake or not and now mine is a teen he probably won't like the thought of someone being in his room...
We also do a pillowcase or sack by the tree too that we put out the night before. He's only getting a few small gifts like a book or whatever to keep him occupied on the day as he just wants money.

I did the bed thing one year to try and keep my daughter upstairs as we had my sister and bil sleeping downstairs. She woke at 3 am and I finally gave in she could open it at 5am. Not sure if it was the reason she woke so early but not risking it again.

I stupidly let the dds have them on their bedroom doors one year, big mistake as dd2 refused to go to sleep as she wanted to see santa fill her stocking, Christmas Day I was like a zombie due to the lack of sleep.

Ach, it’s once a year and not a huge pain really is it? I would wake up in the middle of the night and sneak in and lay my daughters stocking at the foot of her bed. I’d even set an alarm and sneak back to bed. I stopped when she was 19.now I lay it outside her door.

It’s a lovely tradition, great when they are little and delighted, and sweet when they know it’s you making rhe effort for them.

Agree with Gosh - I LOVED feeling that heavy stocking on my feet in bed when I woke up. One of the most wonderful things ever. Stocking on bed, but the big gift(s) under the tree in the living room.

Always goes in room here.
Always did when I was a kid.

No one goes downstairs until after adults have said it’s ok and adults go first!

Ours used to either be put on the end of the bed or left outside the bedroom door. DM always says it gave her and df time to come round before us dragging them downstairs for the big pressies.

Our stocking was always apple, satsuma, party popper, cracker and a small present around £5 / £10.

We have big presents downstairs and stockings hanging on bedroom door handles which Father Christmas puts on their beds . I try and put some ‘busy’ toys in their stockings so it keeps them busy until we are awake enough to go downstairs. Big presents downstairs but no one goes down until adults ready.

I agree, there is nothing that compares with moving your feet in bed on Christmas morning and feeling that heavy stocking, and hearing it rustle in the dark.

My DC can open stockings as soon as they wake, without us. It's an exciting moment for them to share together, and I have fond memories of opening my stocking with my siblings.
I don't see it, but DH and I can usually hear the squeals, and they come in and show everything to us afterwards. I get to see their faces when they open the presents from us under the tree, so I don't feel I miss out.

Foot of the bed always. Young teens now, they do stay up quite late but I don't mind staying up later. Downstairs just wouldn't be the same.

Downstairs.

We had ours in our rooms as children and one year Father Christmas nicked my stocking! I later found it outside my bedroom door but only after hours and hours (it seemed to me) of angst and self flagellation for being on the naughty list.

Don't know what Santa was thinking but I'm not giving him the chance to do that to my children!

On the outside of the bedroom door, after ds spent all night shouting a couple of years ago 'He's not been yet', When's he coming'? Repeat 1000 times.

We were both shattered all Christmas day.

Our stockings were always outside our door, having been moved from the fireplace where we left them Christmas Eve night. We opened them in our rooms together at about 5am then went in to wake our parents at about 6am to go downstairs for our proper presents!

Last year the sstocking was left in his room. He woke up at 4am and excitingly ran into our bedroom shouting santa had been. He was taken back to bed and told to go back to sleep. Wont be happening again.

On the end of the bed, for the same reason as others - waking up to a heavy stocking is a wonderful feeling.

As a parent there is nothing quite like the Great Stocking Mission to get the adrenaline flowing.

When I was a child my stocking was down stairs under the tree as I was absolutely terrified of Father Christmas coming into my bedroom ( or even up stairs!)

We put DS stocking under the tree as he doesn't like anything " new" in his room and if we put it in his room will wake up to chaos and pressie chucked across the landing in disgust 🙈 - he has SN .. isn't being ungrateful :)