Poakie

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.

Barbm

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....

cathyvv

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."

miriam

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.

romanojg

That is sad. In my house I told each of my 5 kids as they got old enough and told me they no longer believed that if they shared those thoughts with the younger ones they wouldn't get anything. I think kids should believe and I think that traditions are something that binds us. For my grandson we started up the german "pickle" tradition. After all of the presents are handed out the kids get to search the tree for the pickle ornament and who ever finds it gets a special gift. We also have hanging on the tree Santa's magic key that allows him access to the house since they have no fireplace like his GiGi does. That cuts down on the questions. The stockings were something that my kids really looked forward to because it was the one thing that as soon as they got up they could open even if no one else was up. It was Mommy and Daddy's way of being able to sleep in on Christmas and still have the kids be happy. My daughter is at the beginning of her relationship with a great boy but one whose mom would only get each person one thing and there were never no stockings so I tried to make sure this year that he knew our traditions so that my daughter could still have a great Christmas with the man she loves and their house would be full of laughter and joy. Christmas is one day of the year that I don't want my kids upset if possible; that and their birthday. I'm glad you dad did start up another tradition that sounds like fun.

raptureready

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.

ShowMama

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.