Stocking Stuffers: 3 Copies “The Reluctant Entertainer” Giveaway!
Traditions can be started any time, and any place, with any person.
Thirteen years ago, the night before Christmas Eve, a knock came at my door. There stood our friend, Paula, with a beautifully wrapped silver Nordstrom box. Inside was a hand-knit Christmas stocking for our new baby girl, Abigail Ellen Rose.
“Here’s the sock! I worked all night to get it finished so you’d have it for Abigail’s first Christmas,” Paula told us, as she handed us the box.
My two other kids already had their own knit “sock,” as Paula called them. Paula felt the pressure to get Abby’s finished for her first Christmas. (By the way, these socks are about 2 1/2 feet long!)
What we didn’t know was, only a few short months later, Paula would be gone from our lives, as she died suddenly after a heart procedure.
Walt and Paula were dear friends of mine for many years. I had met Walter when he started on dialysis at my longtime workplace, and our friendship grew outside of a professional relationship. In fact, he and Paula were “designated grandparents” in my wedding almost 20 years ago, as my husband and I didn’t have any living grandparents.
My story today is about the tradition of our family’s Christmas Stockings.
It started with Elliot.
And then Garrett came along.
And then our little girl, Abby.
Their names are on the front side of the socks.
And the year they were born on the back.
Over the years, I’ve filled these large socks with toys, socks, underwear and toiletry items, cologne, lip gloss, video games, gift cards and music. Now my kids are teens, and we’re feeling the crunch of the economy just like everyone else. A sock this size can cost a lot to fill!
I want to be more creative this year, so this is where I need your help!
How should I fill up these stockings?
What to WIN:
3 winners will each win ONE copy of The Reluctant Entertainer.Answer at least ONE of these questions to WIN:
What items do you fill Christmas stockings with?
Do you ever feel wasteful?
Do you fill the socks with useful items or “fun” items?
Do you have any happy memories of Christmas stockings from when you were young?Tweet, Facebook, or sign up for NEW RSS Feed:
Do one of the above for an extra entry or two, and come back and tell me.WINNER ANNOUNCED:
The 3 winners will be announced on Wednesday, December 22nd.
Thank you friends for the great “stocking stuffing” advice! I can’t wait to read all of your comments. And there’s still time to order from Amazon, your own copy of The RE. (However, it is too late to get a “signed” copy from me, in time for Christmas.)
I hate buying just to buy… I hate little cheap things that are going to be broken 5 seconds after my kids open them… so I can’t just fill my kids’ stockings to fill them. Growing up our stocking were always the best part… there were 5 of us and my parents didn’t have a lot to spend, but my mom always made them special…. I think getting fewer things that are special/usable is so much more meaningful than filling it to the brim with “stuff” just so you can say it’s full:)
I love that so many people said an orange! We alwalys had and do that. I fill the stockings with stuff they need like toothbrushes, chap stick, hair brush and things like that.
An orange always go in their stockings. Mom did it so I do too! LOL! Then some fun things. I try really hard to make them useful fun things. Sometimes, I fail miserably. :-)
Beautiful stockings with a lovely story.
I tend to put socks, underwear, pencils, hair doodads, toothbrushes, snack foods in the stockings.
My mom made our stockings. They are beautifully decorated with a Santa scene full of different colors, sequins, and beading. I’m the oldest of three children and I remember watching her make them when I was younger. We look in our stockings last. It’s always fun to get a little surprise.
I recently found your blog and I love it. I’m 27 and have been married for about three years. You have great tips and incredibly useful and practical ideas. Thank you!
We always filled the girls stocking with fun stuff and candy. Now that they are older they have requested that we cut back on the little items. They are trying not to be wasteful. I think that this year I will fill them with fruit and nuts.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Loved your post Sandy! We were also given a knitted stocking for our two sons by an elderly friend. They have their names on them and a little bell on the toe! We would have to wait until our kids were asleep before filling them…but had to be careful with the jingling bell! What to put in…we always do a PEZ candy dispenser and a toothbrush! When our sons were in college, I thought I would stop this tradition but they were so upset that year that they didn’t get those items and they let me know it! Now our sons and their wives and little ones each wait for their toothbrush and PEZ dispenser. I also add gift cards to Starbucks (McDonald’s for the little ones) and for the baby this year, a gift card to the grocery for baby food!
Our stockings were always our favorite when we were young, and even now that my brother, sister and I are grown, my mom still fills a stocking for us as well as each member of our family at Christmas. For my children, who are 3 and 5, I fill their stockings with a mix or fun and useful items. They always get a new, fun toothbrush and some toothpaste as well as some fun chapstick. They also get some candy and toys.
I fill stockings with fun things. Sometimes, I put in useful things, but only things people will really want. I have a memory (maybe I was 9?) where I got a big box of socks for Christmas, and I was so sad. I can’t do that to anyone in my family!
My mom made our stockings when I was small, and I’ve made stockings for my family. I can’t believe how many people are surprised by this. I didn’t realize how many people have boring, generic stockings.
We mix practical and fun. Now that my children are grown with children of their own, we all contribute to the stocking filling. This year, I found some cute “band-aids” for the grandchildren since they are always needing them for boo-boos. We also include a new toothbrush, candy, hair bows for the girls, small toys for the boys. It’s a group effort these days.
I don’t have too much advice, my daughter is only 5 months, but I one blogger gave the advice of consumables, fun treats to eat that they normally don’t get throughout the year like Oreos, or Fig Newtons, or fun tea and scones.
