The Saint Nicholas Bagfeatured

It’s that time of year again! I want to share my favorite Advent tradition, and this year I’d like to invite you to join us.

Since Molly’s first Advent, we have celebrated every Saint Nicholas’ Day by  filling a sack of items to give to those who may need them more than we do. We leave the sacks by the door on Saint Nicholas’ Eve (December 5th), explaining to the kids that he will come during the night to pick them up, take them back to the North Pole to be fixed up, and share them with other children on Christmas. On Christmas morning, their sacks are returned with a note of thanks and a small gift.

Unlike our regular decluttering where we focus on things that aren’t being used, we take this opportunity to give from items that are still treasured. We encourage the kids to focus on the recipient of the gift and imagine how much joy the item will bring another child just as it has them.

I don’t pressure them to fill the sack to the brim or give up a certain number of things. Some years it’s been a handful of items, and other years we’ve used extra bags for the overflow. We simply go through all our belongings, decide where we might have more than we need or could do without, and joyfully pass them on. I rarely give any input unless it’s an item that I feel we should save for younger siblings.

We begin the process a few days early and go through a couple small areas at a time. This has worked well to avoid overwhelm and crankiness. It’s become a daily habit that they look forward to and ask about first thing in the morning during the week leading up to Saint Nicholas’ Eve.

Apart from toys, we have passed along coats that we enjoyed but didn’t absolutely need, gloves, scarves, shoes, and a vast assortment of blankets, pillows, candles, and other winter comforts that we specifically wanted to share in our community where the winters are cold, long, and dark.

We try to pinpoint places that may need the donations instead of simply dumping them in a donation bin. Homeless shelters, crisis centers, and local charity drives are all wonderful options to make sure your donation is having a direct and immediate impact this Christmas.

I love entering the season with our focus firmly on the understanding that love doesn’t come from what we have but the people we build up and the relationships we nourish, even if we never see our impact.

If you’d like to join us this holiday season, share a photo or story on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #SaintNicholasSack so I can share your post in my stories.

Happy Giving!