Jolly Old St. Nicholas (The First Gift)

It's almost time! It's almost here! He's coming and the kids are EXCITED!!! Can you believe it's so soon? This Thursday, even??? 

No, we're not going to visit Santa. Santa's not coming here this year, either, for that matter. 

One of my children, when questioned by a cashier about his excitement over the impending arrival of Santa Claus, responded to the shock of the cashier that Santa was in fact not coming to our house this year. He assured this person there was no reason to worry, as instead St. Nicholas would be delivering a gift a full two and a half weeks before Christmas. "And how cool is that?"

I then proceeded to apologize to the father of a child who overheard the conversation and wanted to know if St. Nicholas would be visiting their house as well. The poor youngster was doubly disappointed to learn that neither St. Nicholas nor Santa Claus would come to their house bearing gifts until he was reminded of the eight Chanukkah gifts he would be receiving. 

Last year our kids decided that this year we'll celebrate St. Nicholas Day, December 6th. On that day, our children will receive the first of the three gifts they get during Advent/Christmas...in their shoes. 

For more information about St. Nicholas Day,
visit the St. Nicholas Center: http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/home/

I'm looking forward to this new family tradition, and appreciate that we're taking more of the commercialism out of Christmas, transforming our observance into one more closely aligned with our faith. 

And so we wait as patiently as possible for St. Nicholas Day morning and the possibilities it holds.