Two Sets of Stockings?

Two sets of stockings?  This is has been the question from guests in our home each Christmas season.  Yes, two sets of stockings.  As my daughter-in-law will tell anyone, "yes, she has a story for everything."

As a young married bride, I couldn't wait to pick out our stockings which would grace our mantel in our first home.  On a trip to the local monogram shop, I found our future memory makers.  I didn't even stop at age 19 to think about future stockings...kids, maybe one day, but for now it was "US".  I still had those "only us" dreaming eyes.  Reindeer became my theme.  His and Hers reindeer.  Hallmark helped enlarge my reindeer theme with stuffed reindeer. I should have known that reindeer reproduce and so... within a few years, our first little reindeer arrived near Thanksgiving.  Now what was I going to do?  Start over with stockings?..NO!  I had a new Bernina sewing machine my husband had purchased for me prior to the birth of our baby boy......just make another stocking!

So our reindeer theme continued, as I added a new reindeer to our mantel with each child.

When blessed with a daughter-in-law, I had to decide what to do with our stockings.  Would we continue doing stockings?  Would I add a stocking for her?  What was going to be our tradition with stockings?  I am sure I agonized over something that wasn't that big of deal...but to this Christmas planner it was.  So the solution...all new spouses stockings would have green tops.  When mounted on the stairs, wall, or whatever that year, you would see red, green, red, green...down to the youngest.

We also changed out traditions of only Mom and Dad filling the stockings.  We decided that each person would add something small to each stocking and they would be opened on the day we had Christmas with the married children. This usually isn't Christmas day.  Over the years, there have been numerous "gag" gifts.  One year, coal was given, along with assorted candies, home-made snacks, toys from the dime store...whatever each person wanted to give.

The second set has never been filled.  This set goes on the fireplace for show only.  I went through my formal phase of decorating and hand-made these stockings, too.  Each stocking has charms hanging on it's side representing the child and their interests. Some years I find great charms, some years, nothing.  When I find something that goes with the child, then I attach the charm.  We have baseball hats, basketballs, cars, cell phones, musical instruments, credit cards, graduation caps, and a baby pacifier hanging from different stockings.

Now you know the story behind my two sets of stockings.

What is your stocking tradition?