Stockings are when we stock up on new markers and crayons (bought in August when all the school supplies are cheap).  We also do special food, too (cereal bars).  I have given my husband coupons for cheesecake-a-month or steak-a-month.  Not all small toys are throw-away, either.  Matchbox cars, those silly plastic princesses with rubber clothes, little tiny lego sets.

I always ask my in-laws to stuff the stockings with stuff we “need” like toothbrushes (get those cool cartoon character ones), toothpaste (we use four different kinds here and it supposedly cuts down on cross-contamination with illnesses), fun flossers, cute socks, new barrettes (which are always getting lost during the year), tights for the girls, bubble bath, baby shampoo, baby lotion (especially if there’s an expensive or particular kind you use), stuff like that. We do stockings at our house for St. Nicholas’s feast day. The kids usually get a little candy, coins for each of their years (5 for the 5 year old), small toys like eggs shakers or rhythm sticks. This year the girls also received cute necklaces I found at a “real” jewelry store (as opposed to a toy store) for about $6. Card games are another good idea - inexpensive, small, but fun and potentially long-lasting…as long as the toddler doesn’t eat them. Crafty kids might like stuff like small packages of sequins or pom poms for the craft supply box. Oh - or nice artist quality pencils for the older artist.

We love stockings too! We go to mass on Christmas Eve, but we all wake up at different times on Christmas morning and don’t start opening gifts until everyone is awake and ready. The early-risers love having their stockings to open to tide them over.

I completely agree with you about avoiding cheap trinkets, so I’ve started budgeting the stockings as a separate gift. I get small items (and about half is food), but they’re nicer things that just happen to fit in the stocking. Smartwool socks, new winter gloves, jewelry, doll house dolls, playmobil, CDs, DVDs, etc. Non-food consumables (art supplies, etc.) are great too, as others have mentioned.

Can’t believe we’ll be filling them so soon!

I think consumables and notebooks, with markers or crayons thrown in, sound great. That’s the type of stuff that will be appearing in stocking here, too. I’ve picked up a bunch of paperback children’s books that can roll, so they’ll go in the stockings as well.

I am a HUGE fan of consumables as gifts. All of the adults to whom we give gifts aren’t in need of any *stuff*, so I’ve been giving consumables for gifts for years. Nice bottles of booze, swanky teas and hot chocolate, vouchers for high tea at the National Gallery - any stuff that will be enjoyed and won’t add to the clutter.

Let us know how it works out!

When I went shopping for my son’s stocking when he was a baby, I made a point of looking for a small one so I wouldn’t have to fill it up with too many things!  This year he’s getting a book, a toy hammer (to replace his hammer that broke), and two stuffed animals.  He really doesn’t need any more stuffed animals, but these are ones that will be meaningful to him based on recent experiences (for example, seeing a snake at a museum at a birthday party last month), and they won’t really take up any additional space in the house.

Yes, we do stockings, I can’t imagine not. I fill them with a candy cane, orange, other sweet treats and very small presents. Toothbrushes, pencils, fun erasers, small toys….The children are allowed to open their stockings before my husband and I get up. We all go to Midnight Mass (ever since my big boys started serving-so that is going on 10 years now) and are often not home until 2AM or later and while the kids still get up early, the dh and I are TIRED. All the other presents wait until my husband and I are up.

i started this last year on accident and i love it!  we do gifts on st. nicholas day, but the boys have these beautiful stockings that i was dying to *use* so i filled them with crafty things for christmas - sticker kits and foam crafts etc.  consumable, fun, seasonal, beloved by all.

totally repeating for this year!

i need to get some more tho before sunday….

My parents always used office supplies and small foods in our stockings. Pencils, pens, notebooks, post-its, thumbtacks, and so on. And chapstick! We each always get it. Finally, for girls, I used to request a pair of tights each year.

My mother inlaw always filled her kids’ stockings with fruit and a few pieces of candy.

For years we have done what you are suggesting: buy food the children are normally not allowed to have and put it in their stockings.  W do this for Easter baskets, too.  They are so excited to get the snack pack puddings and sugar cereals, like Fruit Loops.  I dislike all the cheap stuff, too, and that is where this idea came from. We also put small things in the stockings that you don’t want to wrap, such as CDs or small flashlights. I have even rolled up a t-shirt and put it in the stocking.  The goal is for everything to be used and enjoyed and not stepped on and thrown away!  For adults, quality hot tea, hot chocolate, or truffles are a great option.  Good luck this year.  I bet you will love this new idea of yours.

We used to do the small things too but like you they are the bane of this mama’s existence.  I was contemplating something new this year too. I came up with craft items, bookmarks, treats, and coupons for special time with mom and dad.  I’ve got four children so special time alone with mom and dad really is a treat. 

We seem to have an oral care theme at our house: new toothbrushes,Trident gum & lip balm/chap stick always appear in both stockings & Easter baskets in our house!

We do consumables in the stockings here.  I like to put pencils for school, candy, snack foods, tooth brushes and things of that nature in the stockings.  I also put something faith based (book on saints, rosary or something along those lines) in the stocking.  Last year we started celebrating the 12 days of Christmas.  Each morning after Christmas day the kids find something small in the manger next to baby Jesus.  Last year it was little Lego people. This year with a small baby in the house I’ve decided that everything will be consumable to reduce the incidence of small pieces.

