christmas-stocking-for-kids-19

							I love the Christmas season. My mot
her has a great deal to do with thi
s. She did many things to make the
Christmas season magical as we were
 growing up. Her goal was not to ha
ve us concentrate on getting gifts,
 but rather to help us feel good ab
out giving to others. The main less
on that I have learned from my moth
er is that it truly is better to gi
ve than to receive. She did this in
 many ways, but the one that impact
ed me the most was the Christmas st
ocking for kids project that she di
d for children of our parish whose
families were poor. We were not a r
ich family by any means, yet mom wa
nted to help those that were less f
ortunate than us.

Mom worked on her Christmas stockin
g for kids project all year long. S
he sewed the stockings herself. She
 made them out of red felt with a w
hite felt cuff. My sisters and I wo
uld then embroider different Christ
mas designs on the stockings. The d
esigns were created by tracing arou
nd cookie cutters. Sequins and smal
l beads were then sewn on to furthe
r embellish the stockings. Mom woul
d always have the Christmas stockin
g for kids project in mind when she
 went shopping. She would buy small
 toys that were on sale. Back in th
e days when I was growing up people
 were able to trust each other so m
om also included many home made goo
dies in the stockings. She would ma
ke popcorn balls and we would wrap
them in waxed paper. She would also
 make fudge and caramels which were
 placed in the stockings along with
 an apple and orange.

The Christmas stocking for kids pro
ject was then taken to our parish c
enter and given to the priest. Mom
let him determine who would receive
 them. Mom’s name was never given t
o a receiving family, and she was n
ever told who received the stocking
s. It was truly a random acted of k
indness. It was not done for person
al recognition or gain. The one tim
e that I asked mom about no one kno
wing that she was doing this her re
ply to me was that God knows.

I have continued my mother’s tradit
ion of the Christmas stocking for k
ids. I have my children help pick o
ut toys. We also still hand make th
e stockings. We buy treats instead
of making them because kids have be
en warned not to eat things that ar
e not wrapped from a store. I hope
my children will continue this trad
ition when they are on their own.