What’s better than your kids getting excited Christmas morning? Celebrating the excitement TWICE a year!
More gifts? YEAH!!!
Today is Three Kings’ Day (a legit holiday in some countries!)
Basically, last night was as exciting as Christmas Eve and this morning was Christmas, part 2!
It’s a celebration many Latino families know as “El Día de Reyes” or Three Kings’ Day. Following the tradition I learned as a kid, growing up in Puerto Rico, we always got gifts on epiphany, January 6th. It’s a holiday we celebrate just like Christmas!
Schools and businesses are closed for Three Kings. Everyone and their tíos (uncles) head over to Abuela’s house for a TON of food at the “Reyes” party. And of course, the kids get more gifts!!!
What’s not to like about Three King’s Day? Family, Food & gifts?! It’s AWESOME! “¡A reyar!”
Even though my kids are not growing up like I did in Puerto Rico (they were born in California and we live in Texas now), my Puerto Rican hubby and I decided that we would share this super fun and meaningful tradition with them.
In a similar way to how Santa brings gifts on Christmas, the three kings (or wise men), bring gifts to children on their way to take their gifts of gold, myrrh & frankincense to baby Jesus.
Instead of leaving milk and cookies, like many of us do for Santa, we go outside with shoeboxes and fill them with grass from the yard. You see, the three kings travel by camel, not reindeer-led sleigh, and the camels like to stop & refuel with grass as their kings stop to deliver gifts to the kids.
In the morning when the kids wake up, they find grass from the shoeboxes spilled around the room (apparently the camels are a little messy!) But they also find gifts!
My kids were super excited about grabbing shoeboxes, filling them with grass and going to bed last night!
Even though they have to go to school tomorrow (sorry, we don’t live in Puerto Rico where it’s a holiday), and it was a pretty chilly 40-something degrees when we were out grabbing bits of grass (it’s 80 degrees back home), we love celebrating Reyes as a family tradition.
My daughter said she was hoping she would get to touch a camel’s butt! HAHA!!!
And my son added “crouton leaves” to his “grass salad” … and he was even offering to share some of his “croutons” with his sister. #proudmama!
If you decide to celebrate Three Kings Day next year, just be sure to add it to your calendar for January 6, 2018. And don’t forget to put grass in your shoebox on Three Kings’ Eve January 5th!
It could become a super fun tradition for your family, like it is for ours!
Happy Three Kings’ Day!
¡Feliz Día de los Reyes!
Laughing (and celebrating) thru life,
Coppelia
P.S. Do you celebrate Reyes? Do you want to start now??? 🙂 Let me know in the comments below!
22 thoughts on “Happy Three Kings’ Day! (The holiday your kids wish you were celebrating! ”
I loved Three Kings Day growing up! My dad used to tell us he would have coffee with the Three Kings and that they would talk about all the good things we were going to do for others in the new year. Haha Love how you all celebrate it!
Awww! That’s super sweet of your dad!
This sounds like fun! What a great tradition.
This is such a cute tradition! I know many people that celebrate this! The kids love it!
Yes! I love meeting other people who are celebrating it in the US!
This is fantastic! I love that you’re sharing your culture & traditions with your children so that it won’t be lost. Amd it must be so special for them! I gad never heard of this, so thank you so much for blogging about it! ❤
Thanks, Beth! I really feel it is a special connection with their puertorrican roots! 🙂
What a great tradition! I can honestly say that I had never heard about this celebration before.
That’s what a lot of my friends have said!
I love this! What a great holiday and a wonderful tradition that you are continuing! I especially love that your son included the croutons ?
Haha!! Yes, that was one of my favorite parts!!!
That is so awesome! I wish I had known because we would have just celebrated our Christmas then instead of on Christmas Day (since our 4 year old was so sick!).
I totally love that you celebrate this with your kids! Super important to keep them included in cultures and things that make extra special memories! <3
Yes! And I love that we have been able to take them to Puerto Rico to celebrate over there, so they can see it’s an actual holiday! LOL! It’s been so fun! 🙂
This is the cutest tradition,I love it!
Thanks, Savanna!
Yes! It’s the 12t day of Christmas! We celebrated Three Kings Day a few times growing up and I think it’s such a neat holiday. We’d leave little tiny hay bales (like that we’d buy from the craft store) out for the camels. 🙂
No way! My kids would LOVE to leave tiny bales of hay! They’d get the biggest kick out of that! And how cool that you got to celebrate it!
I love this Cope! I really wanted to start celebrating this when my daughter was little but I never had the chance! It was also not celebrated in my home as a child, I actually didn’t learn about it until I was a teenager! I love this post!!!
Awwwww! Thank you! And it’s never too late to start! Put it on the calendar for next year! 🙂 Haha!
I have never even heard of this, but it’s SO FUN! I love hearing about other cultures and traditions!
Thanks, Suzanne! It really is super fun!!!
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