Saving Stocking Stuffers

By Colleen Walsh Fong

I was tipped off about Santa early in life by a loose-lipped older sibling dying to share her newfound secret. So I knew the truth about the jolly old man before I hit Kindergarten. Even though I had help with my discovery, it kind of surprised me how long it took some others to catch on. After all, most of my friends didn’t even have fireplaces or chimneys.

Santa left the goods unwrapped and under the tree in our house, a necessity I suppose, with six kids to wrap for. And the piles were suspiciously labeled with the same kind of block printing my Dad used to make on our birthday signs. So it should have been fairly obvious to anyone paying attention in our house what was going on.

One thing I never understood was hanging stockings. What was the point?  Wouldn’t it have been easier on everyone if Santa had just left everything in each kid’s respective stacks of stuff? Don’t get me wrong. I loved getting any little extra thing. Our gifts were always of the off-brand sort, and the piles tended to be small. But I was shocked into gratitude when I learned that children in some countries received all of their gifts in their stockings! My little pile of loot suddenly felt huge by comparison and my Santa seemed really generous.

I learned about the origin of Christmas stockings when we studied about St. Nicholas in religion class. He was the Bishop of Myra, and apparently a pretty generous and soft-hearted guy, to boot. According to my teacher he’d helped a poor family who needed dowry money to ensure their three daughters could marry. At this point in the lesson I admit to becoming confused and a bit alarmed. I thought a ring constituted the currency of betrothal and that it was the prospective groom’s responsibility to cough it up. But that all got cleared up later in Women’s Studies 101. In any case St. Nicholas wanted to help out anonymously to protect the poor dad’s pride. So he waited until the fire had died and the family was deep in slumber, and tossed three bags of gold down the chimney where they landed in the stockings the three daughters had coincidentally washed and left to dry in front of the fireplace. Again, the whole thing sounded like a real stretch, but who was I to turn down an extra couple of gifts, small though they may be.

I never knew what I might find in my stocking, but there were usually some unshelled nuts, a tangerine, and a candy cane, and then maybe a few necessities or two, like a pair of tights and an emery board. Not a lot, but still better than the remaining 364 days when I got no stockings.

So when it came time for me to play Santa and select my children’s stocking stuffers I had to study up on the going rate of stocking loot. According to my kids their friends were getting all kinds of amazing things in their stockings. A quick chat on the bus stop one morning put that myth to bed. But I learned that kids were definitely doing way better than my generation in the stocking department. I also learned that lots of parents—no offense guys, but mostly the males ones—struggled with stocking stuffer ideas. So if you find yourself in the position of being the stuffer of your family’s stockings, here are a few possibilities. And guys, if you remember it’s your job to fill the stockings at 10 pm on December 24th, many Walgreens and CVS stores are open 24 hours or at least until midnight, and you can find most things on this list there. And here’s another handy tip: don’t forget that Mrs. Claus might like to find a few little Christmas treats in her stocking, too.

Younger Kids:

Slinky

Plastic Snow Globe

Candy

Hand-held Electronic Games

Travel-sized Board Games and Puzzles

Pick-Up Stix

Trading Cards

Mini Lego Kits

Costume Jewelry

Silly Putty

Mini Etch-a-Sketch

Glitter Glue

Markers

Crayons

Inexpensive Watch

Middle School/High School Kids:

CD’s, DVD’s, or iTunes Gift Cards

Starbucks, Movie Theater, Target Gift Cards

Sunglasses

Sunglass Neck Strap in School Colors

Candy

Nail Polish

Manicure Kits for Men or Women

Video Games

Lip Gloss or Burts Bees Products

Warm Socks

Slinky (Good throughout lifecycle for the XY Chromosomers)

Key Rings for That Car They Aren’t Old Enough Yet To Drive But Still Like to Carry

Gender Appropriate Cologne

Ear Buds

Name Brand Cell Phone Case

Cash

College Aged Kids:

Fancy Wine Stoppers

Wine Pearls

Beer Can Openers

Koozies

Sunglasses

Sunglass Neck Strap

iTunes Gift Card

Video Games (Yes, still)

Slinky (See above)

Good Chocolate like Godiva, Lindt, or Ghiradelli

Name Brand Watches (Probably not available at drug stores)

David Yurman Jewelry (See above)

Name Brand Cell Phone Case

Ear Buds

Gift Cards

Key Rings for That Car They Wheedled Out of You

Cash

Men:

Golf Balls and Tees

Gift Card for a Round of Golf

Tickets to a Sports Event or Concert

Sports Watch

Manicure Kit

Eye Mask

Video Games (Yes, still)

Slinky (See above)

Quality Men’s Cologne

Any Expensive Electronic Device that Will Fit (Probably not available at drug stores)

Women:

Hand Lotion

Nail Polish

Nail Accessories

Sleep Mask

Facial Mask

Scented Soaps

Gift Card for Massage

Gift Card to Her Favorite Clothing Boutique

Good Chocolate

Sephora Gift Card

Real Gemstone Jewelry (If it’s available at the drug store you’ve got the wrong stuff)

When you’re out of time even for the drugstore, or you just want to augment your goodies with a few virtual items, take to your computer!

Ebooks and especially our Easy Weekly Meals touchscreen cookbooks make wonderful virtual stocking stuffers for anyone who needs to eat delicious, healthy, and easy food. Our books provide months of weekly meal plans, shopping lists, and the easy recipes to make delicious food for every night of the week. All year long! 

Since they're ebooks every cooking term is linked to the glossary. One touch of a cooking term takes readers from the menu to the glossary and another touch takes them back to the recipe. Most users download the book to multiple devices. I have them in my phone so I can shop from the grocery lists in the store. But I like to cook from my tablet because the screen is a little bigger. Some people keep the books on their computers, too. And this goes for all types of ebooks.

Stuff your stockings well this year, and put some virtual “stuff” in there, too.

Photo Courtesy of feelart / Free Digital Photos