Tag: santa

Have you heard of The 12 Nights of Christmas, also known as Secret Santa (not to be confused with secret gift exchanges)? I came across this concept years ago while reading "In Search of the Real Spirit of Christmas" by Dan Schaeffer. In the back was a chapter describing his family tradition modeled after the 12 days of Christmas. Beginning on December 13 and ending on Christmas Eve, the family left a treat along with a cute poem on a neighbor's porch every evening. The whole idea was to teach kids that giving was just as fun as receiving.

Randy Schneider has considered himself a professional Santa since 1999 when he found himself at a JCPenney store buying a beard and boots.

Now, Schneider, 66, has a beard of his own.

At the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School in Midland, Michigan, some two hundred Santas and Mrs. Clauses came from across the United States, Canada, Denmark and Norway to learn wood toy-making, brush up on storytelling skills, drive sleighs, feed reindeer and, most importantly, spread the Christmas spirit.

In the United States, December 25th is a magical day. Children get excited about Christmas and put out milk and cookies for Santa Claus. In Spain, it’s January 6th that’s of utmost importance and Santa takes backseat to the true bearer of gifts: three kings—Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar—who travel by horses and camels laden with presents for all the boys and girls. And, in anticipation of their arrival, kids lay out their slippers filled with hay or dried grass for the kings’ animals.

David had told me many times about Three Kings Day, but it had never really held much significance for me, for I had yet to experience it for myself—until this year.