tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post7786733205114410624..comments2024-03-26T04:27:54.485-06:00Comments on Du Wax Loolu: Santa babyJesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15942269316108576622noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-63387845315812847212010-10-31T20:32:48.152-06:002010-10-31T20:32:48.152-06:00I was catching up on blog reading and found this p...I was catching up on blog reading and found this post. I had Santa and St. Nick growing up. I grew up outside of Milwaukee, a heavily German area, which I think is why lots of families there do St. Nick.<br /><br />We left shoes for St. Nick (as do my children) and always received a Christmas ornament and maybe some candy or other small item. My kids get a Christmas ornament and usually a couple of Christmas books from St. Nick. Then Santa comes on Christmas Eve. <br /><br />My oldest is nearly six and she may very well be one of the only children in her class that knows about St. Nick or expects his arrival. I think, for now, we'll deal w/ the St. Nick question by saying that some families just don't leave their shoes out for him... By the time it really bothers her there will probably be other things about the Santa story that bother her as well and we may be outed!Kelseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-77826201445164146532010-10-26T14:13:51.204-06:002010-10-26T14:13:51.204-06:00I love hearing about what Christmas will be like w...I love hearing about what Christmas will be like with your little family! I love hearing that people still do St. Nicholas too. I believed in Santa until I was 10...yeah, I was a lame kid. I still remember my dad telling me, though, about St. Nicholas and how he was a real life Santa. I hope to share that with Charlotte & Evelyn some day.Erinhttp://stateiamin.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-47234233007557348082010-10-25T14:28:14.582-06:002010-10-25T14:28:14.582-06:00I'm still a bit confused about how we'll d...I'm still a bit confused about how we'll do it in our household, but I'm working through it. One thing, though: Nikolaus is not Santa Claus. Nikolaus was a bishop who gave gifts to poor people. So there's no conflict to me, as I will explain to our Bean that this day is honoring St. Nikolaus' memory. Nikolaus is a lovely tradition I wouldn't want to part with.The Lasshttp://nomagicpill.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-12604768664365797062010-10-23T07:29:40.811-06:002010-10-23T07:29:40.811-06:00You will definitely come up with your own traditio...You will definitely come up with your own traditions. We split our time between grandparents. Christmas eve with my husband's family, Christmas day with mine. My husband traditionally opened all gifts on Christmas eve and I did mine Christmas morning so this works well. My kids open their gifts from his side of the family then, as well as one from us, plus a pair of PJ's. The next morning they get to open Santa gifts, the rest from us, and the ones from my parents. Great meshed tradition!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-8380465361132404782010-10-22T19:43:17.624-06:002010-10-22T19:43:17.624-06:00I haven't taken the time to read any other com...I haven't taken the time to read any other comments, so forgive me if this is repeating in any way.<br /><br />I have a friend who lived in Germany for 10 years as a child. They were a military family (from the US) and were stationed there during this time. They picked up many traditions during this time, including St. Nick day (so to speak).<br /><br />Their solution? When they came back to the states her youngest brother needed an explanation for Santa that would mesh in with what he was being told in school (Dec 6 is too early for Santa). They came up with the idea of an elf on St Nick day. The elf comes to bring presents like Santa did in Germany. Santa couldn't come because he was in Germany. The elf was also checking up on the kids - if they were nice he would report it to Santa for Christmas gifts. <br /><br />As far as the rest of it - you will get it. You will do what works and create something completely new to both of you. <br /><br />-KimAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-24272081317802921562010-10-21T23:08:08.173-06:002010-10-21T23:08:08.173-06:00I am from a (very) American family, so I am not en...I am from a (very) American family, so I am not entirely sure how all of these traditions came to reside in my family home, but what my family does is celebrate Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day. Christmas Eve, we have the same meal every year and then we go to an evening church service (I grew up Presbyterian), and then we came home and spent the night laughing and telling stories and opening the "family" gifts. Then we went to bed...and when we woke up, there were stockings and gifts from Santa!