Stockings

[BerryPieandCustard]

I see a lot of people talking about stocking presents. How big are the stockings to fit all of the stuff in?
In my family the stocking is just sweets and chocolates, maybe some marzipan fruits and a £2 coin.
This is what I do for DD in addition to one gift from Santa and then 4-6 gifts from me (depending on cost).
Are stockings supposed to be filled with actual presents?? Am I doing it wrong??

There is no wrong or right. Some people don't do stockings. Some people do large stockings/sacks with all their main presents. Some use them to put smaller gifts in by the tree. I think the most common way is what I do and had done for me, which is a stocking next to the bed to open before going downstairs with 10-15 small inexpensive gifts in. It's surprising how much you can fit in a stretchy stocking.

My mum has knitted huge stockings for my DC that are also stretchy, as when planning this year I got a bit obsessed with the idea of Santa bringing the stockings only. So mine will be filled with any decent gifts that fit, plus the mandatory (can't be switched tk under the tree) "stocking bits" - chocolate orange, sugar mice, candy cane, bath bombs, special bubble bath, and a few other practical bits that only feel like gifts to me if they are part of the stocking.

It is completely up to you. Last year I probably spent £10 on stockings and they were enjoyed. This year they are just a bigger feature. It's all just logistics really and depends on what you decide to divvy up between the tree and the stocking!

We do the same as user68634, a stocking of small & inexpensive gifts. The girls have a mix of useful stuff (pocket tissues in pretty packets, stainless steel chopsticks, personalised straw) & random bits and bobs (unicorn ice cubes for dd2, music book holder thing for dd1, among other things). They buy me a bit of waking up time while they ooh and aah over what they have from the end of the bed.

Everyone does it differently. We do a small stocking hung on the bedroom door plus a medium sized sack downstairs. Santa will bring this for his downstairs sack:
Cubby Bear (electronic bear with bottle)
Nerf gun and target
Gameboy knock off from amazon
2 small Among Us plushies
Goo jit soo toy
Small Rainbocorn egg
Harry Potter illustrated hardback book
Electric toothbrush
Tripod for his camera
Pokemon cards

And then smaller bits for his stocking on the door like choc coins, an apple, small bat and ball etc.

My parents had huge sacks for us as kids, I decided to scale it down to make things less expensive! Do whatever you feel is right for your family. Everyone does it differently. We do presents from us as well, some people do everything from Santa.

Shops reel you in when you’re pregnant and hormonal and see these lovely big stockings. And then you spend the next few years trying to fill the bloody things.

Your stockings sound fine OP, as do everyone else’s. If I had my time back I’d get them to leave out their actual socks but it’s always 20/20 vision through the retrospectoscope.

In our house the stockings have about 10 small items in...most being £1 or less each. (Mine are primary school age)

E.g
Small wooden car
Bath bomb
stationary
Stickers
Chocolate coins
Novelty socks
Snap bracelets
Hair bands
Novelty toothbrush
Slime pots
Blind bags
Lucky charm cereal pots

Nothing expensive but enough to entertain upstairs and give us a bit longer in bed before the madness begins downstairs!

DS had a hessian personalised sack first year we were together - he left a stocking and Santa left the hessian sack with his name on - DS then 4 was thrilled . Sticking only has Santa gifts - all friends/family gifts are under tree for after lunch. Stocking this year has body sprays and shower gel, traditional socks and pants, large box of Ferreri Rocher, personalised straws, popcorn, 5kg chocolate flakes in salted caramel & Ripleys annual.

DH & I have small velvet B&M stockings - will probably have a couple of things in them

There's no right or wrong - set your own traditions

It's small, inexpensive things, which are useful, edible or has been specifically asked for. Plus a book and a beanie boo. It looks a lot written down, but because the sizes, it fits in a stocking easily.

My mum has also knitted DS a stocking. In our case it's a tight squeeze. I might need to ask her to widen the opening a bit so I can actually put things wider than a tube of bubbles in. Right now a chocolate orange would stand no chance!

I think his stocking will hold 5-10 small items. Main presents go in a sack downstairs

Everyone does it differently - there is no right or wrong. Not sure why sweets and chocolates aren't 'actual presents' though?

