Growing up, I always looked forward to “opening” my stocking almost as much as getting into my gifts. Most of that excitement to dig into my stocking comes from how my mom would prepare the stockings. Another reason? We would take our time. A lot of times I’ve seen other families rip through stockings all at once, and the experience was over in mere minutes. Our family wasn’t quite the same: we would take turns and spend about 10 to 15 minutes a piece on each stocking, making the experience really last before we got into our gifts.
First and foremost, I learned that mothers are absolute experts at packing things tightly. No matter how hard I tried, I could never get everything back into my stocking that was in there to begin with. That was the true magic of the stocking in my eyes.
But another factor of what made stockings so fun was that I would always have other “bigger” stocking stuffers laid outside the stocking beside it. These were items that just wouldn’t fit or would be too awkward to place inside the stocking. Stockings weren’t just full of little candies and fruits and toothbrushes. They were thoughtful, unique to each person in the family, and a major part of our gift giving experience. I recall colognes, beef jerky, CDs, gift cards, unique socks, belts, tie bars, and more that came in my stocking. It was a unique experience.
With that all said, there’s one thing that would’ve granted immediate satisfaction had it been laid out beside my stocking: candy boxes.
I never was a huge candy person growing up, but I enjoyed the different artisan chocolates that came within bigger boxes of candy. I think that these make a great addition to a stocking, though one that would need to be present outside of the stocking because of their size.
And really, what kids don’t enjoy candy? Even though I didn’t have a big sweet tooth when I was a kid, I still loved having candy from time to time. Setting up candy boxes (and a few other small items on top of it!) alongside your kids’ stockings shows your little ones there’s a little something to enjoy while they actually get into the contents of their stockings.
Even if you’re strict with the amount of sugar your kids have, the holidays are the perfect time to let them have a little extra with candies and sweets.