Monday, December 15, 2008

Never Too Old



You’re never too old to enjoy little trinkets stuffed inside a Christmas stocking. Santa usually leaves an orange, a few nuts and chocolates, a new toothbrush or pen, perhaps a lottery ticket or music cd. My boys keep looking for a set of car keys, but don’t let their disappointment show for long.
What does Santa leave in your Christmas stockings?

9 comments:

  1. Santa always put an orange,an apple and some nuts in my stocking growing up . . . I never really understood until I was grown up. Now I'd love for him to start that tradition again in our home.

    Your guys look pretty darned pleased **

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, we too have an orange in the toe--and then eat it at breakfast. Other things are; candy, new toothbrush, your very own roll of Scotch tape, a little wind-up toy, or for adults a magazine you MIGHT be interested in, often also a pair of socks ("socks in the sock"). Obviously, we don't do expensive gifts here.

    My kids are adults, so I told them a few years ago that they TOO should be providing stocking stuffers for others, especially the grandkids. Therefore I don't buy so much any more.

    We open stockings in bed, then eat breakfast in our jammies, get dressed (or not) and then open presents by tree with champagne (sparkling grape juice for kids).

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think an orange is essential! I've always wanted to fill Abigail's stocking a la Little HOuse on the Prairie - a tin cup, stick of candy and a penny - maybe this year I'll look around for the cup and penny. When I was a teenager, it was filled with useful things for our summer holiday by the beach - shampoo, deodorant, sunscreen - yeah! Father Christmas was really imaginative those days :-) For Abby, Father Christmas leaves a novel, a small Papo figure, some nice chocolate ... little things that she enjoys .... he also leaves a lovely letter each year and sometimes a drawing of he and polar bear and what they've been doing . We open stockings in bed and then bake Nigella's Christmas muffins or Martha's monkey bread in our pyjamas and open presents by the tree - oops I must put it up!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Really they look for car keys, who would have thought! Santa's elves really would need to work hard to have that happen. In my stocking, it is usually up to me.. oops I mean Mrs. Claus to make that happen. Usually just body wash or something of that sort. Definitely not coal. Possibly some chocolate.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Our kids always got some kind of toy or video in their stocking. The rule was they could open whatever was in their stocking from santa, but they could not open anything under the tree until mom and dad were up. So we always made sure they had something to play with in their stocking to buy us a bit more sleep!

    ReplyDelete
  6. We try to have the stockings filled with tasty treats and practical things (like those mentioned already). No expensive stocking stuffers here. I have friends who spend LOTS on the stockings and are doing it for married kids, their spouses, AND the grandkids...and it is costing them a fortune for just the stockings and they STILL do gifts for everyone, too. I think it has gotten out of hand...liked it better when it was simpler and I tried to get it even simpler here this year. My youngest daughter...now married with a child of her own...still looks for a can of black olives in her stocking. To her, THAT is a Christmas tradition she treasures!!! Silly, huh, but she loves it! Someday, when I'm gone, THAT will be what she misses most about Christmas...really.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Probably a lump of coal. When I was a kid he always left an orange and ribbon candy and usually a pair of socks of some sort. Mom said the orange was because when she was a kid an orange was sheer luxury because they didn't import them like we do now and in the early 1920's they didn't ship them all over the country.
    Carline

    ReplyDelete
  8. Diane, that's a wonderful photo of your boys. Love the stockings. I'd still be looking for those keys, too. I can completely see how that tradition began and never ended. I love it! Yes, I'd be diggin' for the keys for-ever!!!

    *karendianne.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Santa usually leaves a few chocolates, toothpaste, soap, or shampoo, a new dish scrubbie, replacement lead for mechanical pencils... Santa seems to be very practical these days.

    ReplyDelete