Do you fill your own stocking?

[dreamer17555]

For the women\moms\gift givers, who ever is generally in charge of gifts for Xmas- If you hang up a stocking for yourself, do you fill it or does someone in your family do it for you? Or do you leave it empty? If someone fills it, who?

I was talking to a friend about this and she said she is not going to spend money on stocking stuffers for herself this year. I didn't realize she was in charge of not only buying gifts for everyone but even small stuff like filling up her own stocking. Was curious if this typical?

 

[Disneylover99]

I stuff everyone’s stocking plus my own.
I don’t mind. I get the good stuff. lol.

 

[firefly_ris]

I don't have a stocking. Neither does my husband. Just the kids and the dogs!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Hubby does mine and I do his for the most part. That said, Santa is still very real in our house. Sometimes, if Santa is giving something to everyone, I have to buy all 5 and then give him one to wrap for me. Outside of that, it's his job.

 

[dreamer17555]

I stuff everyone’s stalking plus my own.
I don’t mind. I get the good stuff. lol.

I think its great you have good feelings about it.

For me, I would be upset if I had to fill my own- even if it was filled with enough Disney Gift Cards to pay for a cruise. I don't care much about stuff but I do care about the amount of time, thought, and energy goes into a gift.

I want to know that my family would take a bit of time to think about me the way I think about them and put in the effort. However I do spend a TON of energy and time on all the gifts I give so I might have a slanted view.

 

[Meriweather]

I do all the stockings, including mine

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

I did mine when my kids were little. Now that they are grown I don't bother.

 

[fla4fun]

I don't put items in my own stocking. My sister, BIL and I celebrate Christmas together, and they put things in my stocking and I put things in theirs. Stockings tend to hold favorite candy and snacks, and items like cables, batteries, and other accessories for the main gifts. We always open stocking gifts last because of this.

If I had to pick items for my own stocking, I think that would be kind of sad. If I ever get to the point where I am celebrating Christmas on my own, I think I would use stockings as a decorative item, not a gift holding item.

 

[soccerdad72]

I fill my wife's stocking. She does pretty much everything else, Christmas present wise.

 

[lanejudy]

Mine ended up empty the past couple of years. At first it bothered me but not any more. They aren't capable but I still enjoy hanging stockings and filling for everyone else. I just sit back sipping my coffee while they open presents.

 

[kdonnel]

My wife and I don't fill our own, but we often shop together to get stocking items so there is not much mystery.

We usually add one surprise item to each stocking.

We don't exchange gifts otherwise.

 

[Disneylover99]

I think its great you have good feelings about it.

For me, I would be upset if I had to fill my own- even if it was filled with enough Disney Gift Cards to pay for a cruise. I don't care much about stuff but I do care about the amount of time, thought, and energy goes into a gift.

I want to know that my family would take a bit of time to think about me the way I think about them and put in the effort. However I do spend a TON of energy and time on all the gifts I give so I might have a slanted view.

I find individual gift giving generally stressful. But stockings for me are fun, easy and fairly generic. Lots of chocolates, toiletries, socks, etc….
I just buy a bunch of stuff and distribute them equally in all the stockings.

 

[tvguy]

I fill my wife's stocking, she fills mine. Just the two of us now. She used to do the kids stockings when they still lived at home. The older we get the more difficult it is to find items that will actually get used. Our stockings tend to be filled with snack and candy items and my wife has already said no tea this year, as she hasn't used the 12 bags I gave her last Christmas.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Not going to lie and not intended to be a knock against the OP but the start of the OP being "For the women\moms\gift givers" kinda says it all. If it was "who ever is generally in charge of gifts for Xmas" as the OP states just after that there would be no need to specify (and be first too) women or mom.

I did see a skit reel (meaning it was scripted) yesterday where the wife gave stockings to her two kids plus her husband and then went to open hers and it was empty and her husband in the skit looked like "what didn't think anything about it" which alludes directly to the OP's "women/mom" comment. Yeah I know I know not the point of the question but seems relevant to the question of what does someone do with their own stocking.

To answer the question we have stockings for myself, my husband and our cat we don't fill those. For my in-laws who still do stockings they don't do the spouses (meaning each other) and just do the kids (adult or otherwise). We don't really do stockings at my mom's side of the family for years. I could take it or leave it with stockings filled with stuff, it doesn't really add or take away anything.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I want to know that my family would take a bit of time to think about me the way I think about them and put in the effort. However I do spend a TON of energy and time on all the gifts I give so I might have a slanted view.

That's when you may want to consider taking a step back from it all. Everyone deserves appreciation for effort both on the mental and physical time but if you're just doing something because you feel like it needs to look or feel a certain way, in this case there must be filled stockings because it's tradition and without it it doesn't feel like it was Christmas, then the actual joy in the act (filled stockings) has become obligatory instead even though of course being reciprocal is what we'd want. It may not feel obligatory to your family but it may have become that way to you. I'd say that for your friend too if she actually felt disappointed to see an empty stocking or if she had to fill her own but was sad about having to do that (because not everyone is unhappy about that arrangement).

Would your family really feel like you don't put in effort and think about them if you didn't do stockings from here on out? I rather doubt it. I'm sure they would still find you care about them the same way as always. Another track could be for those whose love language is gift giving it can sometimes be a point of contention to realize there can be a point where the effort you put in for someone else's gift may be more self-serving than one realizes, meaning you get a feeling out of gift giving especially specific gifts you've put effort into and want others to match that level either in reciprocity of level of gifts or outward appreciation but then it becomes about you rather than the recipient of the gift. Remove some of this pressure you have to tie in specific gifts to what your family feels about you, I'm sure at the end of the day they just want to be there with you spending time with you

 

[brockash]

For the women\moms\gift givers, who ever is generally in charge of gifts for Xmas- If you hang up a stocking for yourself, do you fill it or does someone in your family do it for you? Or do you leave it empty? If someone fills it, who?

I was talking to a friend about this and she said she is not going to spend money on stocking stuffers for herself this year. I didn't realize she was in charge of not only buying gifts for everyone but even small stuff like filling up her own stocking. Was curious if this typical?

Mine is hung like everyone else's, but it's always empty. To be fair my DHs is not totally filled either just a few candies/treats I know he likes...but I'm not filling my own.

On the rare occasions I'm "home" and we're celebrating Xmas with my mom, then it gets filled lol. Although I don't know that hers ever has.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

My husband is in charge of stockings. So, he fills both of ours as well as the kids'. He's always the last one to go to bed, so it allows him that feeling of playing Santa. I usually buy a few little things for him just to surprise him since I'm always the first one up.

 

[disykat]

I did when the kids were little. I tried to get DH to do it, but he couldn't get the concept and failed so miserably the kids noticed.

 

[disneychrista]

I have never had a stocking outside of the one that my mom filled, she stopped once we were grown and out of the house with our own kids. I have my childhood stocking and might hang it as decoration but there is no one to fill it.


I did buy and gift myself presents at Christmas but only because my daughters were "sad" that I didn't have anything to open on Christmas morning. I would use my nominal Christmas bonus and buy a couple things and wrap them so I had something to open.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I fill everyone's, including mine. If I didn't, mine would hang there, empty. DH would feel bad...and do it again the following year.