I have always looked forward to the month of December for numerous reasons. I love Christmas and the whole Christmas season. People always wanted to take pity on me for having a birthday in December, but I can honestly say that I never felt like I lost out. My parents really always made it special.
Once my family moved to Germany in 1988, we adopted another special December custom - St. Nikolaustag. On this night, many European children are putting out their shoes so that St. Nikolaus, or Sinterklaas in Holland, can fill them with goodies. He's similar to our Santa Claus, but clearly comes to visit children on a different day than Christmas.
Even as we got older, my mother continued to celebrate St. Nikolaustag with us. And, it's actually something I so look forward to each and every year. My mom is perhaps the best gift-giver ever. She is so generous and incredibly thoughtful. And, you just love the gifts you receive - they are always great and beautifully wrapped. She really takes extra time for each and every one of us.
So, I look extra forward to getting the big St. Nikolaus box in the mail each year. In fact, right now, at the end of my birthday, I'm more excited for waking up tomorrow so we can see what St. Nikolaus brought us than I was to wake up today. And, I'm really really excited to see what he brought for Jackson's first St. Nikolaustag. It's always a bunch of things that we can use for the Christmas season - Christmas cooking items from Williams Sonoma, linens, puzzles, music - oh, it's so fun!
In our village, there was a St. Nikolaus event tonight. I made sure to check on the way home from my hair appointment to see what time it started. The woman told me, "half past seven." So, we packed up Jackson in a cute little outfit and walked on over to the restaurant - just in time for it to be pretty much over. Man! I don't know if the woman just told me the wrong time, or if she didn't understand how to say the correct time in English.
But, Jackson got to meet St. Nikolaus, get his picture taken with him, and get a gift bag from him. Holy cow! We got home and looked through the bag. It is chock full of goodies!
I can't wait to see what St. Nikolaus brings us tomorrow morning!
1 comment:
Does the village Saint Nikolaus smell like Yukon Jack like our dirty mall Santa does?
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