So I shouldn't put my Wisemen up until Jan 6, right?

We celebrate or I should say, observe the 12 days of Christmas.  It begins on December 25th and ends on January 6th.  January 6th in many cultures is known as Three Kings Day or Kings Day and to some it is the day that presents are opened.  Which, when the story is analyzed, makes complete sense.  January 6th is the accepted day to be the day the Three Kings or Three Wisemen arrive to greet and honor the Newborn King.  I am quite sure that I would not be able to sell this part of the celebration to our kids.  We open presents on December 25th, no matter what.

But this got me thinking further.  We do not place Jesus in the cradle (or crate as W likes to say) until Christmas, the symbolism of his actual birth would therefore not be accurate.  However, the Kings have been there since I set up the Manger.  Technically, I should place them in the hinterlands to mimic their journey and on January 6th they would 'arrive' at the Manger.  

Based solely on logistics we are taking the tree down today, which is a few days shy of 12th night, but we will leave all the decorations up until next weekend.  In my previous life, sans kids, I hosted a 12th Night dinner, an attempt to further the celebration of the greatest Gift of all.

This season is my most favorite season of all and I always feel a little blue when restoring the house to the pre-Christmas decor.  We will look forward to next year when we celebrate the miracles of years past.