Fitflop's new kids' range advocates freedom of feet!

CEBU, Philippines - It’s 100 days to Christmas starting today kids and you know what this means. You better be good or else you won’t be included in someone’s Christmas list. Yep, Santa Claus is coming to town!

Christmas is our celebration of the birth of Jesus and kids are usually the ones who get so excited about this celebration. Do you know why? You guessed right! Kids look forward to Christmas because it is a time that we get all kinds of gifts.

The most popular gift-giving figure during Christmas is Santa Claus. There are even lots of songs about him. My favorite Santa Claus song is Santa Claus is Coming To Town. Do you know how to sing that? Let’s try.

“You better watch out, you better not cry,

you better not pout I’m tellin’ you why,

Santa Claus is coming to town.

He’s makin’ a list and checkin’ it twice.

Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice.

Santa Claus is coming to town.”

Santa Claus is called different names all over the world – Weihnachtsmann in Germany (which means Christmas man), Pere Noel in France, Papa Noel in Spanish speaking countries and Julemanden in Denmark. All these names, however, refer to the same person, St. Nicholas, who was born centuries ago in Lycia, Anatolia, a province located in the southwest coast of Asia Minor, which is now called Turkey. He then became a bishop of Myra, which is also located in Lycia.

St. Nicholas was a very religious man and he was famous for his generosity. One of the stories about his generous nature spoke of him helping a nobleman who could not afford the dowries of his three daughters. You see, kids, there are certain cultures that require women to pay dowries when they marry. According to the story, St. Nicholas threw a sack of gold coins enough for the dowry of the eldest daughter through the window of the nobleman’s house. The next night, he threw another sack of gold coins enough for the dowry of the second daughter. The following night, however, the window of the nobleman’s house was closed so St. Nicholas climbed onto the roof and down the chimney. The next day, the daughters found the gold inside the stockings, which they hung out to dry by the fireplace.

St. Nicholas is actually the patron saint of Russia, of children and of seafarers. His feast day falls on December 6.

St. Nicholas was originally portrayed wearing bishop’s robes. However, today, we know him as a plump jolly white-bearded man wearing a red coat and black leather belt and boots.

Present-day stories about Santa say that he lives in the North Pole with Mrs. Claus and works with elves to make the toys that he gives to children during Christmas. During Christmas Eve, Santa goes around the world on a sleigh with reindeer.

Oh, but Santa does not just give gifts to everyone. He gives gifts only to those who have been good the whole year through. He is said to keep a list, you see – the “naughty” and “nice” list, which contains the names of kids all over the world who have been naughty or nice.

So, be sure to obey you parents and teachers and treat your friends nicely, kids! Santa is watching.