We got to spend Christmas in Sunriver a few years ago… with the thought that we would begin to do less…time spent would be our gift, but we still were going to do stockings… all was good until the other family we were with brought out their huge 3 foot long stockings!!! helllooo that is not going small… lucky for me I knew early enough… that I was able to stuff a box… or two of my kids favorite cereal in the stockings.. it was cheap, on sale at Albertsons… and THEY LOVED having not only their favorite, but they didn’t have to share! We have been known to wrap up their favorite soda and put that under the tree too!!! Merry Christmas Sandy!
One year, my Mother thought she would play a trick on my 18 year old, naughty brother (I was 6 at the time) by placing a lump of coal in his stocking. Wow! Talk about memories! Of course “Mom and Dad” bought him presents, but Santa, well, that year my brother made the naughty list.
We haven’t done stockings with out kids yet. They have them at both grandparents houses, so we don’t feel they are missing out on anything. One favorite thing that my mom puts in all of the adult kid stockings is a instant $1 lottery ticket every year. None of us are gamblers, but it’s always fun to see if one of the 4 of us (myself, husband, brother, sister in law) will win anything. :) We also always borrow a coin from my dad to scratch off the ticket. Then we threaten to keep the coin so that we at least won something. ha ha. That won’t take up much room in your stocking, but it is fun!
Oh, we always had more kids than money! Stockings always meant
a giant orange or apple, nuts, candy and maybe a novelty candy like pop rocks or something goofy like wax lips. ;oD
My stocking memories from when I was a child was the orange and the really BIG peppermint stick i got every year. Isn’t that funny that that is all I really remember from my stockings. About filling the stockings – I face the same dilema with my teenage daughter – filling the stocking can be quite expensive. Usually put a copy of a magazine, some special candy that she likes, lip gloss, cheap earrings, fingernail polish. What about this idea for saving money – coupons designated for each month; a movie, dinner out, etc. – this kind of spreads the expense out over the year and gives them something to look forward to each month.
Hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas!
I don’t think I have anything new to add! I try to do a mix of fun and useful items but my kids are small so it’s pretty easy! I read somewhere that you could roll up $1 bills individually. Everyone always likes a little pocket money.
I fill stockings for my sons, who are in their 20’s and it always a mix of useful and fun stuff. Always chocolate santas, an ornament, some toiletries, maybe a package of their favorite cookies. This year, we found some some LEGO sets that I know they will enjoy. I think they will be Legomanics forever. My older son’s girlfriend breaks the Lego’s out of the basement when she is over and bored. She states she never got to play with Legos when she was younger because they all belonged to her brothers!
Would love to win a copy of your book.
Oh, Sandy, that is a beautiful story. It reminds me that we must never wait, but live today!
I love stockings! One of the things I recall growing up is seeing stockings full on Christmas morning. I used to do a lot of candy (always the chocolate coins), but my kids are college-age now, and they thought I overdid it the past couples years. So instead of spending $50 on candy for four stockings, I will choose a favorite candy item or two, and then I usually fill up with fun and useful stuff. My son’s girlfriend gets a stocking, too, and I love doing the girl stockings best! Fun socks, hand cream, etc. For the guys, beef jerky, sports trinkets (this year one son gets Vikings pens and another gets a Wild antenna guy), and a gift card (for gas, iTunes or Chipotle), plus some other little things. I love the orange idea! I always buy Clementines, and I am sure they will fit! I will do that for sure. When my kids were growing up, we always let them get into their stockings first, even if we were not awake. Then we didn’t have them jumping on the bed at 6am! They had to wait until we got up to do presents, though. I still stuff the stockings after everyone has gone to bed, which is getting harder since my son likes to stay up so late!
I usually fill the stockings with fun things and a few useful things in as well. Mostly gum, candy, a little toy, maybe a toothbrush, or some makeup. Depends on how old my kids are and what I find.
Usually little bags of truffles and $5 gift cards to ice cream, frozen yogurt, fruit smoothie or a coffee shop
I have to answer #4… do I have happy memories of Christmas Stockings when I was young? I have such wonderful memories, and let me tell you, when I was little back in England we didn’t have fancy stockings hung up for the month of December as part of the Christmas decor…. our stockings weren’t hung until we went to bed on Christmas Eve, and the best part (and I thought so then too) was the sock we hung was actually one of my Dad’s very own long socks! Really, just a plain ole long black sock, we wrote our name on a piece of paper (me and my 3 brothers, my two sisters were much older than me) and we’d pin them to the sock with a safety pin. In the morning the stocking was full, there was always nuts in the toe, then an apple, then an orange, then some candy bars and chocolate santa always stuck out of the top. There were never toys or ‘stocking stuffers’ in our stockings – guess they weren’t big enough, but Santa would leave us lots of toys too (and my Mom would be paying for them the rest of the year!) I still love all the memories I have of Christmas when I was little (and we didn’t have much money).
We usually fill stockings with a mix of both practical and fun items. Practical items are things like lotions, soaps, mini sewing kits and fun items are usually edible goodies!
I find that paperback books work pretty well for filling up the stockings! Add some fruit, candy, and a couple of small things that others have suggested, but 1 or 2 books will fill them right up!
Thanks for sharing your story! Reminds us all that time is fleeting!
I usually fill stockings with both fun and useful things. Any little quirky thing I can find–this year I found some tweezers with a little LED light! Bath gel bulky and always helps fill the stocking. Underwear and or socks usually make there way as well. Often times, so strange sort of candy gets added too1