All About Christmas Stocking Stuffers

Your stories and traditions about Stocking Stuffers and Christmas

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In 1990 my boyfriend, now husband, proposed to me on Christmas Eve night. While we were toasting our engagement with the family we were joking that my husband finally gets a stocking hung for Christmas now that he will be part of the family. Since it was Christmas Eve and it was too late to get a stocking my brother took one of his green rubber boots and screwed it to the wall. The problem was solved! - Ann Thompson from Rockaway, NJ

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When I was a child my parents together delighted in filling my stocking and along with wonderful small suprises, equally wrapped and unwrapped, was always an orange and some walnuts in the toe, just as they had as children. Even as a small child, I cherished the idea of a continuing tradition. I always fill all the stockings for every person in our family, including grandparents. To make the idea of Santa real, I had to fill one for the grownups, myself included, when my son was little. I also wouldn't feel 'guilty' through the year, if I found some little extra thing I wanted or an extra bottle of just the right shade of nail polish or favorite CD. Now my son is grown and wants to have the job of 'Santa' for my stocking. I still fill one for him. He always says he doesn't want or need anything for Christmas.... except his stocking. We find really creative, practical and fun things, even for the senior citizens in our life. We always do stockings for our guests and inclu - Christmas Carol from Ohio

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I always make sure to put something very personal and meaningful in each one of my family member's stockings. For example, this Christmas I am giving my mother a personalized calendar full of new and old pictures of our family. Our family always opens our stockings first so I feel like it is a good start to Christmas morning watching my family open presents that came from my heart. - Amanda from Alton, IL

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Once we got a little older, my parents started a tradition I'm planning to start next year. The Friday after Thanksgiving, we always decorated for Christmas. Then as we ate leftovers at dinner, we put all 5 of our names in a bowl. We each had to pick a name...and of course it couldn't be our own. Well...that itself was a lot of laughter over the many, many times of repicking...but eventually, no one got their own name. You were now responsible for that person's stocking. It was a secret and you could fill it anytime you wanted. Then on Christmas Eve we opened just our stockings and had to guess who had our name. We always knew who's stocking my dad had because it was always filled ON Christmas Eve! It was great and fun and sneaky! Next year my youngest will be 13 and we will start the tradition here but I have many fun memories. - Debbie from Rochester, NY

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My best friend lost her mother this past summer and has been struggling with depression ever since. She mentioned that she thought she would be okay to go into Hobby Lobby to get a few things, but when she went down the aisle with stockings, she broke down because the stocking on Christmas morning was her favorite thing from her mom. So I had the idea to fill up a stocking for her (I've slipped questions into our conversations about what sort of things she got), and I plan to leave it annonymously, maybe with a "note from Heaven." - Tiffany from Kansas

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When I was growing up along with two older brothers with a single Mom, we always be able to open one gift on Christmas Eve---after we had attended Christmas Eve services at our church. Kind of took the edge off, and it was easier to wait until Christmas morning when we opened our other presents. There weren't a lot of them, but I think we appreciated them more than the way too many presents that kids get now, and seem to be bored with before the sun goes down on Christmas day. Merry Christmas! - Grandma Jude from St. Francis, KS

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We were given a lovely fabric advent calendar by my MIL when my boys were about 5 and 3. Unfortunately, the pockets were in correct number order - though they are under a lovely embroidered picture. The older son, Keith, had just started school and was learning to read. So I made up a wee clue for each pocket - wrote it (trying to use writing Keith would be able to cope with) on a piece of paper, and Keith had to read it to his wee brother, Colin. Then they had to work out the solution. It started off very simple, like "look beside Mummy's bed" and ended up with rhyming couplets (how glad I am that they're both done with this now!). The item was something like a sweetie each, or a small carton of juice each, or a "gem stone" (a semi-precious stone - they both loved those) between them, a pencil each, a couple of felt tip pens - and there was always either one toy or one book between them. The new clue was put into the appropriate pocket each evening after boys were in bed, an - Christine Farrell from Scotland

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Years ago my Great Grandmother and her sister did alot of needlework; knitting, crocheting, sewing, and so on. When the girls in our family married, apparently the new husbands were not great at putting together stockings. My Great Grandmother (Santa) began putting together Santa boxes for the girls who did not get stockings. These boxes were full of treasures that were hand made by her. They usually held embroidered all cotton dish towels, dish soap aprons, and the like. However, every one, boys and girls, young and old, received a pair of handknit slippers. My mother and her sisters have continued this tradition, and the Santa box is always the last gift opened. My sister and I really make out because Santa brings us stockings, too, but my mom would never drop this. I have tried to duplicate some of my Great Grandmother's patterns. Last year I found a slipper pattern (thank you google!)and knit slippers for every one who would remember getting them years ago. I was more excited a - Linda from Carmel, Indiana

