Like every year, 6 December is St Nicholas Day. It's a day that children look forward to with great anticipation, and it heralds the start of the December festivities. We often put up the tree just in time for this event. The evening before, they'll leave a carrot and a glass of milk for the man with the stick and his donkey, and the next morning, if they've been good (and unfortunately they haven't), they'll discover sweets and/or presents instead!
The legend
As a school teacher by training, I've always felt very uncomfortable telling the legend of Saint Nicholas. It's pretty horrible, I have to admit. That's why nobody dwells too much on this part of folklore...
Three children went out to glean food. On their way home, they lost their way. After walking for a long time, they saw lights shining from a house. It was a butcher’s shop. The butcher welcomed them in and gave them food and a place to sleep for the night. Once they were sound asleep, he slit the children’s throats, cut them into little pieces and put them in a barrel of salt.
Several years passed. Saint Nicholas heard about the three little children. He went to see the evil butcher, and asked for a piece of salted meat to eat. Seeing the colour drain from the butcher’s face, the Saint blessed the barrel and opened it up. The children climbed out, fresh as daisies, saying how well they had slept.
Fortunately, children don't dwell on this, preferring instead to make little crafts to represent the Saint. At school, at the nanny's, at the crèche, there are lots of very simple crafts to do. The crosier (with its cane rounded at the end) can be used to work on the dexterity of little hands, so why not use it in modelling clay or salt dough? Oh, and even better, in cake! Yummy!
Saint Nicholas's mitre (his beautiful hat with the big cross) also lends itself very well to life-size colouring or decoupage.Team red or team purple? Argg the debate never ends... I have to admit that I'm more on the purple team, because Father Christmas is already red!
The colour of his outfit depends on the period and the region. St Nicholas is mainly celebrated in Belgium, Lorraine and Germany.
In Lorraine, Saint Nicholas visits children accompanied by his donkey, usually offering them gingerbread, chocolate, mandarins or cakes in exchange for a bowl of milk, a carrot or whatever else is on hand (.... ).
In Belgium and Germany, it's more likely to be shoes or slippers that are placed in front of the fireplace or door to receive treats and gifts.
What about gifts?
Personally, I like to give books and treats to my children. In our "Books" section, you'll find books for the very young, picture books in 3 languages, hard or soft books, for bath time, for falling asleep easily...
And let's not forget our collection of smartgames for all ages, because it's great fun to exercise your brain!
And for bigger and better gifts, workbenches, kitchens, carriers, wooden cars... we've got everything you need too.
On Sunday 3 December, we'll be open, as we are every Sunday in December, and the children will receive a little tasty surprise for Saint Nicolas. I hope to see many of you in the shop!
See you soon!
Aurélia P.
