December 6
th
is St. Nicholas Day, and when I was a child it was always a fun day.
On December 5
th
, before going to bed, my brothers and sisters and I would all place one of our shoes outside the door to our bedroom. Well, it could be a shoe, a slipper, or even a boot. My brothers seemed to think if they put out a boot, they’d get more from St. Nicholas. That never worked, but it didn’t stop them from trying!
All of us were allowed to put a little note to St. Nick in our shoe. I never passed up the chance to let him know how much I loved him for coming to our house. I never passed up the chance to tell him what I wanted for Christmas either!
When we were asleep, St. Nicholas would come and collect our notes, and leave us treats in all the shoes (or boots as the case may be). Just little things; a few pieces of candy and maybe a small toy. We were always amazed that he was so quiet, no one ever woke up or saw him.
At the breakfast table, we’d all compare our treats and talk about whether anyone heard anything. Usually the youngest sibling was the one to swear he or she heard footsteps. I’m sure my parents had plenty of giggles listening to us.
I passed this tradition to my own family when I got married. My husband had never heard of it, so it was fun to explain it. When he asked how the tradition got started, and I had to admit that I didn’t know. So I did a little investigating.
St. Nicholas Day is a widely celebrated holiday in the Netherlands.
All the children leave their shoes out overnight, hoping for a visit from St. Nicholas.
Some will leave carrots and hay in their shoes for the saint’s horse, hoping he will exchange it for a little gift. The Dutch brought this tradition of “Sinter Klaas” to America in the 1700’s.
The Dutch children hope that St. Nicholas would reward them with a piece of fruit or some nuts. Hmmm. Makes me glad I live in the U.S.A.. I’d much prefer a Pez dispenser to walnuts! If you were a ‘bad child’ you might get a lump of coal in your shoe. (I left one for my husband once as a joke!)
The Dutch children hope that St. Nicholas would reward them with a piece of fruit or some nuts. Hmmm. Makes me glad I live in the U.S.A.. I’d much prefer a Pez dispenser to walnuts! If you were a ‘bad child’ you might get a lump of coal in your shoe. (I left one for my husband once as a joke!)
St. Nicholas is the patron saint of children and sailors. He is also the patron saint of Russia and Greece. I wonder if the children of those countries leave their shoes for him?
Have you ever heard of this tradition, or participate in it at your house?
I have read of this tradition, but I didn’t know of anyone who had participated…until now. Now, I do know one sweet person who partook of a lovely tradition. It sounds wonderful!! Thank you for sharing your stories of St. Nicholas Day at your home.
Hi Jackie! This was really a fun tradition for us. Of course, when you grow up with it, you think everyone knows about it. My husband proved that wasn’t true. Thank you for your lovely comment about sharing. I love to read about other people’s traditions, so it’s nice to share one too
Have a good Friday my friend,
Ceil
I have a Dutch friend who always celebrates on Dec 6th…..even though she now lives in France!
Hi Elizabeth! That’s so fun! I think traditions follow us everywhere we go. As I told Jackie, growing up I just figured everyone celebrated St. Nicholas Day. I realize now that is not true.
But it really is fun, and heightens the anticipation for Christmas too. Not to mention highlighting a saint
Thank you for your visit today!
Ceil
What? You mean it is only a tradition? Who is then leaving me presents in my shoes when I put them out on 5 December? This year I put out three pairs of shoes but only got one present.
God bless.
Hi Victor! Um…well…go ask your Mom Victor. LOL!
You sound a lot like my brothers
My husband was just talking about putting out his shoe yesterday, it was so funny. Here’s a guy who never heard of it as a child, and he’s all over it now. (He only puts out one shoe though.)
Have a blessed St. Nick’s Day!
Ceil
There were 4 shoes lined up on our hearth last night, my friend!
Four sleeping children await some surprises!
And guess who Flynn will be coloring and hanging on our Wall of Saints today? : )
Hi Billie Jo! Oh, how FUN! I love it. I think your saint of the day will be St. Nicholas
Aren’t traditions like this so fun? And we kept putting those shoes out until we left for college. I think my Mom and Dad loved it as much we did.
Blessings!
Ceil
I may have heard of this, but it’s not something that was practiced at our house. Interesting how these things start and get passed down through generations.
Hi Linda! I’m sure there are so many traditions in the homes all across the world, preparing for Christmas. This is one we really enjoyed.
Have a blessed day!
Ceil
I have heard of this..but..no, we wait until Christmas Eve. Very nice story..thanks for making me smile & chuckle. Blessings
Hi Linda! When you grow up with a tradition, you think everyone does the same things you do. But my husband was proof that wasn’t true. It’s fun to share our family celebrations with each other, so I’m glad you liked the story.
Have a peaceful and joyful day
Ceil
I’ve always heard stories like yours on ways to celebrate, but we’ve never done it. We do leave our shoes out the eve of St. Patrick’s Day and the “leprechaun” comes and leaves gold chocolate coins. As for today, I may scramble around a bit and try to come up with a cute snack related to the feast day.
Enjoy your weekend, Ceil.
Hi Kathleen! I’ve never heard of the shoes and the leprechaun, so now you have shared a tradition of yours!
