About kids and Christmas stockings... and the passage of time
#51
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: South Central Ohio
Posts: 1,434
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My kids are in their 40's and they still get stockings only now I include their spouses. I made a stocking every year for my dad and he died at 92 years of age. I think he would have been mad if I did'nt. Also my nephew is 54 and I still do him one, have ever since he's been born. Easter baskets same way.
#52
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I only fill the grands now. I have all the kids and their spouses but I use them for decoration now. Next year I am making new ones- nice ones like the ones I made 2 years ago for sale. Only need 15. Better get started now....
#53
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
Posts: 8,126
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I'm 62 and I can tell you that the Christmas feast feels like a lot more work than it did when I was 25, 30,40, 50...this year only the 'grands' got stockings, and their wasn't too much in them.
Suggestion:
Send each of your children a letter that explains that, since you are now 80 years old, the preparation and clean up for the Christmas celebration are too much for you. (That includes shopping for the items to fill the boots!)
Tell them that you will be happy to teach them how to make the Christmas boots and have a recipe for the Christmas ham that you would be thrilled to pass on. Include both the recipe and the directions for the boots in your letter.
If no one steps up to take over the feast, I would invite them over for a pot luck dinner or just dessert. Use paper plates and utensils, and let them know that they will have to clean up after the meal.
If they continue to get 'all in your face', get right back into their faces and tell them you're tired of their temper tantrums when they don't get their way and send them to the corner. (LOL) And continue to say "NO, it tires me too much. I simply can't do the Christmas feast anymore."
Suggestion:
Send each of your children a letter that explains that, since you are now 80 years old, the preparation and clean up for the Christmas celebration are too much for you. (That includes shopping for the items to fill the boots!)
Tell them that you will be happy to teach them how to make the Christmas boots and have a recipe for the Christmas ham that you would be thrilled to pass on. Include both the recipe and the directions for the boots in your letter.
If no one steps up to take over the feast, I would invite them over for a pot luck dinner or just dessert. Use paper plates and utensils, and let them know that they will have to clean up after the meal.
If they continue to get 'all in your face', get right back into their faces and tell them you're tired of their temper tantrums when they don't get their way and send them to the corner. (LOL) And continue to say "NO, it tires me too much. I simply can't do the Christmas feast anymore."
#54
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Somewhere
Posts: 15,506
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We no longer do a huge Christmas feast. Mom is 85 and while she is in relatively good health and she can do amazing things still - we all realize it is too much for her. A few years ago we did something very special. We did a Christmas tea. We all dressed in formals - even the baby. (camisoles with the string shortened or tied, elastic in the back make an adorable formal for a baby... Even Mom wore a formal. Well not the men... he he... We all wore as much old jewelry as our necks and arms and legs and fingers could stand.... Well not the men... We had hats and such. We all brought healthy finger foods. Mom fixed tea and we took turns pouring. We had flowers and fancy dishes, the good china, doll sized tea cups for the little girls, a fancy table cloth - the works. We did our nails - we went all out! Dad couldn't stand it - he crashed the party - said someone had to hold the little one. The girls ask for a tea party every year now instead of Christmas. I wonder what will happen next year. The oldest boy will be 3 the next boy will be 2 and then the baby boys will be a year... I somehow doubt if there will be any good china. Maybe the men folk can go do something wild.
#55
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 5,397
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When my sister, six years older than me, decided she was too old for Christmas stockings, none of us got them any more. I was 5 or 6 and felt she took something away from me. But then my father suggested we revive a tradition from his family called Christmas pie, which we had after dinner. In a big bowl covered with wrapping paper with strings or ribbon coming out of the bowl, there was one more small gift for each of us. Each got a chance to pull their string with their name on it. It also kept us all around the table until the meal was really finished for every one.
#56
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Since my daughter is only 12 I won't have to worry about it for a few more years. Many, many years ago my sister adopted a 5 yr old girl. Her natural grandmother was no longer able to care for her and put her up for adoption with the stipulation that she still be allowed to be grandmother. Well, Mary (the grandmother) was adopted by and adopted our entire family. One year she made beautiful knit stockings for all of us. I still have mine, my ex husband's and mom's. Since DD was named after mom, dd inherited mom's stocking. The ex's name was taken off and current dh's name embroidered on. When Josie's grown I guess she'll take her stocking with her.
#57
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My daughters are 33 and 29, plus we now have a son-in-law, and I still do stockings for everyone. The ones we use now I made in the quilt-as-you-go fashion with strips from my Christmas fabric stash and each is unique. Actually, the girls chose the fabrics for each one, combinations to fit the person it was intended for.
Each year I put in candies, small gifts or toys, and gift cards. It's fun to think how those items have changed too. I used to give simple candy canes and chocolates and small toys. Now I put in things like gourmet chocolates and gift cards to Starbucks. I also try to add something useful. One year I gave everyone a small hand-cranked flashlight and another year everyone got a tire pressure gauge. But I still include something fun, a toy or tiny game. This year my youngest daughter got jacks and my husband got a tiny wind-up fishing game.
Also, as my girls have grown up, they've started adding to the stockings themselves. I usually don't put things in my own stocking, but boy they do. I get candy and gift cards too now, just like everyone else. This year my husband even bought stocking candy for the first time ever! The stockings are usually so full they're overflowing.
This is one of our most fun traditions and I will continue for as long as I can. When grandkids come along, they'll get stockings too, quilted of course.
Each year I put in candies, small gifts or toys, and gift cards. It's fun to think how those items have changed too. I used to give simple candy canes and chocolates and small toys. Now I put in things like gourmet chocolates and gift cards to Starbucks. I also try to add something useful. One year I gave everyone a small hand-cranked flashlight and another year everyone got a tire pressure gauge. But I still include something fun, a toy or tiny game. This year my youngest daughter got jacks and my husband got a tiny wind-up fishing game.
Also, as my girls have grown up, they've started adding to the stockings themselves. I usually don't put things in my own stocking, but boy they do. I get candy and gift cards too now, just like everyone else. This year my husband even bought stocking candy for the first time ever! The stockings are usually so full they're overflowing.
This is one of our most fun traditions and I will continue for as long as I can. When grandkids come along, they'll get stockings too, quilted of course.
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