<br /><br />So we still had a Christmas morning gift giving experience. And although not many of my friends did it that way, I always thought it was fun to have traditions that are different!Tesshttp://twitter.com/toughtessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-65742330328669654042010-10-21T19:45:48.749-06:002010-10-21T19:45:48.749-06:00It's always fascinating when people of differe...It's always fascinating when people of different religions or cultures or both combine into one big family. Growing up, we always opened one gift on every night of Chanukah, but often opened gifts on Christmas, too, since we'd always celebrate with friends.<br /><br />Now? I celebrate the holiday season. Between my birthday in early December and Chanukah at some point during December and Sweets' birthday in early January, we get gifts mailed to us throughout the month. We also celebrate Christmas day with his family, which also involves lots of gifts. It's kind of out of control ... but, I chalk it up to plenty of excuses to spend time with loved ones, which always trump who opens what gift when.Nilsa @ SoMi Speakshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08474642034399063234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-23888969308676047482010-10-21T08:53:13.252-06:002010-10-21T08:53:13.252-06:00My mother is from Italy and we always spent the ho...My mother is from Italy and we always spent the holiday with her side of the family in the states...<br /><br />We didn't really ever believe in Santa Claus. Because we were usually at my aunt's house, we opened all of our gifts from that side of the family on Christmas Eve (we would spend the night)...then during Christmas day we would open our other gifts.<br /><br />I think in your case you can easily do a gift exchange on Christmas Eve - maybe some or all of the items under the tree that you know are from parents and leave the stocking until the next day (from Santa). Weirdly, even though we didn't do Santa, we were BIG on the Easter Bunny. Good luck!Christinehttp://swimming-with-sharks.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-25164476199338768292010-10-21T03:03:46.592-06:002010-10-21T03:03:46.592-06:00Both me and my Danish hubby come from the 24th tra...Both me and my Danish hubby come from the 24th tradition so that wasn't a problem for us. However, the Santa issue- see here in Iceland we have 13 yes thats not a typo, THIRTEEN santas and they start arriving 13 days before Christmas and you put your shoe in the window and if you've been good you get some small toy/book/candy in it- if you've been naughty you get a potato (and if you don't get new clothes for xmas you will get eaten by the Yule cat- we have such lovely traditions don't you think?). Anyway- my point was that Denmark has a similar santa to Germany and we have simply explained to our 4 year old that the Icelandic santas' are separate from the Danish santa... doesn't seem to bother him any :)Emblitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17536633790763026037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-83569221414272026312010-10-20T22:58:04.467-06:002010-10-20T22:58:04.467-06:00My Christmas tradition comes from my mother's ...My Christmas tradition comes from my mother's family and it is to open all of the presents under the tree (from family) on Christmas Eve and when we woke up Santa would have left us presents in our stocking and under the tree. Usually the bigger items would be from Santa and they would be left unwrapped. It was so much fun- Christmas twice! Gifts on Christmas Eve and more on Christmas morning! My husband isn't too attached to his tradition (all presents opened on Christmas morning), so we plan to continue my family tradition with our kids. I can't wait until Oliver is old enough to enjoy getting gifts!!banananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-55926499838613880482010-10-20T21:31:02.393-06:002010-10-20T21:31:02.393-06:00Growing up, if we were visiting my grandparents, w...Growing up, if we were visiting my grandparents, we always opened gifts with them on Christmas Eve, and then Santa gifts and everything else in the morning. If we weren't visiting them, everything was on Christmas morning. After I discovered the truth about Santa at age 8 (I'm an only child), we actually just started doing all gifts on Christmas Eve (many were still from Santa LOL) with a finger food and dessert buffet and just had the formal meal on Christmas Day (as I got older, we added going to see a movie to this). When my husband and I married, he was used to Christmas morning gift-opening, so we did presents/buffet with my parents on Christmas Eve and exchanged gifts with each other on Christmas morning, which was nice. Then, we went back to my parents' house later in the day for formal meal/movie. Now that we have a toddler, it's exactly the same (minus the movie), but the problem I have is that "Nana" wants to be better than Santa LOL. I don't know what I'm going to do, but unless my mother starts giving me 70 percent of the stuff she buys for my daughter to be "from Santa" and add to our Santa gifts at our house Christmas morning, my daughter