We stuff stockings with toothbrushes, candy, gum, chapsticks, sometimes new underwear, stickers, crayons & things like that. I remember getting earrings in my stocking when I was young. Hope this helps!

I bought some of the fun duct tapes for my kids stockings this year.  Also the finger nail polish that you polish over a color and it separates.

My tween girl is into religious medals, so a little baggie of those and a couple of chains or cords from Michael’s will go into her stocking.  Youngest boy is starting potty training next week, so some cute character underwear will fill his stocking.

Something really clever a friend told me: her parents hung their stockings on the children’s doorknobs- that way the early risers had something to tide them over *in their rooms* until Mom and Dad were ready to get up.

Arwen, I have the same problem with my little girl that you have with yours- This year she is getting frillly pajamas in her stocking, and a few small toys. Don’t know if it will work, but if it does I am keeping it as a tradition!

My brother and I always had stockings. On the very bottom was an orange (which never got eaten), little chocolate candies, a couple of toys, the book of life savers. I can still remember the gingerbread people sticking out one year when I was very little. The rule was we had to go through our stocking before the REAL presents. And we were allowed to open one present Christmas Eve, that’s it.
As an adult, it’s usually filled with office-school supplies. The bottom has yarn for stability.

It’s funny how many of us have some overlapping traditions.

Growing up, we ALWAYS got an orange and an apple in our stockings—for the same reason mentioned above. It used to be a big treat and the tradition has been handed down. So my family also gets an orange and an apple in each stocking!

We do candy, chapsticks, fun erasers, and mini Lego kits for both kids. My daughter is so much easier to find stocking things for—little holiday bracelets, mini craft kits, nail polish, etc. It’s a little harder for a teen boy, but an iTunes card will show up in his this year too.

But there are definitely ways to go without “junk” toys—depending on what’s small! When they were littler, some of those Little People accessories or extra people fit in, and of course the crayons/pencils.

Blessed Christmas everyone!

I am totally in the same boat!  I am tired of spending money on junk and having to process it later!

Our stockings are oddly large, I wish I had realized when I was buying them!  My kids are only getting one present from Santa, something pretty big, so this year I am putting all of the extras in the stocking, combined with traditional stocking stuff.

We ski, and there are a few kids who “want” but don’t “need” a different colored neck warmer, so they are getting those, which will be a total luxury, because our ski equipment budget includes mostly hand me downs and needed items.

It will be a book, a lego minifigure or small lego set, hair elastics and lip balm, socks, water bottle.  Next year, if they still have their waterbottles, I will do flashlights.

We are just getting over the halloween candy, so I don’t want to do a ton of candy, but I will take a cue from Arwen and include other “special” food—granola bars, a grapefruit, and trident gum would be a big hit.  Oh, and there does have to be a candy cane and a chocolate santa!

Consumables is the key, but not all of them are food.  I also like things I will not usually buiy them, like bubble bath, character shampoos and conditioners, lip glosses, lotions, etc.  Also things they lose all the time like gloves, hair accessories, etc.  Finally, I do like to include one or two items for them to keep.  I often put a DVD in each stocking—particularly inspiring stories and movies about the saints or animated bible stories.  They loved Joseph and the Many Colored Coat, the animated Moses, and the live action Bernadette from Novis Pictures with an all children cast.  My sister-in-law always puts in fancy toothbrushes!

Growing up in CA we had an orange tree in the front yard whose fruit was nearly ripe by the end of December.  We weren’t allowed to touch the tree until then.  Come Christmas morning, the bottom of every stocking was filled with a, still slightly tart, orange to perfectly fill out the toe.  We would peel and slice them and eat them dusted with powdered sugar as part of our Christmas breakfast.  Since moving to the East Coast, I’ve kept up the tradition with my own family—and far inferior store-bought oranges. 

Everyone also gets a new book and their favorite candy.  My little one will also get her own lip gloss and a few matchbox cars that she has been asking for.

I don’t remember what we got when we were really little, but for as long as I can remember we’ve gotten a couple fun items: a movie, coffee shop gift card, and our favorite candy in our stockings. Everything else has been a “needed” items in our stocking: for me and my sister, that might mean a new hair towel or mascara… and for my brother, socks or chapstick. Things like that.

When I was living at home, our stockings were filled with child specific things.  I played sax, so I received the “expensive” reeds; nail polish & perfume I loved; Ticonderoga pencils (still my favorite), pens, always a Christmas coloring book with new crayons, gum, razors, pantyhose, fun socks,etc.

Our children’s staocking are similar- soccer players get ball pumps, boot & glove dogs (for the odor!) vb player get new knee pads (all girls- so typical hair supplies,lotions,razors, pencils, pens, ornament per year) I love stockings!

About 20 years ago, my mom started Dollar stockings. Everyone had to hunt through the year to find the perfect gift at a dollar or less for each person in the family (Free was the best!) Our grandparents & parents have been gone for quite awhile, yet all siblings and families still get together Christmas Eve to celebrate & the highlight of the evening is the dollar stockings!