Before Christmas even began, we had Saint Nikolaus' Day on 5th/6th December. Max had already met Nikolaus (aka the vicar from the church where his playgroup took place) and was already much in awe. Last year he got to hold Nikolaus' staff and talked about it for months afterwards. Anyway, we discovered that, in Germany, churches and youth groups actually organise for 'Saint Nikolaus' (with or without the nasty Knecht Ruprecht/Krampus i.e. Farmhand or Servant Rupert, Saint Nikolaus' assistant who allegedly gives naughty children rubbish gifts like coal and is generally very scary) can actually visit you and your child/ren at home! How exciting is that! Max was quite overwhelmed by the whole experience and at one point, when Nikolaus was reading, all-knowingly from his book about the good and bad things Max had done, I did almost think he was going to burst into tears but I think it was actually pure awe. Next year we'll definitely get him to learn a poem to recite. He loved his dinosaur present and, more than anything, was over the moon about the huge chocolate Nikolaus!
Then, only a couple of weeks after the excitement and present-showering of Max's birthday...
...came Christmas Eve! In Germany, this is usually when the present-giving takes place. The Christkind or Christ Child (we translated it as Christmas angel as it's rarely anything like a small Christ and is always a girl) brings the presents (often when the children are at church) and puts them under the tree which, originally, wasn't actually put up and decorated until that moment. In our house, the tree goes up a little earlier to get the most of it but, to preserve some magic, this year I sent Max and Marion upstairs with a DVD whilst I sprinkled glitter everywhere, put the main lights off and the Christmas lights on and piled some of Max's many presents under the tree. Max then used his Bob the Builder construction hat with torch to light his way down the stairs after the bell had rung telling him the Christmas Angel had been. It was very sweet and very peaceful. Max opened and played with a couple of presents and was very happy with his lot.
That evening, we hung out Max's beautifully hand-made, personalised Santa sack and put out a biscuit, cup of milk and, of course, a carrot for Rudolph. Max is too young to be overwhelmed by the excitement of anticipation yet but he was certainly intrigued by the whole process. Then, the next morning...Father Christmas had been!!! The reindeer left a lot of mess (straw from the chicken run) which Max was actually very bothered clearing up ('naughty reindeer') before tackling his presents, slowly and one and a time, playing for ages with each before moving on to the next. It really was lovely to see his excited little face.
Enjoying tickle time with Opa Norbert
Oh, and in between, the adults enjoyed some delicious meals (including a fantastic veal goulash pie, a very successful home-made Stollen and lovely presents too!!!