is going to think Nana is way more awesome than Santa!! The whole season it drives me crazy, because my mom goes nuts shopping and tells me what she buys and I'm like, "Santa was going to get that for her!" or "Santa isn't sure she needs that!" or "Santa can't top that gift!" I know my mother can't help herself--this is the only grandchild she's ever going to have and all--but I want my girl to have that magical Christmas feeling of seeing the gifts from Santa on Christmas morning, and in another year or so, she's going to realize that she's getting more of a haul from Nana the night before LOL. I guess it's a blessing to have such a "tough" problem, so I shouldn't complain, but it frustrates me a little. And when I try to reason with my mom, she's all, "This is my only grandchild, don't take this away from me!" Oh, the guilt...Glam-O-Mommyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17270241700019080204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-33778593016125412822010-10-20T18:51:20.186-06:002010-10-20T18:51:20.186-06:00I like Swistle's idea of "St. Nicholas c...I like Swistle's idea of "St. Nicholas could visit in the German way and on the German day, and then Santa in the United States way and on the United States way".<br /><br />Our tradition was to have a very nice, formal meal on Christmas Eve, go to church then come home and open presents from our siblings (I'm the youngest of 3). That way we could open SOMETHING on CE. (Although, with one kid that'd be hard. However - M is 4 this year and she's just now starting to realize that this Christmas thing goes on for a couple of days so you could get away with other gift exchanges on CE.)<br /><br />Anyway - on Christmas Day we'd wake up and my parents would force us to wait at the top of the stairs while they got things ready (i.e. made coffee, made sure the camera was ready, turned on music). Then we tore downstairs and divided up the gifts. We usually got stockings and 1-2 big gifts from Santa and 2-3 gifts from my parents. We all took turns opening gifts so the morning went on for at least an hour. After that we always had a big breakfast of sausage and egg casserole, citrus salad and sweet rolls.<br /><br />The weekends before and after Christmas were spent at each of the grandparents houses. We NEVER traveled on CE or CD. Those days were just for us.kakatyhttp://www.kakakakaty.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-10818630658259449842010-10-20T17:39:50.623-06:002010-10-20T17:39:50.623-06:00Growing up, our family tradition was to open one g...Growing up, our family tradition was to open one gift on Christmas Eve (it was always pyjamas.) The rest were opened on Christmas morning.Hillaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10602816507915795709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-53556874815861335932010-10-20T15:03:11.532-06:002010-10-20T15:03:11.532-06:00In my family, Santa came Christmas night and fille...In my family, Santa came Christmas night and filled our stockings. We left sherry, mince pies and a carrot out for him. My Dad would make a little bit of mess around the chimney and consume the foods before filling our stockings when we were asleep. I can't remember when I figured out that it was my Dad doing it but I know it didn't ruin the magic one bit. <br /><br />When I was little, we all jumped on my parents' bed early Christmas morning to open our stockings together, then we went to church, then we opened our family presents from under the tree. We were allowed a look at the tree and presents before church but no more. At some point we stopped going to church Christmas morning and started going to midnight mass instead so the rule became stockings before breakfast, family presents afterward.<br /><br />The one other Christmas thing I did a few years running was read A Christmas Carol to my little brother in the days leading up to Christmas, with the final chapter Christmas morning. That worked really well and my parents appreciated me delaying him getting up until they were awake!Nose in a bookhttp://www.noseinabook.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-44250912087829512672010-10-20T13:35:45.652-06:002010-10-20T13:35:45.652-06:00Our traditions changed somewhat through the years,...Our traditions changed somewhat through the years, as my grandparents aged and we kids no longer "believed" in Santa. But for a lot of years, we were allowed to pick one gift to open on Christmas Eve, then opened the rest on Christmas morning. It's a nice compromise, I think. It's awfully hard for kids to wait for the gifts once it starts feeling like Christmas.