Here in Germany St. Nikolaus still goes door to door, accompanied by The Black Man (either a Moor or a chimney sweep, or both depending on who you ask), delivering gifts to good children and switches to naughty ones. He does carry a binder with specific notes on each child, although this is normally for the older kids. Brennan got to spend an evening with Paula and Katja while waiting for St. Nikolaus to come.
We had a three hour window for St. Nikolaus' arrival, and he finally arrived after two hours. He had four helpers with him and a horse-drawn cart with a boom box playing carols.
I had tried to prep Brennan for a man with a big hat, white beard and candy, but the reality was too much for the kids. Paula and Katja burst into tears when St. Nikolaus walked in and Brennan clung to me with huge eyes and kept saying "no".... until St. Nik started handing out candy at which point he warmed right up. It was definitely a little weird to see all of the helpers in black-face; we aren't in Kansas anymore Toto!
He handed out candy that Christiane had bought and then snuck into the basket, and then some rolls and peanuts as well.
Here are the kids enjoying their gifts.
The license plate on the horse-drawn cart:
1 comments:
Wow, that looks like alot of fun and scary all rolled into one.
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