a visit from st. nick

Thursday, 6 December 2012

St. Nicholas paid us a visit last night!

Each year I share Christine Natale’s stories of St. Nicholas in the days leading up to the festival. This year, The Boy remembered quite well each story, and the lesson in each. The yearly rhythm of festivals resonates deeply within him–a fact that brings me great joy, and reminds me why I do this year after year.

And even though St. Nicholas brings many of the same things each year: a tangerine, a golden nut, chocolate coins, and a crystal, he also has a few tricks up his sleeve.

This year he also brought each child a Lego minifigure and a new paintbrush. For my budding artist, he brought a set of Lyra chalks.  For my fantastic reader (new to chapter books), he brought a copy of My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett (a favorite of ours).

And apparently St. Nicholas did really well in putting not only a few crystals in each shoe, but also a piece of amber, which was a big hit.

I find that around the holidays, when things can tend to get hectic, that the children and I can relax into the familiarity of the festival and really savor and appreciate these special moments. In the midst of the commercialism of the holidays, it’s nice to impart a little bit of humility and tradition into our celebrating.

(You can see 2010 here, and 2011 here.)

 

The entry 'a visit from st. nick' was posted on December 6th, 2012 at 4:48 pm and last modified on December 6th, 2012 at 4:48 pm, and is filed under Kid Fun, Seasonal Rhythms. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “a visit from st. nick”

  1. Tammy writes:
    No. 1 — December 27th, 2012 at 7:44 pm

    Hi there…I was just at my own blog, looking for some favorite recipes, when I stumbled across one of your sweet comments and wandered over here. We celebrated Sinterklaas also, since we are now living in Amsterdam. So much fun to see the thrilled expressions on my youngest! (I think my oldest has figured things out, but is playing along…) Big hugs for your lovely little ones, and kudos to you for keeping up with your traditions!

  2. Christine Natale writes:
    No. 2 — December 28th, 2012 at 2:03 am

    Dearest Rose,

    It warms my heart so much to find someone who has shared my stories happily with their children. Thank you for sharing these wonderful photos! I would love to share many more stories with you, including a brand new one about St. Lucy, one for Epiphany and one about King Winter, Mother Holle and the Snow Maiden. I could post links to the PDF downloads here or you could message me at Facebook (just search Christine Natale) or you can e-mail me at Golden3000997 (at) cs.com – just put “From Rose” in the subject. On Facebook, I am writing each day a 12 Holy Nights and Days outline of activities and ideas geared toward children. You are welcome to check out the past couple of days.

    Wishing you even more bright blessings for the Holy Season and a wonder-filled 2013!

    Love,
    Christine

  3. Christine Natale writes:
    No. 3 — December 28th, 2012 at 2:05 am

    Here are the links to the intro and the outline. I am writing the meditations each morning on Facebook!

    Safe, free and easy Dropbox download as PDF

    12 Happy Days – 12 Holy Nights

    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10811968/12%20Happy%20Days%20-%2012%20Holy%20Nights.pdf

    Children’s 12 Holy Nights and Days Outline

    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10811968/Children's%20Holy%20Nights%20and%20Days%20Outline.pdf

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