Tomorrow is the Feast of St.Nicholas. According to Wikipedia the feast day is celebrated as a Christian festival with particular regard to his reputation as a bringer of gifts. I think that it is more of a German thing than anything. My mother’s family was German so I think that lots of the things we did growing up had to do with that heritage. The tradition is for children to put their shoes out and St. Nicholas would fill the shoes with fruit and nuts and maybe some candy.
When I was growing up St. Nicholas came every year. He would bring us one of those mesh Christmas stockings that were full of hard candy and really cheap toys. We loved them. We were so protective of them. I don’t know when they quit selling those but I’m sure that they didn’t sell many of them. The candy was nasty and the toys fell apart almost immediately. But still the nostalgia of the stocking. And I’m thinking we got something into adulthood. In later years I can remember getting those really big candy canes that no one ever finished, a storybook of Lifesavers, and maybe a chocolate Santa Claus (just like a chocolate Easter Bunny). I loved the tradition. My mother was so good at keeping those kind of traditions alive.
I have tried very hard to keep the tradition alive in my household. I always made sure that the kids had a stocking set out to be filled. If they forgot then sometimes a gift bag full of candy would be left for them. Sometimes I would tease them and tell them to leave their boots out. But I reminded them that St.Nicholas would need to be able to find the boots. Most of the time there was a lot of candy left on the kitchen table with each kid’s name on the pile of candy. I loved the tradition. I’m not sure that they appreciated it. Most of the time they just put up with me.
When they went away to college I let them know that St. Nicholas would only come to see them if they were at home. There were a couple of times that St. Nick might have found them while they were away from college but most of the time they didn’t get anything if they weren’t at home. I mean, how is St. Nick supposed to know how to find them.
A couple of years ago I was at a conference on December 6th. Before the opening session I found out that St. Nicholas had come to see all of the attendees of the conference. It was just something real little but I was so excited that he had come to visit all of these people.
Anyway, I do believe that St. Nicholas does come as a prelude to Santa Claus coming. I always used it as a reminder that the kids needed to be good for Santa Claus. I also believe that you shouldn’t decorate for Christmas until after the Feast of St. Nicholas. I mean, that’s when Christmas is really kicking into gear. So, this weekend I’ll be able to decorate the tree and I can now listen to Christmas music without feeling guilty. I will remain in the Christmas season until after the Feast of the Epiphany.
I called my kids today and reminded them that St. Nicholas comes tonight. I hope that they got the hint. This is a tradition that they need to continue for their children. You should try it. It really gets you into the Christmas season.