A couple days ago we had ourselves a little fun with St Nicholas Day. We've talked for a while that it would be neat to start incorporating some part of this day into the blend of traditions we're starting to do with our little family. Why not, right? The night before, we told Avery that there's been a story told for years and years about a man named St Nicholas who was generous and kind and that it's who we get our story of Santa Claus from. We told her a little bit about the story and how children started to anticipate his coming by leaving shoes or stockings by their chimneys or doors for him to fill with sweets, presents and coins, and we left it at that and sent her to bed. Practical Avery decided that our fireplace wouldn't welcome him very well because it's all closed up in glass.
That night I sewed up a couple bags, with tags for each girl, and filled them each with a pair of cute new jammies, a Christmas orange, and a bag of chocolate coins and left them by the fireplace. In the morning as Avery sat down for breakfast she saw the bags and her face just lit up! She knew exactly what they were and who they were from - St Nicholas had come!
If Avery has any memory at all the magic should have been destroyed by the fact that the special bags from St Nicholas happened to match a top that mommy once wore ... and a table runner. We played a loud and happy Santa Claus playlist all day (including some vintage goodies that I hadn't even heard before), ate more chocolate than usual, and that's about it. But it was fun and we'll do it up even more next year!
We love the idea of enjoying St Nicholas Day for several reasons, actually.
a) We figured it was a great way to have fun with the story of Santa Claus, present him with a little more interesting history than usual, and encourage the joy of receiving surprise gifts. We haven't really stirred up any of the magic of Santa over Christmas Day itself to this point, and, in our house, we've preferred to keep Christmas Day more focused on the gift of Christ to the world, so this is a great way to enjoy the merriment of Santa early in the season and not have to shoo him away.
b) Celebrating St Nicholas Day and anticipating the arrival of Sinterklaas with his gifts and goodies was actually a part of the Dutch traditions that Levi's Mom grew up with. On the eve of St Nicholas day, they would set out a carrot and bowl of water for Sinterklaas' horse. They would anticipate the arrival of a package sent from their Opa in Holland filled with special treats and sweets, and their dad (Levi's Opa) would dress up as Sinterklaas to come bearing gifts - along with a sidekick to play the role of Zwarte Piet and bag up the naughtiest kid. They'd feast on chocolate letters and pepernoten, chocolate coins and marzipan. It's a fantastic tradition and how fun that we can hint at some family heritage by dipping into the fun of St Nicholas Day even just a little bit.
c) It's a great time to give the girls new holiday jammies since they can now wear them all through December. Perfect, right! The ones I found this time make me think of peppermint candy and dreaming of sugar plums.
Have to make a little side note here to announce that our baby is starting to walk!! She's getting more and more confident this week and can take quite a few steps all on her own. She even got up to walk all by herself tonight without anyone prompting her to do it. Haven't caught her on video yet, but we will.
Otherwise this week we've been doing a little more here and there to make our space merry. Our moms have both found odds and ends to donate, including this tiny tree with tiny ornaments that Nana thought Avery would enjoy. The little people have been part of a dozen mini pageants already, dancing around the base of the tree and left in a clutter for mama to redecorate after bedtime.
I made up a very last-minute advent countdown for Avery. Strung along a line in our living area are 25 paper bags with just a couple little things for her each day. It's been just enough for her to learn the idea of waiting and anticipating. Each bag has some foil-wrapped chocolate, a card that sometimes suggests something fun we might do (like baking cookies, seeing the ballet, painting our toes red, or watching a christmas movie), an ornament sticker that she adds to a paper Christmas tree each day, and a card that tells us what story we'll read from her Jesus Storybook Bible at bedtime (idea for that found
here).
And we also gifted Avery a Playmobil nativity set that she can play with to her heart's content without anyone fussing over how it should be arranged or the need to be careful with anything. It's all hers and it's pretty awesome. It's been the only focus of playtime ever since she discovered it set up on the bookshelf a few mornings ago. This girl plays Mary and Joseph in some form or another on a daily basis, so we knew this would be a big hit.
It all just gets more and more fun with these little kiddos to share Christmas with. I'm heaped full with ideas of what else we can do ... next year.