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Every year, our family has a "white elephant" exchange with our stockings. Everyone draws a number and if you draw a number higher than one, you can "steal" the stocking of the person behind you. My grandmother always brings the same thing. She has a very ugly ceramic turkey with a lid. This turkey is filled to the brim with change she has collected all year. There is definitely a huge competition to try and "steal" the turkey. However, the winner has to return the turkey for the following year. It usually contains no more than $20.00, but every one wants that turkey! - Carman

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Ever since I was a little girl, our family has always reused our Christmas paper--some of the papers have been used so many times that they have practically become heirlooms. We try to choose paper whose design gives a hint about what is in the package. We also make last year's Christmas cards into tags for this year, again choosing designs which suggest what is in the package. No tag is complete without a riddle, bit of poem or humorous message again which carries the theme of the gift. We spend more time trying to guess what is in our packages than opening the gifts themselves! - jan from massachusetts

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When I was growing up we always put out our stockings on December 5 which is St. Nicholas Eve. We put our Christmas lists/letters to Santa in the stocking before we went to bed. In the morning, the list would be gone and the "Elves" who came to take the list to Santa would leave fruit, nuts, candy and some unwrapped toys or trinkets in the stockings. There was always an orange in the toe. This is a great help to parents because you have the finished list by December 6 with plenty of time to get shopping done and nothing can be added or changed because Santa already has the list! I have continued the tradition with my children and even though they are 17 and 20 now, they still enjoy celebrating St Nicholas Eve/Day by seeing what the Elves have left. - Sandy from Springfield, MO

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When I was a child my mom and dad stretched Christmas for us by filling our stockings on New Year's Eve. The idea was that Mrs. Claus was watching to see if we kept our new toys picked up during the holidays. Then on New Year's Eve she would fill our stockings with oranges, candy,gum, batteries for our new toys, another doll outfit or something else that would go with a gift we had already received. This became a two-fold celebration because this was also how we learned to identify that a New Year had begun when we would open our stockings on New Year's Day. I continued this tradition with my children and added new toothbrushes which they always looked forward to. - Diana from OH

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We NEVER hung our stockings until Christmas Eve, and my parents took a picture every year of us doing this. There was always a big, juicy orange in the toe, and the items were always unusual; like from closeout stores such as Tuesday Morning or Big Lots. After all of the presents were opened, it was such a treat to still have the stockings to look forward to and have NO idea what could possibly be in there! - Carrie from Columbus, GA

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Even though we have a beautiful fireplace, our 3 children hang their stockings on their bedposts. In the morning, when they wake up, they get their stockings and come in our room and see what Santa filled them with. That gives Dad and I at least 10-15 minutes to wake up from the busy night before. Then we head downstairs to see what Santa left under the tree! As far as what they find in the stockings, they actually look forward to finding a new toothbrush every year! And of course candy and toys. My oldest daughter now looks forward to nail polish and makeup. Love the tradition of stockings! - Laura from New Middletown, Ohio

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When our girls were little we would leave Sants's footprints for them to see Christmas morning. To make them, put a layer of baking soda in a bag or box, then moisten the bottom of a pair of men's boots, dip the boots into the baking soda & make "prints" across the floor. The baking soda looks white & sparkly when it dries, and can be easily vacuumed or swept up. Since it's "magic" snow, there doesn't need to be any on the ground outside! Note: I don't know whether this would be safe for pets to lick. - Linda from PA

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My best friend and I love to go to yard sales and thrift stores. We were always the stocking "stuffers" in the family, and we rarely get anything in our stocking, so we decided to stuff a stocking for each other. We look throughout the year at yard sales and thrift stores, clearance items, etc. The rules we agreed upon are that there is a $20 limit and you cannot pay full price for anything. We usually end up filling a box instead of a stocking, but we end up with tons of gifts for $20! We had so much fun the first year, it's become an annual event. - Brenda in West Central IL from Il

