Every year, I have a little debate with myself about stocking stuffers. Do we continue to do stocking stuffers? Do we just have stockings for the kids or include the parents as well? Do I have to buy myself stocking stuffers, since, well, I’m the stocking stuffer lady and if I don’t do it no one else will. I learned this last one during one Christmas when the kids wanted to know why there was nothing in my stocking. Whoops.
Then I always wonder what to put in the stockings. How much money do you spend on an individual stocking stuffer before it becomes a present for under the tree? Is it okay to repurpose some of the Halloween candy into stocking stuffers (I confess that in desperation one year, I did consider trying to squash a marshmallow ghost into the relative shape of Santa.
It makes me long for the Laura Ingalls days when a cookie made with white sugar and a penny in the stocking were prizes that would be talked about for years.
Yesterday, after church, I went into our local Five Below store, which in case you are unfamiliar with it, is a store where everything sells for $5 or less. I usually find some great deals there, such as DS games that are a couple of years old (but new in the package), workbooks for the kids, board games, legos and other things that might fit the bill for stocking stuffers or Christmas presents.
I had a harder time this year, though, as there seemed to be an increase in the price of some of the smaller items, erasers for $3, crayons for $2, and those small packages of legos for $5 (last year they were $3).
I did find a couple of moon pies for my husband’s stocking (don’t worry, he never reads this blog), and some glittery nail polish for my daughter’s, but little else. So my stocking stuffer hunt is still on. I’ll probably grab several pairs of stretch gloves at Target (cheap and useful), and maybe some school supplies, but other than that I am out of ideas at the moment.
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