If you have been following my blog for a while, you see me post every year about our St. Nikolaus Tag. It's fun now that I have children because I get to enjoy it with them. I started celebrating this with my daughter when she turned one. And this year is the first year I am doing it with my son who just turned one.
I grew up in Germany {and no, I'm actually not German, just grew up there, but I am Dutch. The Dutch do it slightly different but we celebrate it the German way}. And it's very big over there. It's very big in Europe all together but depending on the country, the tradition varies a little. It's what I used to call the first of our three Christmases. I remember we used to have a big tradition where the family would go to the ice skating rink on this day and St. Nikolaus would be there staking around. You would have to try to avoid him because if you got too close, he would whip you with his switches. It was always a fun game of "keep away" we used to do.
I have been loving that this year, I have found many people actually celebrate this here in the U.S. and it makes me happy cause I haven't been able to find very many that know what I'm talking about each time I bring it up.
In case you do not know the tradition behind St. Nikolaus Tag, here is a quick run down of what happens and the story behind it.St. Nikolaus is basically like a "Santa Claus" but was actually a real person who went around and did this. On the night of December 5th, the children are supposed to leave their shoes/boots outside their door and if they have been good that year, St. Nikolaus and his sidekick, Knecht Ruprecht, comes to their home and fills their shoes with fruits, candy, goodies and little gifts. However, if the children have been bad, St. Nikolaus leaves behind switches in their shoes so that their parents can beat them for being naughty. In some cases of the really bad children, Knecht Ruprecht takes the children away in his big sack as punishment. So hopefully you all have been good this year!
So here is how our St. Nikolaus Tag went this year:
Natalya's & Reg's boots right out by the front door waiting on the arrival of St. Nikolaus to come bring them treats.
After he arrived, he left lots of fun little goodies for the kids.
Finding their goodies for the first time and enjoying the morning celebrating the arrival of St. Nickolaus
If your family celebrates, what goodies did your children receive in their shoes this morning?
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Meet Clifton, Lisa, Owen, and Wyatt. The Joneses Blog follows the adventures of the Joneses family, two twentysomethings with two baby boys in Oklahoma City
Meet Clifton, Lisa, Owen, and Wyatt. The Joneses Blog follows the adventures of the Joneses family, two twentysomethings with two baby boys in Oklahoma City
I'm half Dutch so we celebrate Sinterklaas day. It was my daughter's first time since she is only ten months old. We pulled out her wooden shoes (Slippers) and stuffed them with baby leggings, chew toy and a book.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was little, we used to use our wooden clogs as well outside the door :)
DeleteI remember your post about it last year and finding the educational journey that you sent us on so interesting Rebecca, I hope that you had a great day, such a wonderful tradition to continue to pass on to your family.
ReplyDelete:) It's my fav holiday. I really enjoy it every year and hope my kids continue it when they are grown
DeleteSuch a really cool tradition!!
ReplyDelete