Debbie Croft: Why we love Christmas stockings

Last year all my kiddos were officially adults. With the younger of the two reminding me every chance she got, how could I forget?

So I figured that would be the time to announce: “How about, after this year, no more Christmas stockings? Being that we’re all grown-ups now, we probably shouldn’t do this anymore, because it’s for kids …”

You should have heard their response.

“What? No Christmas stockings! You can’t do that! Stockings are the best part!” they responded. In unison and unrehearsed and slightly obnoxious, in true Croft family style.

So … these past couple of months while shopping and running errands in the Valley, I looked for tiny surprises to fill our family’s stockings. And this week I pulled those stockings out of a storage bin in the attic and hung them on cabinet and drawer knobs in the living room, since there’s no hearth at our woodstove. (But I’ve seen pictures of stockings hung on a line across the kitchen and hung on rifles in military barracks, so I think drawer knobs work.)

Currently, as I write, plastic bags lie hidden – one for each family member – under my bed in another bin. Waiting for the big night after everyone is asleep, to be tucked and piled inside the stockings.

By the time you read this, though, our fancy, decorated oversized socks will be flat once again and lying haphazardly under the tree or among the gifts strewn about.

One year I forgot to fill them. Of course, on Christmas morning the kids noticed.

“Wait – the stockings aren’t filled! Mom!”

I sent the family out of the room and brought in my stash. A few minutes later, everyone returned with smiles. They didn’t even know yet what was inside, but seeing those bulges and anticipating the surprises just made them happy.

My son says there’s a feeling he gets when he sees his stocking full. I get that same feeling, too. Still.

In talking with friends, every family seems to have a list of favorite stocking stuffers. Our standards include toothbrushes and other personal items, licorice, chocolates, new socks, flavored ChapStick, markers or crayons when the kids were young, a small Lego set or a miniature box with earrings or a necklace inside, an orange or tangerine and a bag full of nuts.

Our dogs had their own stockings, too.

I have been known to buy my own stocking stuffers once or twice. But now that our kids are grown, my stocking no longer hangs empty. It’s their turn to enjoy finding little things to bring a smile to my face (like kitchen gadgets and sticky notes).

Instead of exchanging presents, I know some families who just buy small gifts for each other’s stockings.

And some families use actual knee socks – or their dad’s socks – which isn’t so strange, considering that’s how the tradition started.

Other families hang stockings that are handmade or were stitched by their grandma. Even if one of the names is misspelled or the edges are tattered from wear, after the loved one is gone, the gift of love expressed in time and effort outweighs any flaws.

I’ve always given my kids a new Christmas ornament each year. And I almost always hide them in their stockings. When they have a home and tree of their own, each ornament will have a memory attached.

Christmas stockings are so full of mystery, yet so full of promise. Something inside is guaranteed to delight. Even the see-through store-bought stockings are fun to open because there’s usually a toy or two hiding among the treats.

Sometimes the revealing proves to be a milestone. My first set of eye shadow was found in my stocking the year I was a high school freshman – I had officially become a teenager.

Or when another stocking is added, it means a new family member has been welcomed that year.

Good things really can come in small packages. Maybe this is one reason we love reaching inside, full of wonder, expectant. Regardless of what the stocking looks like or where it’s hung, it’s the treasures inside that bring the greatest joy.

During this holiday week, I hope each of you has a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

This story was originally published December 25, 2015 at 2:15 PM with the headline "Debbie Croft: Why we love Christmas stockings."