<br /><br />And that time the interestingly-shaped gift I chose to open on Christmas Eve turned out to hold only my grandmother's yearly gift of new underwear? Well, I lived through it. (To her credit, she tried to warn me. She was just trying to make the prosaic gift a little more fun. And I got LOTS of gifts from Nanny each year. Not just underwear!)lizgwizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10907508137794025189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-23678392492132225392010-10-20T13:33:05.616-06:002010-10-20T13:33:05.616-06:00Oh, and ALSO, it's possible you'll find as...Oh, and ALSO, it's possible you'll find as Paul and I did that we couldn't maintain a Santa thing at all. We were PLANNING to, but as soon as we started explaining it as truth to Rob's credulous eyes, we faltered and stopped and told it as a pretend story instead.Swistlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13126937282657655091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-73044314249812188132010-10-20T13:29:46.075-06:002010-10-20T13:29:46.075-06:00Perhaps St. Nicholas could visit in the German way...Perhaps St. Nicholas could visit in the German way and on the German day, and then Santa in the United States way and on the United States way.<br /><br />My family opens gifts Christmas Eve night. But---we didn't have a Santa tradition (my dad was a minister). When I was growing up, my household opened gifts after the Christmas Eve service; now my household goes on a Christmas-light-viewing drive instead. If we were doing a Santa tradition, Santa could come during that time, as one of the first stops on his Christmas Eve Night journey.<br /><br />Or, kids could open gifts from you on Christmas Eve night, and from Santa on Christmas morning. Or you could alternate years: one his traditions and the next your own---until maybe it gets boiled down to the parts you both like best.Swistlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13126937282657655091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-35671801401963086852010-10-20T13:28:13.618-06:002010-10-20T13:28:13.618-06:00St. Nicholas would come to our house on Dec. 6 and...St. Nicholas would come to our house on Dec. 6 and fill our stockings. On Christmas Eve we would go to church at night and my uncle would come and put out the presents from Santa while we were gone. When we got back from church we ate dinner and then opened presents. I can't remember why this worked when we actually believed in Santa though! Why would he always come to our house first?<br /><br />It was actually nice to have everything out of the way Christmas Eve and then spend Christmas day visiting other relatives homes and seeing what they got AFTER we got to sleep in :)Erinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07452586072387731909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-89205765232990707152010-10-20T12:53:34.339-06:002010-10-20T12:53:34.339-06:00My family's tradition is to open up presents t...My family's tradition is to open up presents to each other (I have 3 siblings) on Christmas Eve night, and then Santa presents on Christmas morning. <br /><br />As far as the German Santa coming on St. Nicholas Day, I feel that since Piglet will be growing up in the United States, he/she should grow up with the American Santa tradition. I think Piglet would sound like a weirdo in class if he/she were like "Santa came to my house last night" before it was Christmas, so I would just skip this tradition all together (sorry Torsten)meeshellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09795217485285536606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-45815350593903981892010-10-20T11:48:59.131-06:002010-10-20T11:48:59.131-06:00What if Santa stops on Dec 6 because Daddy's G...What if Santa stops on Dec 6 because Daddy's German, and Santa doesn't want Dad to be sad and feel forgotten, just because he moved to another country? There could be a tradition of Santa leaving favorite cookies, small but practical presents (new toothbrushes, new mittens, a brand new snow hat) ... sort of like an easter basket, but with winter stuff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-63897656075549779372010-10-20T11:48:30.175-06:002010-10-20T11:48:30.175-06:00We were a new PJ's on Christmas Eve family (st...We were a new PJ's on Christmas Eve family (still are- my mom sent some over for my brother-in-law last year!).<br /><br />We do Christmas morning at my Mom and Dad's and then go up to Tennessee to visit family the day after Christmas. The little kids definitely enjoy the two days of presents arrangement. <br /><br />And of course, we never skip out on the Christmas crackers at Christmas dinner- my Dad's British heritage (and years of great pictures in paper crowns) would never allow it.Eleanorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14812548339143323469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-17517353073557432562010-10-20T11:47:38.289-06:002010-10-20T11:47:38.289-06:00Being half German and half American, I can give yo...Being half German and half American, I can give you some insight into what my family did.