Christmas stockings have to be one of the weirdest Christmas traditions. Hang up an oversized sock, and it gets filled with sweets and knick knacks? Who came up with this stuff? Apparently, we don't really know, all we have is a shady story of good old Saint Nick sneaking into a dude's house through the chimney and putting money in his daughter's stockings. That dude would be arrested and certifiable if he tried that these days.
But somehow it has become a tradition. Sure, I like the idea of filling up a nice little receptacle with some smaller presents, as a precursor to your big ones. Well, I certainly liked it when I was kid, anyway, now it's just extra crap I have to buy for my kids. So yes, the thought is there, and the excitement of the kids is nice to see, but why does it have to be a sock? Socks are awkwardly shaped, and stockings are even more so, because they look like the perfect caricature of a sock. the foot part poking out at an awkward 45 degree angle. So if you try and fit anything slightly large in there, you won't be able to tesselate for optimum maximum space usage. Why a sock? Why not a Christmas sack? Christmas carrier bag? But alas, it is ingrained, and it's not going away soon. It's not a particularly awful thing, the thought it certainly there, it's just a really stupid shape for something you want to load up with gifts.
My rating: 3/5
Stockings are the part of Christmas I miss the most, even though the gifts inside them were never anything special. It was something fun to look forward too.
ReplyDeleteThe ones in my grandparents house weren't only stockings (my grandfather's "stocking" looked like it would have been Santa's pants) and some were larger than normal. You could always look for more interesting things to use instead, since I doubt any child would complain over more gift space! :p