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                Not just for kids: Stocking fillers for grown ups | Stocking fillers from GettingPersonal.co.uk
            
                Christmas is always marketed as a time for the entire family and children do especially well out of this! From the inevitable early morning stocking-induced excitement, to the toys, games and useless bits of plastic which accumulate over the course of the day, not to mention all the Christmas-themed kids' TV which keeps them occupied once the mid-afternoon boredom sets in, children are exceptionally well catered for at Christmas. Is this because it starts at school? After all, you never see adult Nativity plays, or grown men and women carting home-made Christmas tree baubles from work – maybe that's the solution we need to even the playing field and make Christmas an event for the whole family!

Adults are traditionally hard done by at Christmas, having to make do with a splash of brandy butter and perhaps some port or sherry if they're lucky! But lots of Christmas traditions can be altered so that adults are included, too. Children aren't the only ones who can play silly party games like sucking up Smarties through a straw – and if the brandy butter has had its desired effect, it's actually a lot more amusing to watch grown men and women attempt to control small pieces of confectionery as if their lives depended on it!

Similarly, presents and gift-giving can be just as fun for adults as for children. If the right amount of thought, time and effort is put into buying gifts – even those as small as stocking fillers – then adults can have just as much fun ripping the wrapping paper off various boxes as the kids do! Stocking fillers are a really easy way to inject a bit of humour into the day and can be just as great for adults as kids, provided that they've been carefully chosen! It can be quite amusing to use the age gap as a starting point for stocking fillers – for example, our 'Old Git' box of mints is perfect for bringing a smile to someone more seniors face.

For instance, things like novelty cuff links are always popular and can become really thoughtful stocking fillers if they've been chosen according to the person they're for! We have a good range of these – for golf enthusiasts, for example, there are cuff links shaped like golf balls and for those known for their conscientiousness/hard-working nature/general perfection, the 'Head Boy' cuff links are ideal – and will help put a youthful spring back into the owner's step as they reminisce about their school days!

Adults can also benefit from stocking fillers which are useful in a work situation (although I'm sure that in the holiday period, they won't want to be too strongly reminded about the impending back-to-work horror!) Things like desk organisers or post-it notes are always appreciated. 

Alcohol can play a rather large part in quite a few Christmases around the country – and so stocking fillers which go along with that theme are usually very welcome, especially if the kids have begun whining at 7 in the morning, the gravy has gone lumpy and to top it all off, the predicted 'Christmas snow' has become sheets of torrential rain. One of our miniature brandies or Sherries is a perfect little stocking filler, along with the corkscrew key ring to make sure the owner won't ever be without a way into a bottle! The 'Little Black Book of Wine' is also a welcome gift for someone who likes a drink and should mean that guests are always given the best wine with their Christmas dinner!

Presents for adults can also include things that are a little too risky for kids to handle – a good example is our 'Cat-A-Pult', a small gun which fires plastic cats out of it, much to everyone's amusement. Similarly, the 'Cheeky Calendars', featuring half naked men or women, might be to some people's tastes but are probably best kept out of the sight of the kids!

Stocking fillers certainly aren't just for kids – they can be real ice-breakers and act as really memorable gifts for all ages. Perhaps a good idea to make Christmas seem more of an affair for all ages, instead of just children, is to have two parts to the day – the kids' part, where they can rip off wrapping paper to reveal the latest plastic wonder toy to their heart's content and an adult part, where funny stocking fillers can be exchanged! That would help to ease the stress on the adults and stop the kids getting bored, making a much more interesting, easy and fun Christmas Day a real possibility for adults and kids alike.

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