Every year around this time of year, my TikTok essentially goes full-swing into Christmas mode, with videos of dogs getting pictures with Santa, elves on shelves and new baking recipes. It’s like the algorithm decorates itself, which is often very nice and wholesome. But there’s always one kind of video that never fails to make its way onto my feed: videos of disappointed moms with empty stockings on Christmas — and disappointed children who had faith in their other parents to fill it.
This infuriating video with over a million likes shows a husband handing his wife an empty stocking while their children are opening theirs. “Is this an extra one?” he asks, picking up an empty stocking and bringing it to his wife while walking toward her. “No, it’s mine,” she says back.
“Here’s my impression of moms every Christmas morning,” the user in this video says. She proceeds to grab a very limp-looking stocking. “Babe, I feel something in here! You didn’t forget!” she says while grabbing the very bottom of the stocking. She reaches into the bag and pulls out a piece of the stocking that was accidentally left in there. “It’s okay, no, it’s no big deal, I don’t care,” she says. She then encourages her partner to open their stocking, saying, “There’s some stuff in the bag next to it too ’cause it wouldn’t all fit.”
15 Best Stocking Stuffers for Her
Small gifts that are neither boring nor thoughtless“To be a woman…Is to have the only empty stocking on Christmas morning,” this video reads. The camera pans over the stockings on a mantle with one clearly empty, and the commenters came together for support. “I refuse. I filled the kids and mine and HIS was empty,” one user wrote. “Mines been empty for so many years and my 18 year old daughter filled mine to the brim this year,” wrote another. Many young women online have also shared stories about how they’re responsible for filling their mom’s stockings.
In this video, a woman explains she’s been filling her mom’s stocking since she was 13 because she told her she misses the magic of Christmas from when she was little.
The Best Stocking Stuffers for Dads, Husbands and Other Grumpy Men
Cashmere scarves, fine fragrances and a whole lot of holiday cheer
“I hope I marry a man who fills my stocking at Christmas,” this woman wrote in her video. One user commented that their mom buys her own presents and signs them off “from dad.”
This user expressed their feelings about finding out that their mom fills up her own stocking, saying they didn’t “believe santa did it,” but they believed in their father — “for the longest time i thought my dad could care enough to do that simple thing for her,” they said.
To a husband or father, this gesture may be something so small that they didn’t even think twice about it. The reality is that most women just want to be thought of — and they don’t want to have to tell you to think of them. It doesn’t need to be anything over-the-top, either (although it certainly can be): candy, jewelry, nail polish, duplicates of her go-to makeup products, which you could easily figure out by looking at what ones she owns that she’s used up the most. Even gift cards could suffice.
At this point, there’s no good excuse — especially when you see how it impacts their children. These videos show perfectly how they felt let down by their fathers — or how they fear the same thing happening to them in their marriages one day.
Lucky for you, you’ve got plenty of time. There’s still a week until Christmas and we’ve got your back. If you have to pay an extra shipping fee to make sure it gets here in time, consider that your karma for waiting until the last minute — or possibly even forgetting to fill it until you read this article anyway.
Meet your guide
More Like This
The Charge will help you move better, think clearer and stay in the game longer. Subscribe to our wellness newsletter today.