<br /><br />We always celebrated St. Nikolaustag on Dec. 6, but we only received candies or fruit, nothing else. Growing up, it never really was too weird that we got little gifts on Dec. 6, because we probably never said anything to our American friends because they wouldn't understand. And if we did, our American friends were jealous that they didn't get visited - I blamed it on them forgetting to leave a boot out. <br /><br />When we lived in Germany, we'd all go to church on Christmas Eve, and the Christkindl (more like the Christ Child than Santa) would bring our presents while we were gone. He'd always leave right as we got home, and we'd know he'd been there because a little bell would ring. Then we'd all open presents.<br /><br />When we moved to America, we kept up the same traditions, but we'd open our presents on Christmas Day, unless Oma and Opa had come over. Every once and a while we'd open up one present on Christmas Eve.<br /><br />Presents in stockings or that weren't wrapped, came from Santa or the Christkindl. Wrapped presents under the tree were from our family. <br /><br />I think you should be able to mix all traditions together and highlight the best of both cultures. And if you refer to one as St. Nikolaus and the other as Santa, it should help with the confusion.<br /><br />Good luck with your decision!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-42372733105258341852010-10-20T11:12:50.602-06:002010-10-20T11:12:50.602-06:00I was raised Catholic, my husband was raised Jewis...I was raised Catholic, my husband was raised Jewish, and neither of us is religious. But we are both very fond of traditions. So for us, the season is about love, warmth, light, and celebration. We exchange a few gifts over Channukah, and light the menorah. Then Santa comes Christmas Eve. My husband is a chef and makes amazing from-scratch cinnamon rolls. one of our favorite traditions has become to make them and pass them out to friends on Christmas Eve, so they can enjoy them Christmas morning. For us, Christmas morning means sleeping in, then spoiling each other with gifts over mimosas, those amazing cinnamon rolls, coffee, and maybe some quiche. (We've celebrated Xmas morning both with and without family, but so far our favorite way is just the two of us - which we are so looking forward to again this year!)Caitlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00658250030243049736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-51171998241895980362010-10-20T10:47:10.432-06:002010-10-20T10:47:10.432-06:00So, I grew up with Austrian parents in Washington ...So, I grew up with Austrian parents in Washington DC and we basically did everything different than our American friends did. St. Nicolas (who was not the same as Santa to us) came on Dec. 5th at night and brought us nuts, fruit and chocolates. Usually it was special chocolate all the way from Austria. On Christmas Eve, the Christkind came (someone already linked to info on that) and brought our presents and we opened all our gifts that night after church. Christmas morning was just a morning to lounge around in our PJs and play with our new toys. We always kind of pitied our American friends, because they had to wait longer to open their gifts, haha. <br /><br />As kids, we had American friends who obviously believed in Santa and we had German friends (from our German school) who were visited by the "Weihnachtsmann" on Christmas Eve instead of the Christkind. And you know what? We were never confused, we never doubted. This is just how it was. And it also didn't confuse our American friends that we didn't get our presents from Santa, that he basically skipped our house. They just accepted that things were different at our house. We also never thought it was weird that there was a Santa sitting at the mall and that other kids were taking pictures with him. He was "their" Santa and not ours.<br /><br />All this to say: Whatever you decide to do, those will be your traditions and that will be the "true" way to do it for your son. As far as your son knows, things have always been done that way and it is totally normal :-)Catharinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05389111875826738317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2119996845182958780.post-63681793590532648152010-10-20T10:35:52.757-06:002010-10-20T10:35:52.757-06:00My wasband who was American and me,the German, had...My wasband who was American and me,the German, had a good deal.<br /><br />We would open most gifts on Christmas Eve per my tradition and then the "biggest gift" on the morning after, the American Christmas.<br /><br />But have we had kids I would have pushed through the German tradition all the way. :) I loved meeting Weihnachtsman in our living room, doing a poem for him, or playing the piano and then he'd have these lists of all the good and bad things I did throughout th year and then he'd give us our gifts. I loved the anticipation, dressing up in the afternoon, waiting with my grandmother in my bedroom for the bell to ring.<br />Here it's so different. Everyone is in pyjamas and then you wake up and WHAM, the day is over. All the excitement gone within a few minutes. Fond childhood memories for me. :)Mehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10436989792381600168noreply@blogger.com