Happy King’s Day! Or as we say in our house, Feliz Día de Reyes!
We must not have been that bad last year because the Kings came to our house last night and were kind enough to leave us some presents, not coal. Oh, yes, the Kings may leave coal for any naughty person they encounter the night before Epiphany. Many in American get around that by all together not celebrating the Kings at all, which works to avoid messy lumps of coal in your boots the next morning. But that strategy also keeps you from getting some nice presents if you’ve been good!
The Kings were good to me
This year the Kings think my daughters have been very good and that I need to eat more candy (they brought me some gummy sweets) and to workout to counter balance the sugar (they gave me a sandbag. Cannot WAIT to use it!)
Spanish tradition for Christmas is that all presents are given on Kings Day, as it’s believed to be (or traditionally celebrated as) the day the three Kings arrived to gift the baby Jesus gold, frankincense and myrrh. The night before we place our shoes out, supposedly scrubbed clean and shiny though my kids tend to “forget” that part, leave out a plate of sweets for the Kings (sugar cookies from us) along with water and carrots for the camels (we looked it up one year. Yes, camels will eat carrots) and then we rush to bed.
I believe in the Kings
Even the preteen and teen can’t help grinning as they snuggle into bed. I can be over the top with the Kings, pretending to be stressed out about how the house isn’t clean enough for them and that they aren’t going to like our treats, which causes the girls to run around last minute picking up and making sure things are nice.
I didn’t have Kings coming when I was growing up. I didn’t even have Santa Claus. My parents didn’t permit us to believe in Santa Claus. I don’t remember ever believing in him. My mother was of the opinion that the story was lying to children and lying to children was mean. I’m still dealing with the damage having too much realism caused me. And, as you might have guessed, I do not follow in my mother’s footsteps on this issue. In fact, I wholeheartedly disagree. I think magic and wonder are necessary and, well, fun.
It’s fun to believe gifts are magically appearing. Although, I did get a bit grumpy as the clock hit midnight and I still wasn’t done wrapping presents. Why do I always leave that bit for the night before? I don’t eve seem to learn.
It isn’t Kings Day without Roscón!
But I also went to bed a bit later because I had to finish up my first ever Roscón de Reyes, the Spanish King’s bread. It’s a bread formed into a crown and usually decorated with candied fruits and those puffy, crunchy sugar balls, but I couldn’t find those. Once cooked you cut it lengthwise and add whipped cream. This one didn’t get as much time to rise as it should have (did I mention it was past midnight?) so I think I’ll have to try it again and soon!
Do you celebrate King’s Day? Or another holiday around New Year’s?
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