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A new tradition that my best friend I and started last year is to fill stockings for each other. Since we as moms usually do the "filling" we either had to buy things for ourselves (where's the surprise and discovery in that?) or our stockings were rather empty. Instead, we had the fun of selecting items and delivering them via husbands for a wonderful surprise on Christmas morning. - Renee from Lubbock, Tx

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This is the first Christmas without my father and, even though I am married with a child of my own, he was the official stocking stuffer every year. We alwaysed saved the stocking for last and it was always the best. He personalized each stocking with items that person like and even bought me make-up and perfume! He included fun, silly gifts, necessity items like chap stick and really special gifts like jewelry. I was always amazed how much thought he put into those stockings and my heart is breaking just thinking about not having a stocking filled with love from Dad this year! Stacy in VA - Stacy from VA

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Every year for my daughter, I find small games, crafts and activities to put into 24 pink stockings that I reuse yearly. Each morning in December she races out of bed to get her "Advent" as she calls it from the appropriate stocking. She is so excited and, because they are mainly activities or crafts, she stays busy on those cold days when it's too cold to play outside. It is also a great way for us to celebrate to season because I put cupons in them also for things like "make Christmas cookies with Mom", watch a Christmas video with Mom and Dad, make ornaments for our friends... So we spend lots of time together too, celebrating the season and our love! - Stacy from VA

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We have started filling the Christmas stockings on New Years Eve (to open New Year's Day) instead of Christmas Eve (for Christmas Day). There are so many gifts on Christmas day, one from Santa, some from mommy and daddy, some from grandparents, some from aunts and uncles, etc. It is just too much, even when we try to keep the numbers down. Opening the stockings on New Year's allows the getting to be spread out and it gives something to look forward to even after Christmas. - Magda from Ontario

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I wrap everything in the stocking no matter what it is, and I always use special wrapping paper. The kids enjoy getting their stocking almost as much as their Santa gift. - Julie

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I started the tradition of having stockings opened on Christmas eve, so that our three sons would not continually nag us to open one of their Christmas gifts. Now that they are married, I still fill stockings for my three sons, their wives and our grandchildren, and my mother. We have an appetizer buffet around the tree, and open the stockings one by one, usually starting with the youngest grandchild. This way we see what each person got and can comment on them. I try to put a whimsical toy from my boy's childhood or a fun hand held game just for laughs. We've outgrown stockings, I now buy gift bags and fill them, with every item wrapped, to add to the festivities. The items add up, but I am not willing as yet, to stop this fun time of family sharing. - dAR from SALEM OR

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We can't open any presents until mom finishes her coffee so when she turns her back,we drink some of it so it will be gone quicker. FUNNY! - Zach from Brockton,Massachusetts

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On Christmas Eve, I have always made homemade hot chocolate and sugar cookies. We have some for ourselves and save some for Santa. Each of the girls get to open one present. Then we all curl up on the sofa and each of the girls read one Christmas story. I finish up the evening with The Nutcracker, and usually they are asleep before I finish. It is a wonderful way to get them to calm down their excitement over Santa's expected visit. - Tiffany from Clarksville, TN

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We have 24 small boxes(jewelry size although small stockings or any multiple item would do)arranged from 1 to 24 with 24 on the top. This is our countdown until Christmas. My husband and I sit down at the end of November and study the December calender. We write out an activity for each box on a slip of paper coordinated with the day of the week. We have three children and the kids rotate opening a box. So our oldest opens the first box, the 4th box, the 7th box etc... The second oldest opens the 2nd box, the 5th box, etc... The notes in each box allow us to do a family activity each day prior to Christmas. The box that represents the first Saturday of the month is always - Cut down a Christmas tree. So as a family we go to a home grown lot and everyone uses the saw and we cut down our tree. Other activities have included: Decorating the tree, watching a Christmas movie, baking cookies, visiting the nursing home where Grandma was (is), reading a Christmas story, bui - Sue from Mukwonago, WI

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Every evening, while doing our Advent devotions, we also share something we have done that day for God. We write our "gifts to Jesus" on slips of paper and put them in a special stocking. On Christmas morning, after reading the Nativity Story, we pull them out and read them together. This really helps us to stop and rearrange our priorities at Christmas by reminding us that it is a season of giving rather than just getting. - Jennifer Harrison from Missouri

