Christmas can be a very challenging and stressful time for parents when money is in short supply. Many parents feel that they have failed in some way when they have to say to their children that Santa probably can't afford that particular present this year because the elves are also caught up in this world financial crises and there's not enough money to buy enough ingredients to make all those things this year.
Don't let the kids asking for things you can't honestly afford to buy them for presents get you down. That is not what Christmas is about, never has been or ever will be. Christmas is a time to give gifts with love, not with the thought that you are going to be 'in hock' for the next six months to pay for something. Christmas is a time of love and sharing the good things in life and those 'good things' aren't often about expensive presents.
Christmas stockings need to be filled with love and joy, not 'whiz-bang gadgets' that get put aside as soon as the next present comes along. The kids will rarely remember any of those gifts but what they will always remember is the way in which they were given
If you give with love it will always be remembered for the rest of their lives.
How do you give love in a Christmas stocking? Easy ~ fill it with thoughtful little inexpensive items that are fun, tasty, pretty, different, funny or really related to a special interest they have in something. If the child is old enough to read then find a special book in a book exchange library that they have enjoyed or buy them comics instead of books.
If you have 2-3 children, you don't have to give the kids full packets of sweets/candies/lollies each; get a bunch of packets, mix them all together in a big bowl and sprinkle them among pretty, coloured cellophane paper that you have added into the stocking to 'bulk' it out. As the kids pull out the stocking filler and hear the crinkling, cracking and see the candies/lollies/sweets fall out from between the sheets of paper, they 'feel' that they have received presents.
And once they see how well packed it is with thoughtful little 'bits-n-pieces', they will know that "Santa" spent time to do that for them and so they know it was done with love. This is the truly irreplaceable, always remembered gift.
Showing posts with label stocking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stocking. Show all posts
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Nylon Stocking Toes
Have you ever thought about why most 'average cost' women's stockings have that double thickness around the toe section of the foot?
Yes, it does add comfort to toes particularly if the shoes are a bit too tight but there is a more important reason. And that's because many women do not give themselves a pedicure often enough to keep their toenails trimmed and cared for!
On the other side of the coin (or foot) I have seen some women's toenails that a falcon or hawk would carry with pride. Talk about either end of the scales. But basically, that double layer of fabric around the toes is to stop toenails from making a hole in your stockings.
Once a hole has formed at the toes of a pair of stockings you virtually have at most one more wearing before having to throw them out. You can only get that wearing out of them though if you are prepared to put up with a bit of discomfort because your toes get tangled in the hole and it hurts.
Not much ruins a pair of stockings faster than unkempt toenails. They either snag the stocking when putting them on or the toenail cuts through the fine fabric like a knife. Apart from the discomfort of the long toenails in shoes, even open toed sandals, long toenails become very painful when worn enclosed in shoes all day.
Have you also noticed the other thing about that double fabric around the toes? Sometimes if you buy a cheap pair of stockings the manufacturer has put a seam in there and after a day's wearing, this seam has cut into toes quite fiercely and one gets very footsore by the end of the day particularly if you have had to be on your feet all day.
I believe we should punish such cruel manufacturers by (a) not buying any more of their cheap and nasty product and (b) we should make him/her wear a pair of their own stockings all day.
I'm sure you've heard the story about "walking a mile in the other person's shoes…"
Yes, it does add comfort to toes particularly if the shoes are a bit too tight but there is a more important reason. And that's because many women do not give themselves a pedicure often enough to keep their toenails trimmed and cared for!
On the other side of the coin (or foot) I have seen some women's toenails that a falcon or hawk would carry with pride. Talk about either end of the scales. But basically, that double layer of fabric around the toes is to stop toenails from making a hole in your stockings.
Once a hole has formed at the toes of a pair of stockings you virtually have at most one more wearing before having to throw them out. You can only get that wearing out of them though if you are prepared to put up with a bit of discomfort because your toes get tangled in the hole and it hurts.
Not much ruins a pair of stockings faster than unkempt toenails. They either snag the stocking when putting them on or the toenail cuts through the fine fabric like a knife. Apart from the discomfort of the long toenails in shoes, even open toed sandals, long toenails become very painful when worn enclosed in shoes all day.
