I liked the simplicity of the idea and thought I would make some memories as well. Now every Christmas I stuff the stockings with a special breakfast. Yes, I said breakfast! When the children all arise, my husband and I are still asleep, so they are allowed to open their stockings without us.
Inside they find:
- cereal boxes (single serve)
- apple sauce cups
- boxes of raisins or yogurt raisins
- granola bars
- cheese dip and crackers
- juice boxes or coolers
- and any other breakfast items you can think of!
And of course--an orange!
(Or if you are not a fan--try a chocolate orange instead!)
This works perfectly for us because it buys us some time to get up, get oriented, get dressed, etc. while they eat and breakfast is taken care of (no extra work for mom!) It is also healthy and my kids love it. They sit around the tree eating their stocking breakfast until everyone comes out. And it is budget friendly because it is already something I would have to buy but now I just get to fill their stocking with it!
Now don't get me wrong, I do prepare a nice, hot, special Christmas meal after the gift opening, but I personally like that we can get to the presents faster, and I think they appreciate that too.
Oh, and that is not the only thing we add in the stockings (if you need a new one click here)--we also add small gifts/toys, Christmas chocolates, etc., but for everyone the highlight is still the "stocking breakfast"!
Do you have any special traditions at your home?
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17 comments:
Stockings are a big deal for our family and always include a small package of those little chocolate donuts for our children to enjoy much the same way yours do while the husband and I sleep in a bit. I shared the same Little House stocking story recently on my blog -- love how the simple things brought such joy to Laura and her sisters!
Wishing Christmas joy to you and yours! Blessings, ~Lisa
Love this idea!! picked up a few stocking stuffers last night, but I think I might incorporate some of these ideas as well!!!
Santa fills the stockings in our house (keeps the kids from asking for something outrageous) and he always includes breakfast.
What an absolutely wonderful idea! I may just have to try that. We always open our stockings first here - the breakfast would buy some time to make some coffee.
Merry Christmas!
what a fantastic Christmas stocking idea, June!I LOVE this!
My wheels are turning. Something that hasn't been happening much lately due to health issues and fatigue.
Thank you and have a blessed and Merry Christmas!
I love this idea! As my kids get older and get excited about Christmas morning I will incorporate this. I just need to keep it in an idea notebook somewhere!
what a brillant idea..will start next year
i have never thought of breakfast. may try that. i usually just fill it with candy and lip balm, stickers and small jewelry. but i like the idea of a tradition of something speacial each year.
on another idea, we do have small christmas bags and each night it is filled with one small trinket from the "elf" it is usually candy, pencils, bracelets or stickers and of course there is always at least one nutcracker from the dollar store. my girls love it and we do it each year. another tradition we do to keep the christmas store alive is: we have a small wooden nativity set. and each year on christmas eve, i hide the wise men. and on christmas morning they have to find them and bring them to worship the baby Jesus. my girls love it and it is fun to hide them in a little more harder to find area each year.
I also have lovely stockings for my younger children but have never thought of mini breakfasts for them - what a lovely idea. We have an early church service at 9am on Christmas morning so this would work well for my family! I also have some little sacks with gold cord drawstring ties that match the stockings. My mother sends gifts of clothing from England but by the time they arrive in Australia the paper is ripped and is sometimes opened by customs - rather than rewrap her gifts I just conceal them in the stockings and this means all my gift wrapping coordinates! My favourite tradition yet to really catch on in the States is English Christmas crackers which I hand make every year. You can buy them in the stores but they usually contain cheap plastic novelty items and lousy jokes. I often put Scripture verse cards in mine, wrapped chocolates and little gifts of jewelry or hair accessories for my girls. My most recent post shows the ones I have made for this year if anyone is interested to see them.
nice post thanks for sharing...happy holidays... blessings soraya
That is a nice idea, I have yet to get anything for our stockings, though some did come in the mail. I just might try that this year.
The only other thing we do is the kids always get PJ's for Christmas and each year before bed, they open them up on Christmas eve. We then do a small photoshoot. This year, it almost may not happen. With both of us out of work, then DH working, but the company closes down for a week. Plus we decided it was better for me to stay at home. So, life happens. But I am praying that we can continue that tradition.
What a great idea! I have been racking my brain for new ideas with our stockings this year. This is just the thing I was searching for! Thank you and Merry Christmas
I've never heard of a stocking breakfast...but that sounds like a great idea ;) :) Really cute :) Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather :)
What a wonderful idea, June! I used to get a huge stocking every year as a kid. As time has gone on, it has gotten so much more expensive to fill a stocking...and what you can afford is just dollar store junk that will be broken in a day or two anyway. Love this!
who is the artist
We have cake for breakfast! I love this stocking idea but I don't think I can go back now LOL. We spend Christmas doing our last advent devotion - about the birth of Jesus. Then we decorate his birthday cake and go to bed! In the morning we sing happy birthday and eat cake before opening our gifts. Carrot, banana or zucchini cake are all good options and I usually make cream cheese icing :)
What a great idea! It has been tradition to always have an orange in the bottom of the stockings but I LOVE the idea of adding some more breakfast type foods to it. Not only would it help fill the stockings but like you said, would give them something yummy to munch on while the big breakfast cooks. Thanks so much for sharing!
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