After I became a single parent of three, I had some choices to make about holidays and traditions including socks. I continued the mystery until all three children knew the secret and then because we all loved the surprise on Christmas morning we continued. We drew names and I gave each child $20 to spend on sock gift purchases. Sometimes I took the kiddos shopping and other times my sister-in-law did the job so I could be surprised until they got old enough to shop on their own. My dearest memory was when my son (about 8/9 years old at the time) was in the check out lane and the total came to more than $20 but only buy less than a dollar. He turned to me with the money in his hand and without words I could see the struggle in his eyes because he did not know which item to chose to eliminate and put back on the shelf because he only had the $20 dollar bill. I saw the pain because he had shopped so carefully and deliberately for his sister. Each item was chosen to please and surprise her. Just between he and I gave him the extra few cents and he was the proudest Santa any mother could ever want to have as part of her family. One of the items in that sock that year was a pair of bunny slippers. She still has them today. She is 36 and the thoughtful brother is 33.
Until just recently when all kiddos have their own families and some live at a distance, we have continued to draw names for socks. Now, I just fill the socks for those who can make it home for Christmas morning. This year no one was home for Christmas morning and I truly missed creeping out in the early morning with a cup of tea to look at what "Santa" put in my sock.
Last edited by WMUTeach; 12-27-2011 at 08:54 AM.