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When my kids were all old enough to no longer believe, I found it hard to do stocking stuffers and Christmas shopping, plus I was slightly annoyed that no one ever thought to fill my stocking, so we started a new tradition. On the morning after Thanksgiving we pick each other's names from a basket. With each name is a $20.00 bill. Each family member has to fill the stocking of the person they drew the name of secretly, using no more or less than the $20.00. We all meet up on my bed Christmas morning, open our stockings and try to guess who filled it. For a few years we could always tell if my middle child filled the stocking because she always put in soap and deodorant and small colonge bottles. It was so funny. My kids are now 20-24 and we are still doing this. I guess we will until they get married. - Debbie from New Jersey

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Every year I let me children each open one gift on Christmas Eve, which is usually a pair of pajamas so they feel special on Christmas morning and look cute for pictures. This year I am adding the tradition of also opening one stocking stuffer (that we choose for them) which will be an ornament for the tree. Although they always get one, opening on Christmas eve will give us more time to enjoy looking at it on our tree. - Stacy from Chicopee, MA

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When our children were little we told them Santa only brings three presents - because the three wise men each brought a present to Jesus. They have continued this with their own children. Usually it is one larger present and two smaller ones. Another fun tradition we started when my granddaughter was small (it was her idea) is to draw names and buy a gift starting with that person's initial. We can only spend about $1 on the gift. It has been fun to try to find a clever gift in that price range each year. - Rhonda from Missouri

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There were 3 of us kids in our family and I was the youngest. My sister who was six years older than me would get me a little something to give my parents. One year I was about 4 years old and my sister got socks for me to give my dad. We decided it would be fun to wrap them in a shoe box so he wouldn't be able to guess what they were. Christmas Eve I'm sitting on his lap challenging him to guess what his gift was. He was guessing all sorts of silly things and he just blurted out "Socks?!" Well, I burst in to tears and was devastated. To this day, I'm 42, every year I get him socks and wrap them in a shoe box, and every year he picks up the box, shakes it and yells, "socks?!" - Karen from Schenectady, NY

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Miraculous Family Stories
"One Christmas, my brother and his new wife didn't have any money because he was in the process of getting his Ph.D. They made a book for each person (in a cheap expandable 3 ring) that had a collection of miraculous stories that happened in our family. As a result, each year as part of our hanging of our stockings, we share a story that has happened to us during the year or in our lifetime that we have prepared and feel inspired to share, giving a copy to each family member to add to their books. This is everyone's favorite part of Christmas and the book is very dear to us." - Linsey

Share the Stuffing
"In my family, we are all grown up adults and some of us have families of our own. We are still able to go to my parents' home for Christmas every other year as we swap families, but now we have a new tradition. We draw names for big gifts ($50 limit) and then we get each other a stocking stuffer ($5-$10). In this way we try to get really creative in getting something that really means something to each individual. Some years we have a theme for our gifts... like emergency preparedness. We get each other things that we can stick in our 72 hour kits (windup flashlights, batteries, cell phone charger--adapted, etc.) for both our big gift and our stuffers. It's really great! The other fun part is that we stuff the stocking of the person we drew. It makes it so much more fun, easier on everyone and special to continue this in our adulthood." - Linsey

Is There a Scary Cousin in your Stocking?
"My family has a tradition with stocking stuffers. Every year when we are looking through our stockings there is one item that we hope that we do not find. It is a picture of a distant cousin - he is pretty scary looking in the picture with his hair standing on end and his eyes are great big. If it is in your stocking, then you put it in someone elses the next year. The fun part is figuring out how it will be presented. That horrific picture has been on the inside of books, put into a plate, on candy and many other ways. Every year we have so much fun just seeing who will get it next!" - Julie

Who's Got the Other Ticket?
"Every christmas I put in a hockey ticket in my son's stocking (since he just loves the AHL team, the Hershey Bears). When he looks in his stocking and only finds one ticket, I always say, 'only one ticket? How you going to get there?' Then I look in my stocking and lo and behold there is the second ticket...I usually say, 'what if I don't feel like going with ya?' or 'I guess Santa has thought about how you are going to the game.' He gets a kick out of it." - Holly

Simple, Creative Advent Calendar
"i put stickers in there and let them take out one a day and put on calender until christmas morning...then on christmas morning all of the goodies are in the stocking to find!!" Laura

Get the Kids Involved
"With four kids we have them pick names and make a gift for each other. This is not only economical but alsoa lot more fun. I have been thoroughly surprised by some of their ideas. The stockings are the last gifts opened on Christmas morning." - AL

Santa and Reindeer Tracks
"When my daughters were small I would take a sponge cut in the shape of a boot and a deer print and stick these sponges in mud. I would then leave foot and hoof prints in my kitchen leading right up to the carrots and cookies we had left for our special guests. It made everything quite magical." - Judy

