December 5th would seem to be an odd day, if not for another holiday I'd never heard of before: The Feast of St Nicholas, December 5th. On the evening of the Feast, children put out footwear by their bedroom doors, and awake to find it full of trinkets or candy, much like the stocking tradition of Christmas.

So, last night (despite the grounding of one child), the children were instructed to take a large, clean sock (clean emphasized), cuff the top, and slip it over their doorknob. After they fell asleep, D and I produced a number of little boxes from the closet. It seems St Nick is a bit overwhelmed these days, so he opts to let distant relatives mail the St Nick gifts. We opened up the packages from afar, sorted out who got what, added our own little gifts, and snuck up the stairs to deliver St Nick's wares.

With the commercialization of Christmas, you might not think an extra day of gifts would be much fun...but it is. Especially since it seems 'special,' something that not everybody else is doing. Plus, there's the candy. The kids get some...but, of course, there's always extra for us parents.