St. Nicholas Day

[counterGOPI]

Figured I should start preparing a head of time this year
What does everyone do? What stories do you tell, do you have sources/copies of them to post?
All that we have done is the leave out a shoe with hay and carrots in it and get a tangerine and a small goddy in return. I want to expand more this year. tia!

[catballou24]

and again...:

[kennedy444]

Hi Nicole:
I haven't celebrated this with my kids but my sis does with her boys - including one named Nicholas. I will ask her for ideas!

[MichaelsSahm]

I am dutch and in holland we celebrated St Nicholas on Dec 5th. Since I have moved to the US we have not celebrated this. But this yr I am doing something for DS!

Traditionally Saint Nicholas brings his gifts at night, and Belgian and many Dutch children still find their presents on the morning of December 6th. Later in The Netherlands adults started to give each other presents on the evening of the 5th; then older children were included and today in that country sometimes even the youngest on the evening of December 5 (Saint Nicholas' eve), known as Sinterklaasavond or Pakjesavond (present evening). After the singing of traditional Sinterklaas songs, there will be a loud knock on the door, and a sack full of presents is found on the doorstep. Alternatively - some improvisation is often called for - the parents 'hear a sound coming from the attic' and then the bag with presents is "found" there. Some parents manage to "convince" Sinterklaas to come to their home personally.

Presents are often accompanied by a simple poem, saying something about the child or with a hint to the nature of the present.

When the presents are too bulky in size or when the quantity of presents is too large, they have to be sneaked into the house while the kids are distracted.

Another aspect of "Pakjesavond" is writing small poems for gifts to adults. When children grow too old to believe in Sinterklaas, they are introduced to a different form of entertainment on Pakjesavond night, December 5th. People will write small personal poems for friends and family usually accompanied by a small gift or candy. This way it is also entertaining for parents and other adults. Students usually write teasing and embarrassing stories for each other. But this is expected and are received in good spirit.

[EineMama]

The children have to polish their boots and put them in front of the door. They will draw a picture for St. Nikolaus (German) and leave it in one of the boots. IF they were good all year long they will find some nuts, tangerines or oranges, apples, Lebkuchen (traditional German cookies), a chocolate Santa and a small gift (typically a book). I they were bad, they get a bundle of sticks for their parents to whip them with... (never happened to me and will never happen to my kids of course, just mentioning a tradition here.)

[mamamelia]

so does the child get thier present on dec 6 and not dec 25th?

i'd love to do something like this but i am just slightly confused...

please elaborate.

[mamamelia]

oh, and any good books about st nick himself that are for 2-3 years old?

[MichaelsSahm]

In Holland we had ST Nicholas and Christmas.

[MichaelsSahm]

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=316

http://stnicholas.kids.us/Brix?pageID=445

[KatelynsMomma]

Originally Posted by mamamelia

so does the child get thier present on dec 6 and not dec 25th?

i'd love to do something like this but i am just slightly confused...

please elaborate.

yes, a small gift will be given on Dec. 6th. We are putting out some wooden shoes that my mom got on a trip to the netherlands (that we will polish up the day before). we will fill the shoes with carrots and apples. small gifts are left in their place. my kids are getting each a winter board book and a pair of wool mittens and some honey sticks for DD#1. I would love to leave a poem/story as well! any suggestions for ideas would be great! :

[catballou24]

oh this is very cool!! i need to finish my knitting! i think i'll leave the girls leg warmers, a couple pieces of chocolate and a poem.. what a wonderful tradition!

[catballou24]

This seems to be a good selection of stories to tell from December 1 to the 6th:

http://stnicholas.kids.us/Brix?pageID=437

it seems like it's adaptable to your own preferences in regards to religion, etc.. HTH!

[calynde]

Here, St. Nick comes to visit the child on the 6th of December. He has a book with him which includes some details about the child, particularly things the child has done well and also the naughty things or things that need to be worked on a bit...with the goal of improving them before his next visit.

The child/children then recite a few verses (Christmas/winter) and maybe sing him a song. He asks what they would like most for Christmas on the 25th.

Then he gives them a little sack filled with peanuts, clementines, and a few chocolates.

We usually hire the st. Nick suit and share it with another family. My dh is st. nick for their kids and the other dad is st. nick for ours.

[counterGOPI]

yay thank you everyone!! keep the ideas coming!!
we celebrate it on the 6th her shoe filled with the tangerine ect arrive then. she puts it out a few days before BUT we celebrate it at our friend's toy shop instead of at our home Iwas thinking if i did it at home,too it would be too confusing or something..waht do you think?

[mamamelia]

Originally Posted by calynde

Here, St. Nick comes to visit the child on the 6th of December. He has a book with him which includes some details about the child, particularly things the child has done well and also the naughty things or things that need to be worked on a bit...with the goal of improving them before his next visit.

The child/children then recite a few verses (Christmas/winter) and maybe sing him a song. He asks what they would like most for Christmas on the 25th.

Then he gives them a little sack filled with peanuts, clementines, and a few chocolates.

We usually hire the st. Nick suit and share it with another family. My dh is st. nick for their kids and the other dad is st. nick for ours.

oh wow, it sounds so lovely!! i would LOVE to do this but i'm not sure who we can get to do st nick since we don't know anyone else who would celebrate this. i have a beautiful christmas tin packed away with christmas chocolates (that i bought and put together today) that i was saving for dec 25th but if we can celebrate st nick day on 6th and give them the small tin instead, it would be a lot nicer. : they can have those chocolates and treats for the month of december that way instead of everything in one hit on dec 25.

do you think it would ruin it if thier daddy was st nick? or would it be better to do the shoe tradition?

we have dh's christmas picnic on the 6th too... so it's going to be a big christmas festivity day in general.

[calynde]

Yours are probably still young enough to not notice daddy if he dresses up. My dh did it until ds was 4. Otherwise, try to convince a friend to do it...even if they think you're nutty for asking. You can also keep the lights dim.

[mamamelia]

hehe great idea! honestly i think it is lovely... now to convince dh! and to get stories ready... we put some more non-light decorations up tonight (window ones this time)... dd is very excited!!

[elmh23]

We're not Waldorf, but we are Catholic and do St. Nicholas day rather than Santa Claus on Christmas. Here, St. Nicholas brings new holiday pajamas (usually matching ) and a small gift. Last year they each got a stuffed animal and a Catholic music CD (about Advent ) This year, a friend of mine and I are going to be making a bunch of playsilks (she is Waldorf) and I'm going to see if she or my MIL will make them some knitted animals.

[counterGOPI]

oh and everyone's opinion please..would it be silly to have my 6 month old partake in this by putting her shoe out too?

[catballou24]

not silly at all because even though she doesn't understand it, k does and that makes it even more magical for both girls.