Mini Stockings
"I started a tradition with my daughter when she was about 3. Things can get a little hectic and frantic as Christmas draws closer; and sometimes we miss the magic of the '12 Days of Christmas'. To help my daughter focus on being good and enjoying each day of the special season, I bought a couple of small felt stockings, each about 3 inches long, at a local 'dollar' store, and a handful of small trinkets. Each night before bed, we would hang an empty stocking on the tree within her reach, and I told her that if she had been good, the elves would put something special in the stocking for her. The trinkets started small, lollipops, hair bows, etc., and through the years they have become a little more expensive and meaningful, but the tradition has continued (she's 11 now) and my brothers and sisters have started doing the same with their small children! Happy Holidays to you!" - Sumarie

Mystery Wrap
"As the kids grow older every year, so does their curiosity. To help keep them 'honest' and not open, then re-tape their Christmas packages, I assign a specific color of wrap OR ribbon to each child. There are no names on the packages, so no one knows until Christmas Day whose packages are whose!" - Penny

Savoring Stuffers All Month Long
"When my son was small we would put up the tree and stockings the day after thanksgiving then on Dec 1st I would put 24 small wrapped gifts in his stocking before he got up that morning. Each night after supper we would mark the day off the calendar and he was able to open a gift each night." - Anonymous

Last-minute Gifts
"I'm a single mom and find it hard each year to encourage the 'it's better to give than receive' theme without breaking the bank. My two boys are very generouse and want to give to everyone!! So I've started a cookie baking extravaganza. One weekend in early December we bake, and bake, and bake. I handle the oven work and my boys decorate the cookies with frosting, sprinkles, different flavored chips, etc. Then we make little gift bags. Then, anytime a new name pops up as someone they want to share the Christmas spirit with, they receive homemade holiday tidings. My boys look forward to this family time we spend together. It just wouldn't be Christmas without it." - Toni

Sweet Advent Paper Chain
"We did not have a lot of money so my kids always tried to be creative without spending alot of money. They would take red, green, and white construction paper and make a chain. They would decorate it with stamps and stickers and would hang it and each take turns taking one off every day. They would always make sure that the youngest would be able to take down the last one. This tradition is still going on even though 3 out of my 4 children are no longer living at home." - Genise

Ornament Exchange Party
"We have a Christmas tree trimming party where every one brings a christmas tree ornament to decorate the tree. They receive one for their tree. Or we have an ornament exchange party where everyone brings a dozen ornaments and each person brings home 12 different ornaments for their tree at home." - Kate

Those Sunny Oranges...
"As a child "santa" always put an orange in the bottom of our stockings and they always had a bagful of chocolate coins and a lifesaver storybook. As an adult I carry on the tradition with my own family and my oldest brother, who I do a stocking for every year." - Deb from Maine

Santa Gets Resourceful
"When my sister & I were growing up, we would find odd gifts in our stockings. Apparently our Mom would often forget about stocking stuffers until late Christmas Eve. She would improvise with whatever she could find. The next morning we would find oranges, potatoes even carrots in our stockings!" - Kelli

Stocking Stuffers: Not Just for Kids!
"Opening our stockings early Christmas morning has always been a great holiday tradition of our large family. Now that we are older, we take turns stuffing each others stockings at our mothers home right around midnight, while our own little ones dream about Santa and the wonders of Christmas. We still get up early, and coo and exclaim over each little treasure before starting the coffee, and bring a cup to Ma, to enjoy peacefully, before the inevitable chaos reigns." - Tina

Savoring Stockings
"At our house we wrap each and every item in the stocking! we even wrap up fingernail clippers, chapstick, and gum! It makes christmas last a little longer and creates some great laughs." – Kyle from Vermont

Found and Homemade Stuffers are Special
"Mom and dad always said it was Santa Claus that filled the stockings on Xmas eve. My dad grew up in Ark. and said his stocking always had an orange and lots of walnuts, Santa was poor then, and the walnuts just fell from the trees and were free if Santa wanted to pick them up. Mom always said it was not xmas unless the gifts were homemade, so I started making my parents gifts and my son loves to do the same, for everyone, even though he is 12 yrs old." – Sharon

