Every family has special Christmas traditions that warm their hearts. If you are starting a family of your own, you may be looking for some unique family Christmas traditions to make Christmas extra special in your house. Today I want to share my family’s favorite Christmas tradition. I invite you to make it part of your family’s build-up to Christmas as well!
Christmas Traditions in My Family
First, I will say that my family absolutely loves Christmas. We go out of our way to spend time together doing holiday activities all through November and December (here’s a list of must-do Christmas traditions to start with your family). We often tease each other about our excessive Christmas cheer.
We have a ton of family traditions for the holidays. From choosing and cutting down a tree, Christmas parade, baking Christmas cookies (see some adorable kid-friendly recipes here), buying Christmas gifts for underprivileged children and having three 20+ people gatherings over from December 23rd to 26th, we really make the most of the Christmas season.
Out of all the outings, parties and get-togethers, we have one really unique family Christmas tradition that is far and away our favorite.
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Our Unique Family Christmas Tradition
Our special family Christmas tradition occurs on December 23rd and is called “Nose-Blacking Night”. I’ve never heard of another family who has this tradition (although if someone out there has the same tradition, I’d love to hear from you!). We are not sure where or when it started, although there is some suspicion that my great grandfather simply made it up.
The legend goes that the night before Christmas Eve, Santa does a test-run to be sure he is all ready for his big trip on Christmas Eve.
Santa flies around the world and counts each good little girl and boy who he needs to bring presents for on Christmas Eve. As he counts the children, he touches each one on the nose. Because he has just come down the chimney, his mittens are full of soot. When he touches each child’s nose, some of the soot rubs off on the child’s nose, leaving a black mark.
If the child wakes up on the morning of Christmas Eve with a black mark on his or her nose, it means Santa has counted them on the good list and will bring them presents the next night! If there is no mark, it means Santa thinks they’ve been naughty and will not receive any presents (needless to say, all kids have black noses in the morning).
As you can imagine, this is incredibly thrilling for children. It really brings the anticipation of Christmas to a fever pitch! The excitement is palpable on “Nose Blacking Night.” Going to bed is almost as exciting as bedtime on Christmas Eve.
On the morning of Christmas Eve, the kids in our family race to the mirror to check that their nose has been blacked. You can hear the whoops of excitement when they see their blackened nose.
There are phone calls (and now Facetime calls) between grandparents, grandchildren, cousins, aunts and uncles to share the good news of having your nose blacked. Often children in our family do not wipe the black off their nose for the entire day of Christmas Eve as proof that they will be getting gifts that night!
It’s a great way to add to the excitement of Christmas. Bonus: it’s totally free, you need virtually no supplies and don’t have to do any prep!
My daughter with her nose blacked at age 2
Nose-Blacking Night Tips:
- It’s best to start this in the toddler/preschool years.
- If you don’t have a chimney, Santa can make soot easily. Just light a candle or match and hold a plate a few inches above the flame. Soot will appear on the bottom of the plate!
- Santa always makes sure to rub soot on the bridge and side of each child’s nose. That way it won’t wipe off on the pillowcase!
- If, by chance, the soot does get wiped off someone’s nose, Santa often adds a little soot to the pillowcase. Soot on the pillowcase is proof that the child’s nose has in fact been blacked. They have nothing to worry about on Christmas Eve!
We have celebrated this unique Christmas tradition for at least four generations. For us, it means Christmas has really arrived.
I cherished this tradition as a child. As an adult, it fills my heart to watch my daughter’s eyes sparkle when she discovers her own nose is blacked on Christmas Eve.
I would love to hear if you decide to add this family Christmas tradition to your own line-up. It truly is one of the best parts of Christmas!
What special family Christmas traditions do you celebrate during the holidays?
That’s an adorable tradition! I would be anxious about waking up my children, but I bet the reaction they have in the morning is worth that risk. I love seeing the reaction to the plate of cookie crumbs that Santa ate.
Such an amazing Christmas tradition n I’ve definitely never heard of it before but sounds like an amazing way to get the kids excited!
This is such a fun tradition! I wish I still had tiny kiddos so we could do this. Thank you for sharing your tradition.
this is super cute! so unique!
Our family does this. Was trying to find where the tradition started originally.
Hey Scott! You’re the first person I’ve heard that has the same tradition. Where does your family originate from? We’re from England/Ireland, so perhaps it came from one of those areas.
Our family also does this! I came online to try to find the origin of the tradition, and your post came up as the only mention of it. My heritage is Scottish and English with a little bit of Norwegian and Irish. I’m not sure how far back in our family this tradition goes, but I think I’ll ask my 90-yr-old uncle before he passes on!
Isn’t it fun? I know my great grandfather did this tradition with his children in the 1940’s, but not sure if it was passed down through his family, or he adopted it. Please let me know what your uncle tells you!