St. Nick’s Day is celebrated in our family on December 6th when we wake up to find that the shoe we put out has been replaced with something special. We celebrated St. Nick’s Day in my home growing up, and, unlike my children, I did not ask any questions. I willingly left my shoes out and gratefully accepted the gifts that I found in the morning. While this was fine for me, my kids have all kinds of questions, and I wish I were equipped with the answers. Instead, I willy nilly went into St. Nick’s Day and struggled when questioned about the tradition.
“Is he like Santa?” they ask.
“Ummm, yeah, sure, he is kind of like Santa.”
“But my friends didn’t get anything at their house.”
“Well, uh, some people don’t celebrate St. Nick’s Day.”
Super confusing. I wish I had been prepared. This year I am changing my tune. I am going in armed with some answers, and I sure hope it does not make them question all that is Christmas magic. We are going to celebrate St. Nick’s Day as always. They are going to leave out their shoes just like every year. This year I decided I am going to go into it with some answers. As a family, we choose to celebrate St. Nick’s Day. St. Nick was a man that lived very long ago who was always associated with gift-giving and protecting children. We celebrate St. Nick’s Day in memory of this special saint. The gifts are from mom and dad and are given as part of our holiday season of celebration.
We typically gift our kids the same type of things:
- Christmas pajamas to wear through the season
- a new Christmas book
- an ornament to remind us of something special about them from that year
We love celebrating this day early in December to help kick off the season. It is an exciting time with our kids and something they look forward to each year. Is this a holiday your family celebrates? How do you explain St. Nick to your kids?