Have you also noticed the other thing about that double fabric around the toes? Sometimes if you buy a cheap pair of stockings the manufacturer has put a seam in there and after a day's wearing, this seam has cut into toes quite fiercely and one gets very footsore by the end of the day particularly if you have had to be on your feet all day.
I believe we should punish such cruel manufacturers by (a) not buying any more of their cheap and nasty product and (b) we should make him/her wear a pair of their own stockings all day.
I'm sure you've heard the story about "walking a mile in the other person's shoes…"
Monday, August 24, 2009
Who was Your Stockings Teacher?
Can you remember the first pair of stockings that you got? I do, vividly.
I got my first pair of nylon stockings as a part of my Christmas present from my Mother. I was so excited. You see, what it really meant was that my Mum now thought I was grown up enough to use nylon stockings instead of socks. It was a big moment in my life.
The other parts of my present that year from my Mum was a lipstick (very pale pink), some nail polish (also pale pink) and a nice dressing table (vanity table) set of brush, comb and hand-held mirror. Which, by the way, I still have and use today. The bristles in the hair brush are pigs bristle and quite expensive to buy today.
Here in Australia, Christmas always falls in the summer time and the day after Christmas, Boxing Day, we always went to the coast for our annual holiday. But this year for the first time, I had a pair of nylon stockings to wear to the dances that we used to go to every night. I felt so grown up and as chuffed as a rat with a gold tooth.
I will never forget putting my first ever pair of nylon stockings on for the first time. My Mum came and showed me how to roll the nylon stocking down between my thumb and fingers to the toes so I could just slip the stocking gently around and over my toes, and use my thumb and fingers to roll them up to my suspender belt.
I already had a suspender belt from having to wear those brown seamed stockings in the New England winter and gee whiz, they were uncomfortable. They never seemed to stay in one place and the suspender belt used to slip around and hobble me something terrible. But I guess young ladies weren’t meant to play soccer in stockings so that was probably why they were so uncomfortable.
But these new, as yet un-laddered, nylon stockings made me feel so grown up and attractive. And my Mum made me feel so good because she kept telling me that she was proud of me and how nice I looked. And my new pale pink lipstick and nail polish was just the icing on the cake.
Without my Mum there as my stockings Teacher showing me how to care and adjust my nylon stockings to be comfortable, I may not have ever made it to the dance in a pair of un-laddered stockings. She taught me how to grow into my new nylon stockings and feel proud of how they made me look.
Warm Regards,
Jan
I got my first pair of nylon stockings as a part of my Christmas present from my Mother. I was so excited. You see, what it really meant was that my Mum now thought I was grown up enough to use nylon stockings instead of socks. It was a big moment in my life.
The other parts of my present that year from my Mum was a lipstick (very pale pink), some nail polish (also pale pink) and a nice dressing table (vanity table) set of brush, comb and hand-held mirror. Which, by the way, I still have and use today. The bristles in the hair brush are pigs bristle and quite expensive to buy today.
Here in Australia, Christmas always falls in the summer time and the day after Christmas, Boxing Day, we always went to the coast for our annual holiday. But this year for the first time, I had a pair of nylon stockings to wear to the dances that we used to go to every night. I felt so grown up and as chuffed as a rat with a gold tooth.
I will never forget putting my first ever pair of nylon stockings on for the first time. My Mum came and showed me how to roll the nylon stocking down between my thumb and fingers to the toes so I could just slip the stocking gently around and over my toes, and use my thumb and fingers to roll them up to my suspender belt.
I already had a suspender belt from having to wear those brown seamed stockings in the New England winter and gee whiz, they were uncomfortable. They never seemed to stay in one place and the suspender belt used to slip around and hobble me something terrible. But I guess young ladies weren’t meant to play soccer in stockings so that was probably why they were so uncomfortable.
But these new, as yet un-laddered, nylon stockings made me feel so grown up and attractive. And my Mum made me feel so good because she kept telling me that she was proud of me and how nice I looked. And my new pale pink lipstick and nail polish was just the icing on the cake.
Without my Mum there as my stockings Teacher showing me how to care and adjust my nylon stockings to be comfortable, I may not have ever made it to the dance in a pair of un-laddered stockings. She taught me how to grow into my new nylon stockings and feel proud of how they made me look.
Warm Regards,
Jan
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