FC just fills the stocking here - I fill it with:
3 small gifts (this year a key ring each, my DS has a Costa gift card and amiibo and my DD has dolls clothes and nappies)
Always:
A cuddly (peeking out the top)
Socks
Chocolate coins
Satsuma
Candy cane hung on the outside.
This year they also have:
Smarties tube
Jelly tots tube
Ramune drink
Milkshake straws
Chocolate covered marzipan

Ah ok, we just have a small size stocking I might chuck in a couple of lip balms, face pack or some fluffy socks or something.
I worry about my DD feeling too different from her peers.

My DC's stockings hang on the fireplace downstairs. They come and get me in the morning (not too early, luckily) and we go down together. The stockings are opened straight away before breakfast.

I’m sure your DD won’t feel too different. Everyone seems to do stockings differently (and some don’t do them at all). I also think some people say stocking when in reality it’s more of a sack they’re talking about.

We have the standard sized stockings, on average I probably put 6 things in each, one more substantial item but no more than £20 and the rest is small things, bath bombs, soap on a rope for DP etc. small but useful things proper small presents though not sweets and plastic stuff.

DD has a sack the rest of her presents go into so I can put them by the tree as they're wrapped but they're kind of hidden. Santa fills the stockings only, presents in the sack are from me or whoever's name is on the tag.

I don’t think kids will even discuss it in that my detail, all families do it differently!

We do a stocking by the bed (well on the landing outside their door as they stay awake too late for poor tired old Santa to deliver these days!) which has evolved into a small sack now as I love stockings and get carried away. Standard pants, socks, books, toiletries, chocolates, small toys etc. These are ripped open at speed and thrown round the room but often revisited later. Then we all go downstairs together to open the “main” presents if that makes sense.

We spend around £300-600 each child on stocking which I know is not a lot but it covers, they want air pods this year for stocking fillers so they will go in there as well as others, we have big stockings so it’s so expensive to fill lol

On top of the stockings we spend around £4000-6000 on main prezzies as well as there main present which this year is the latest I pjoen

@Cupcake272 we are generous but your budget is excessive and far from average.

Father Chris fills stockings plus one wrapped gift under the tree here. Stockings contain ‘real gifts’ such as underwear, sports socks, make up, gift vouchers, alcohol, costume jewellery, bath bombs etc. Each stocking is around £60-75. The one gift is usually around £50.
Larger gifts are from us.

I'd assume Cupcake is pulling our leg...

Stocking here is small, probably total £20 - this year it'll be a kaleidoscope, hair clips, a bell & light for her scooter and some little bath toys, and the standard clementine and maybe this year, for the first time, a small bag of chocolate buttons (DD is 3). Father Christmas also leaves a couple of new books alongside the stocking as the big picture books for young children just do not fit in a standard stocking!

Main Father Christmas present will be downstairs under the tree. This year it's a playmobil thing costing £40.

So 'Father Christmas' spends about £60 and I've spent about £40 in total on my presents to DD - a toy, a jigsaw puzzle and some Hatley pyjamas.

£100 all in all, which is more than last year, which was more than the year before. It's creeping up...

My son's stocking is sweets and little toys/accessories. It's mostly sensory toys as he has autism and loves fidget things. He also likes novelty socks so will get those too. His stocking is fairly inexpensive.

Many people don't do stockings at all or fill them with candies or decoration things with the actual presents coming on their own, not from the stockings

I can assure I’m not bragging, I’m simply saying what I get and your all saying I’m lying, such a friendly group of mums

We've had years where we just put sweets and chocolate in stockings but they never got eaten by the DC so we now put novelty items, they still have some sweet treats like chocolate coins, a tube of their favorite sweets and some chocolate sprouts. The rest are just little gifts. I stick a magazine in their stocking every year too.

Ours have a sack from santa.. Novelty stuff like hand puppets, bath bombs, cars, trains, books, toiletries for older ones and a selection box
Then the tree gifts are from us Inc their main.. I do them a chocolate basket with novelty chocolates in too.
Xmas eve hamper is from us.