St. Nick's Day — a Milwaukee tradition — is a fun way to tide the kids over until Christmas

I was recently at Target with my 9-year-old daughter, Wendy.

We were looking at all the amazing Christmas decorations and food.

And that's when she saw it: a Hershey Kiss as big as her head.

Her eyes lit up, her jaw dropped and she looked at me, completely speechless.

Once Wendy had regained her powers of speech, she casually mentioned to me that the giant Kiss would be a perfect St. Nick gift for her.

Just as casually, I responded that it certainly would be perfect for her, and maybe St. Nick would bring it.

Now St. Nick's Day, which is officially Dec. 6, isn't as big a deal as Christmas. We've always looked at it as a fun celebration to tide us over until Christmas.

A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article from the archives offers some history:

"Like the fish fry and frozen custard, the celebration of St. Nick's Day, though not exclusively a Milwaukee tradition, is especially strong here. Tradition calls for children to hang their stockings or put out their shoes in the hopes that St. Nicholas will visit in the night, leaving a trinket or two for good children. Naughty kids will find a lump of coal or a switch instead."

That growing ubiquity of St. Nick's Day is probably one reason for the gigantic candy selections in the big box stores.

But, since, regardless of the fun of the holiday and the similarity of St. Nick to Santa, the fact remains that St. Nick's Day is not Christmas, and apparently, in the mind of my child, St. Nick doesn't accept requests in the form of letters to the North Pole and visits to the big guy's lap.

So Wendy settled for repeating herself several times over the next few weeks (always in my hearing of course) that she hoped St. Nick would bring her a giant Hershey Kiss. Perhaps she thought putting it out there in the universe would work in her favor. Or maybe she has an inkling of an idea of the real identity of St. Nick.

Either way, she was not disappointed. St. Nick came through.

Go to the MetroParent Facebook page to share your own photos of your kids' favorite St. Nick gifts.