St. Nikolaus

We joined our friends Paula and Katja for a visit from St. Nikolaus. Here he is coming up the walk.



Here are two of his 5 black men. This one carried the basket of goodies and also played the role of "bad cop". You could tell the guys were really getting into character.





I think the kids were duly intimidated.







St. Nikolaus asked each child if they had been good this year, and asked them to recite a poem for him. None of them were up to that, but shyly repeated a German greeting to him. We did this two years ago with our friends, and at that time the kids were young enough that everyone was kind and reassuring. This year Christiane told St. Nikolaus that her girls didn't always get along and sometimes fought and hit. St. Nikolaus had just put some candy and treats on the table for the kids and the Schwarzer Man said they should probably take it all back and started to pack it up again. St. Nikolaus told him to let it stay. Whew, close call! He told Christiane that if the girls ever misbehaved all she had to do was knock 3 times on the living room stove and the black men would come. I think the black man is traditionally a Spanish Moor who takes bad children. The kids were all wide-eyed, but once the men had gone were happy to dig into their treats.



Here we are back at the house, unwinding with a rousing game of chutes and ladders.







Strategizing.