So, last January our family got a dog. We had not had a dog ever before… I have never in my life had an indoor dog. But this one? Since the moment we met him at the Humane Society, when he walked over to me and laid his head on my knee, he has been a solid part of our family. He lives inside and outside our house. He sleeps on our couch. He eats our socks. I can barely remember life without him.
So naturally, in this Christmas season, our kids have asked if Sparky gets a stocking.
When Neil and I got married, we were given a set of Christmas stockings as a wedding present. I thought it was a brilliant gift, because who thinks of Christmas decorations in July? And now forever and ever when I hang these stockings on the chimney with care, I will remember who gave them to us and that we’ve had them for our entire married life.
It occurred to me that I would very much want to continue the Christmas stocking hanging tradition when we added kids to our family, but I knew I would not be able to find the exact same ones we had been given. This bothered my ‘all things in order’ head a bit, but I figured I could find stockings for kids that at least coordinate with ours.
Our daughter’s first Christmas brought the chance to start this all-important search. Not long after arriving at an attractive display of Christmas stockings, I realized the real question wasn’t ‘which ones’ but… ‘how many’?
Which is how I found myself in the Eddie Bauer Home store in December 1998, with our 8-month-old daughter in a stroller, debating how many kids we were going to bring into our family.
I was not having a conversation with my husband about this; I was in the store making this huge decision based solely on the need for a set of uniform Christmas stockings to be used in our family for all time. Because you have to buy them all at once if they’re going to look the same, right? Because you can’t count on the same stockings being sold every year, or even the same store being there, right? (Eddie Bauer Home?)
So I deliberated and frowned and eventually bought three matching stockings and stocking hangers, thus arbitrarily declaring that we, Neil and Kim Bontrager, would have three kids.
Fast forward a few years and we find ourselves with two great kids and circumstances that have declared it to be so. We love our kids, we are not at all discontent with our family. But we DO have an extra stocking.
And now we have a dog.
So, while the original question might have been ‘does the dog get a stocking?’, now we have moved on to ‘does the dog get the ‘third kid’ stocking?’. Because…wow. I don’t know how I feel about that. What are the social implications, both for the kids AND the dog?
It’s possible I’m overthinking this.
But I don’t think so.
So, taking votes. What should I do?
My vote: The dog gets the extra stocking. I believe it must have been God or fate or whatever telling you to buy three stockings, knowing that one day you’d have two awesome kids AND a dog. :) Adorable stockings, too.
you probably have a good point there. thanks for the comment, suzanne!
oh kim.
thanks for a visual of what i could possibly be doing in a crate and barrel somewhere in l.a. in the next 5 years. i can’t believe you still have the stocking … i want a story on what you think every time you open the box and leave one little guy behind while the others have the opportunity to be aired out. do you rotate them?
i actually got a little panicky thinking about how i would possibly match additional stockings to the ones i just bought vince and i. wow. then i realized … i bought very neutral stockings that can be paired with almost anything … for a reason ;)
because of the unlikely event that kim and neil bontrager will have child numero tres, my vote is that your precious dog get the stocking. it will serve as a great reminder that, no matter how awesome our planning skills are … God makes the final call. and every christmas you see the extra stocking, you may just smile and think, “man i’m glad baby jesus came and knew that i’d have all the stockings i’d ever need.” :)
I don’t rotate them. Turns out kids keep track of which one is theirs. :)
I’m probably going to take your advice.
My husband and I have matching stockings, that I bought when we were engaged. They still sell them at Target, emblazoned with initials. I bought a red “J” for him and a green “K” for me, and then it occurred to me that our dog (and for all intents and purposes, our child) NEEDED a stocking. So I got him a different one, a simple one (I guess my logic defined dog stocking as something to not spend a lot on). Then it was too plain, so I embellished it. Then last year he stuck his nose inside and removed all of his toys because I didn’t hang it, so I set out this year for another stocking holder, and that’s when I saw it: a DOG stocking holder! With an enamel bone-shaped frame on the top! And now my mantle is dog-centric and I probably look like a weirdo, but suffice to say, he is totally part of the family. :)
Thanks for your comment, Korey! I’ll have no choice but to hang the dog’s stocking. His favorite thing to play with/destroy are spare socks.
don’t you ever say the kids names when you mean to call the dog? or say the dogs name when you mean to call the kids? :) at least i use too….the only thing that bothered me about that was that i only did that with erin! :) probably b /c her and the dog where constantly the most active in our home! that silly long explanation being given….of course you should give your dog the stocking! he’s family!
heck yeah I’ve done that!
It would be fun to take your kids shopping for a new doggie stocking. Or you could have them help make one…fabric or paper stitched together with yarn, decorated with jingle bells.
I really should do that. There’s some part of me that needs the doggie stocking to LOOK like a doggie stocking! Because he’s part of the family, but he’s not not not a person. :)
But he’s like a person. A puppy person who eats socks (I think I have one of those)! I say give him the other stocking and don’t buy a new one… he’s like a kid.
But hey, Tesh and I don’t even own stockings and we’ve been married for 4 years now. How lame are we?