All I Want for Christmas is My New PJs
"Every year on Christmas Eve my parents give my 4 siblings and I one gift, and my parents exchange one gift themselves. It is always new pajamas. We put them on and sit in front of the fire drinking hot chocolate and eating homemade cookies. We talk about Christmas until we are tired, then we go to bed and in the morning when we take our Christmas pictures we are all wearing nice new pajamas." – Janelle from New York

Fun Christmas Eve Games
"every xmas eve we have a nice beautiful dinner and gathering. after dinner we all sit down and enjoy a nice punch, coco, coffee, [or] eggnog depending on what i am in the mood to make (i try to change it up each season, [a] habit from being in the bar business in my younger years). anyway while we are enjoying that my mother and her 2 sisters get a collection of unique and unusuall items. they will then pass them around and have the rest of the family try to guess what they are used for. they are just a bunch of "around the house tools" that you [don't] see everyday but come in very handy... ...once that is done and everyone takes what they would find useful we play 2 different games. each year my aunt goes out and finds a unique xmas tree ordiment that we have to find on the tree. winner gets the dvd of the year." - Brian

A Few More Minutes of Quiet for Mom and Dad
"I grew up in England. Traditionally Father Christmas fills the stocking on the end of the bed for the children to find in the morning. I can still remember the thrill of waking up to the weight of the stocking on my feet! The stocking always contained the usual small gifts, but nestled in the toe were always a few unshelled nuts, some shiney coins and a tangerine. The smell of tangerines reminds me of Christmas to this day. Another big advantage of leaving the stocking this way is that the children wake up early, as usual, on Christmas day, but then open their stockings in bed before waking up their parents!! I did not realize the benefit of this until I had my own children, who would share their stockings with each other before coming into my bedroom. This way also helps explain how some children get much bigger gifts than others - Father Christmas fills the stockings, but people buy the bigger gifts." - Susan

Stowing Stuffers
"I keep a large zip loc bag (the right size to fill our stockings) for each of my children stashed away, and add the stocking stuffers to it as I find them. Visually, I can see thru and tell how much I still need to get for them, or if one is ahead of the other. They make a great stash place." - Susan

Savoring Christmas Day
"Since my daughter was able to rip paper, we have had the tradition of having her open her stocking while joining us in bed. It was a fun family time with lots of laughing. Beginning with breakfast and throughout the day, she would open a present or two; the last one opened just before she said goodnight. We did the same thing (though far fewer in number), saving that one special opening until after she was well tucked in. It was ceremonious in nature a we would have a glass of wine and our last of our Christmas music playing. Those were indeed, very special times." - Barb

Memorable Maple Candy
"My mother is from up north, and when I was growing up, it just was not Christmas unless we had maple sugar candy in our stocking on Christmas morning. Many years ago, when my parents retired and moved out of the city, they were unable to find any maple sugar candy locally... so we searched online and were able to find some to ship to them. The tradition continues today; we always send maple sugar candy to my parents at Christmas." - Jill from Texas

Silly Gift Guessing
"My father started a family tradition of labeling our christmas gift with a hint about the gift. This hint may or may not be a help in guessing the gift. It was something that would give us all a laugh. My father is gone now but my brother and I have continued the tradition with our own children and grandchildren." - Merrie from Texas

Everlasting Candy Canes
"Memories come flooding back when I see the large candy canes sticking out of the top of a christmas stocking. My grandparents use to give each of us kids one every year and we never got tired of them. Most of the time it took a month or more to eat them. I finally found them at WalGreens last year after several years of not seeing them. My Grandparents passed away many years ago and I am now renewing the large candy cane in the stocking for my own kids." – Lacinda

The Missing Sock
"When I gave my daughter her stocking last Christmas, she promptly emptied it out, and then declared 'Where is my other one?', so I told her that she only gets one. I laughed all day long after she responded 'I must have been bad this year. I have two feet but Santa only brought me one sock.'" – Sara from Ohio

Nothing Better Than a Stocking
"When I was a child, I had a stretchy knit Christmas stocking that started out regular size and got bigger and longer as it was filled. My mother hunted for stocking stuffers all year to put in that thing - I'd bet there were 30 or more items! I don't know how she found the time to gift wrap, with ribbons and bows, every single item. Anyway, on Christmas morning I would creep downstairs at the crack of dawn to retrieve my stocking. Back in my room, I'd lay out my loot on my bed and savor each little item. Some things were funny, some were cute, and there were always candy and treats. The stocking was so neat and fun that I hardly cared about the rest of the gifts under the tree (which was a boon for a family that was always on a budget)!" - Kathleen from California

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