How are your stocking missions going?

[RealHousewivesOfTaunton]

I've just had to cut DD's stocking off her wrist because she'd decided to tie herself to it. DS threw open his bedroom door and shouted AHA! during this operation. So neither child's stocking has been done yet. They're 12 and 14 FFS.

I hope everyone else is doing better!

We kept our youngest 8 up until 11, she was fast asleep within a few minutes. Teens have been sent to bed as well and ordered not to find out. Stockings are always hung on bedroom door handles so that I can crack on.

We were going to creep around later to put the presents under the tree but have just finished 🥰

Stocking/sacks are made up and ready to go. Told DC they would be specially delivered in the night as I honestly CBA with navigating trying to separate them from their sacks and then filling them!

These have made me smile and laugh 😆 I don’t do stockings so I don’t have the same exact problems…but it took AGES for DS9 to get to sleep! All I wanted to do was put out the gifts and go to bed!…and now…I’m wide awake 😅

Dc1 helped me fill them 😂 she’s 20,
I filled hers and she did her siblings ones.
i do remember the days of pacing the hallways trying to hear if they were lightly snoring.
Now everyone knows about Father Christmas the stockings (pillowcases) are left down by the fire and we light it in the morning to open them by. They did used to be on beds but I wish I’d never started that tradition and always done them downstairs. Will be recommending it to my dc if and when they have their own dc!

Oh I am so glad we have always done them downstairs. Kids are 17 and 18 now, and still want Santa magic, but through years of training they know not to go downstairs after 11 on Christmas Eve.

I did suggest this year that maybe we could just put presents under the tree as and when they are wrapped, but no, Santa has to bring them on Christmas Eve 😅

I remember having that discussion with my parents as an older teen! It's still so much fun to see the display!

My ND 5 year old was so psyched up with the idea that Santa was coming to fill the stocking, that she didn't get to sleep until 1am.

Fuck this shit - no stockings in the bedroom next year.

Sat here thinking that pushing for a melatonin prescription should be top of my list of new year's resolutions.

Solidarity to all the parents of ND children who will be barely sleeping tonight.

I'm working from home through the night. DP pissed and went to bed. Youngest DD said she felt sick so also got into our bed. I think all are asleep. I've got everything out of the car and under the tree and stockings filled. Thought id have a lunchtime nap on the sofa but realised I've missed 2 presents that need wrapping. It convinced oldest DD is asleep so stockings can stay down here just in case. I'm gonna be knackered tomorrow.

Love all of these stories!! Christmas is my absolute favourite time of the year and I just love how excited all
of our children are to waken to stockings.

So many familiar stories too…this year our stocking mission was straightforward for once! Dd11 was sound asleep so I just popped it at the end of her bed. Dd14 was maybe still awake but room was dark and she didn’t say anything. Dd11 still believes and is super excited so I still had to creep in tonight…sad that this might be the final year she believes!!

I promise we have experienced very similar - and my kids aren’t ND. One year my eldest was so excited she didn’t sleep until 4am, I was exhausted! She was excited and terrified at the thought of Santa coming in to the house 🙄

I had notes with questions to be answered in writing and a pencil left next to the stockings by the fireplace.

I don't much feel like trying to fake Santa's handwriting or coming up with explanations for Mr Science regarding flying reindeer or logistics of delivering so many presents in such a short time.

I think tomorrow I'll explain that if he's already so pushed for time he doesn't have time to answer a questionnaire! Said questionnaire has now "vanished" and will be answered in printed form in January once Santa has had a rest.

Last year he was determined to use my polaroid camera to take a photo of the big man!

Haha! 2mg of melatonin each here still didn't help me much! Prescription should be doubled for Christmas Eve.

I remember once both dc were asleep by 8pm. Yay! We filled the stockings and put a movie on.

9am ds bursts into the room - 'it's morning look santas been!!!'

I feigned ignorance and pretended we couldn't see the filled stockings - probably given him fodder for therapy

Anyone still up. I am having a couple of glasses of wine!

Am up 😑

2 of 3 stockings successfully delivered. Opened eldest's bedroom door and she has woken up 😖

I was so startled I just told her to go to sleep and quickly shut the door. Am now waiting to deliver her stocking, which is tricky as the boys could wake up (though unlikely!)

I mean I'm glad she's so excited, it's very sweet, but blimey I just want everything delivered 😬

I learned the tip on here about buying two identical stockings, one stunt stocking to put up empty, and a pre-stuffed stocking to quickly switch them out.

Also this year our stockings are in mine and DH's room so DS(3) didn't wake up and refuse to go back to sleep because of gifts. Last year they were on a shelf in the hall, but DS could pull a heavy stocking hanger on his head from there this year (last year he wasn't sure what was happening at age 2)

Going downstairs to stuff them now. Not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse.

Merry Christmas to all 🎄

Her wrist is brilliant 😂.

My teens are older and leave their stocking outside their rooms so Father Christmas easily swaps the empty one for the identical filled one around 7am.

I finished filling the stockings and putting the presents out around 2:20am 🙈 Ds is 3 with SEN and has no understanding of Santa or Christmas but I still like doing it for him and he will enjoy opening the presents (it will probably take him at least a week to open them all as he gets bored of unwrapping them/will unwrap something and want to play with it immediately and forget about the rest). He’s usually up until some time between 11pm-1am but he had a long bath with Dada then spent awhile playing with a toy from my parents (we saw them on Christmas Eve and opened our gifts) whilst I was finishing setting up downstairs. We all get a stocking from Santa and ds gets a want, need, wear and read from him as well which are under a blanket which I will move for when he wakes up so he can see them and open them. He probably won’t wake up until sometime between 11am and 12pm so we’ll be starting the day later than everyone else 🤷‍♀️😂 We usually visit both of our families on Christmas morning but we chose dates before and after this year which will be so much better for him as his behaviour is a lot more challenging when he is woken up early and it becomes too much with seeing everyone and opening all the presents plus opening his stocking (not wrapped so he can just empty it out/pull them out) and his Santa presents will probably be a more enjoyable experience if he hasn’t been forced to be awake 😂