Growing up, it was the first thing we did on Christmas morning. Stockings held the basics: toothbrush, toothpaste, hair accessories (for us girls), one tiny gift and then...CANDY!!! Always hershey kisses, years when finances were good we got peanut M&Ms as well, and peppermints. Mind you, I don't like mint (my parents used them as cough suppressents during church) so in my way of thinking the peppermints fell in the category of "necessities" along with the toothbrush and toothpaste, but since I've become an adult I've discovered that no one else thinks like that.
But I digress.
After I left college and headed overseas, my teaching teammates (and roommate) were horrified to discover that I didn't bring my childhood stocking for Christmas. I didn't tell them that my parents had six stockings and five of the six were identical. Dad wrote our names on masking tape and taped them on each year. So for my birthday that year, I got a stocking from my teammates. It had a bear on it.
When I got married, Bobby had two stockings. One from his childhood, and one from his early adult years. His first year out of college he taught and coached at Wake Christian Academy. His girls softball team gave him a stocking that read "coach" in glitter at the top. So I hung both of his and bought a small one at the dollar store and we had four stockings hanging from our bookcase (we don't have a mantle).
And this greatly bothers children, some more than others. I have not had a child yet come in, get a puzzled look on their face, and ask "Who will be here for Christmas?" or a question along that line. I know now what they are thinking, and I just smile and say "Just us." Some of them then frown and silently ponder that, while others who are most greatly bothered by this will ask "Then why do you have four stockings?" Last year I got a little cheeky when asked that and replied, "Because we both have two feet!" Bobby felt that wasn't a good answer, as the kids are probably thinking our stockings get filled, which they don't, and they might want/expect more than one stocking at home now.
A few years ago I saw these embroidered stockings in a store that I thought were beautiful. Every time I went in this store for something, I would walk by and look at them. Close to Christmas, I mentioned to him how much I liked them but didn't see a point in buying yet more stockings. He mentioned that two of ours were worn out (one had a hole) and we could replace them. I decided to wait until I got an extra coupon, knowing they might not have our initials then, but was very pleased to find out the next week they were on sale AND still had our initials. What I wanted, a sale price, and a coupon! Triple score!
I wonder sometimes what people would think if they came into our house and I had stockings everywhere. In another ten years when it's time to replace our tree, I might downsize it significantly, ignore convention and decorate each door frame in the house with a stocking or two. That would be so cool.
So if you come to my house one year and it's full of stockings, I'm not hoarding people or centipedes. I just like stockings. :)
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