Yahoo Finance This mom had an empty stocking for 10 years and her husband just now noticed
Moms rarely get the credit they deserve for most things, but especially for the holiday magic they make year after year to ensure every person (and fur baby!) in their lives feels loved and celebrated. But one viral TikTok is hammering home the reality that many women face: an empty stocking that their husbands fail to fill.
In the clip, filmed on Christmas two years ago, Utah dad Josh Jones can be heard excitedly checking out everyone’s filled stockings, including one for the family dog. But then he pans to an empty stocking, asking “Whose is this? Is this an extra one?”
“No, that’s mine,” replies his wife, Aubree Jones, with a laugh.
When Josh asks her why her stocking is empty, she replies, “I don’t know. Santa didn’t come for me.”
Aubree addressed his years-long mistake in the caption of the clip, which has racked up close to 12 million views and thousands of comments on TikTok alone. “It took him 10 years to notice it’s been empty this whole time,” Aubree wrote, calling it a “PSA for husbands everywhere.”
Women everywhere responded to the clip with sympathy and sadness for Aubree, sharing their own experiences, whether they too are part of the empty stocking club or simply remember realizing that their moms always had an empty stocking. Some didn’t mince words for Josh, hoping that Aubree can see how much she deserves to have a stocking stuffed with whatever goodies she likes.
Aubree responded to the chatter by showing viewers all the gifts Josh had given her, despite the empty stocking. “Everyone is more upset with my husband than I am,” she captioned the follow-up video. “It’s nice to have a stocking, but I wasn’t bothered by it. That’s why I laughed when he pointed it out. This was supposed to be a call out to other men who might not realize their wife doesn’t have a stocking.”
“He forgot to fill my stocking, but definitely remembered to make me feel loved and special through gifts and many other things,” she continued. “Everyone can relax. He won’t forget my stocking this year.” She then shared a video of Josh standing shirtless in a life-sized stocking, adding, “My husband said he’s ready to stuff my stocking this year.”
With their sixth child on the way this Christmas, Aubree assures followers that Josh has made up for his mistakes after realizing she’d always had an empty stocking. “I know it looks like I was sad sitting off to the side with no gifts surrounding me, but I wasn’t sad at all,” Aubree told TODAY.com. “I was doing what most moms do, which is just enjoying my kids being happy on Christmas morning.”
Still, fellow moms and women everywhere felt the pain of being forgotten, and hope that Aubree is appreciated in ways big and small — during the holiday season and beyond — just as she should be. And if you’re the mom or wife with a perpetually empty stocking, just know we see you and we’re sending you all the virtual love for an overflowing stocking.