St. Nicholas was a bishop, and had a great love for children. That’s where this practice came from, and it’s such a lovely one. Can’t wait to hear what you came up with for today
Blessings,
Ceil
Happy feast of St. Nicholas to you, Ceil!! We, too, celebrate this feast and we start by leaving our shoes out
I’ll be putting up a post at the end of the day possibly. St. Nicholas is also the patron saint of brides and grooms I read this morning. They have also discovered by measuring his remains, he only stood about 5′ tall! What a happy, jolly soul!
Hi Patty! So you celebrate it too? Yay! I had no idea about the height of St. Nicholas, but I suppose people were not so tall back then. I had to smile at your comment about the ‘happy, jolly soul.’ A good patron for newly marrieds
Have a great feast day! I’ll look forward to your post,
Ceil
I love the idea of leaving the shoe out! We only had the stockings on the fireplace, but I loved mine so much because it was a ballerina’s slipper that my mother had sewn for me. We now carry on the stocking tradition in our own home with the kids. Stuffing them with surprises is my favorite thing to do!
Hi Marcia! I love the stocking tradition too. We had a fireplace at home as a child, so we would all grab our athletic socks and use a thumbtack on the mantle. We don’t have a fireplace currently, so we used the bannister going up the stairs.
Santa always found them
Thank you for sharing your tradition, Marcia. It’s fun to get to know you and your family celebrations!
Ceil
Ceil, I haven’t heard of this tradition before. So Christmas wasn’t the only time for special treats in December around your place.
Hi Wanda! Well, this feast seemed to usher in the beginnings of the Advent season. We all just loved it. My children loved it too, what’s not to like? And it reminded them of the faithful people who lived so long ago. Win/win!
Happy Friday! And thank you for your Fav 5 blog post!
Ceil
Well, I must say this is a new one to me. Never heard of it but it does sound like fun.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Hi Sandy! I think it might be a regional thing? Well, that’s not true. My husband grew up very close to my town, and he’d never heard of it either. It is fun!
It’s so fun to see you again
Have a blessed weekend!
Ceil
I’ve ever heard this tradition and watch in the movies. I love it too but here we don’t have kind of tradition but we have a moment where Santa coming to the house before the Christmas Eve. I always giggling each time I remember this moment to know that how sweet is Santa could know my name and know what I wanted but it all came from my parents haha.
Thanks for sharing your beautiful story when you were young, I enjoy reading it and it makes me smile.
Anyway, again, thank you so much for being sweet. I meet new followers who also love God
You’re the best.
Love,
Delvalina
Hi Delvalina! Don’t feel alone, there are a lot of people who have never heard of this tradition! Your visit by Santa sounds so sweet too. Santa knows everything, right?
I’m really glad you met new friends through your give-away. I am exceedingly blessed by wonderful followers. They are truly a gift. I know they will be a gift to you too.
Have a great weekend
Ceil
I never heard of this tradition, but must be delightful for the children! I usually just had the regular Christmas time!
God bless, hope all is well! You are in my prayers
Hi Ashley! Thank you for visiting today. It was delightful, you are right. We loved it
Thank you for your prayers, I always appreciate them.
Have a blessed weekend!
Ceil
Interesting! We don’t celebrate at all, but thank you for sharing! I always love learning new things. Hugs to you my sister!
Hi Sara! Thank you for reading about it, although you don’t celebrate. I like your open-mindedness!
Hugs right back to you, Sara. I’ll be coming over to visit you soon
Ceil
Dear Ceil, I have heard of this and always thought it was really sweet! But I did not know the history of it all, or where it originated from. It was fun reading about it; Thanks so much for sharing about how as a child how much fun it must have been. I little easier to grasp filling your shoe with a treat, then the jolly fat guy fitting down my chimney
Merry Christmas to YOU!!
HO HO HO Roxy
Hi Roxy! I’m so glad you liked the post, it was fun remembering those days. I think my daughter continues the tradition too. It’s so fun to pass down little rituals of the season.
Merry Christmas to you too, my friend. I think I’ll be by your blog a time or two before the big day
Ceil
So fun to read your memories Ceil! I’d never heard of it til I grew up and worked with a gal whose birthday was on Dec 6th! She explained it to me..then I didn’t celebrate it til I did daycare in my home and you can bet we celebrate it now, with my own children. The whole reason it started in the first place, the way I understand was that the Real St Nicholas would throw money or food in the windows and down the chimney’s of poor children…he had money and was wealthy, but gave it all away. We leave our shoes (I make them use church shoes..less stinky! haha!) My son said the exact same thing you said your brother used to say, he wanted to put out his boots, just in case…Didn’t work, we do a couple pieces of candy…
I like your note idea, might have to try that next year. My 4 year old kept saying, “Is it Christmas?” Well, she asks every day now I guess.
Thanks for sharing your memories!
God bless you!
Hi Jaime Jo! Those boys, huh? Always thinking! I read about those St. Nicholas stories too. My favorite told about how he tossed money into the courtyard of a family with three daughters. There was no money for dowries, so they couldn’t get married. I guess all the stories really point out how generous St. Nicholas was.
I bet you’ll see some fun notes next year, if you decide to do it!
Thank you for your fun comment
Ceil