On the 6th day of Christmas…

Fröhlicher Nikolaustag!

Haha! For all of you who don’t speak German that means ‘Happy St. Nicholas Day!’ ^.^ In case you don’t know, today is a holiday. I haven’t seen it celebrated much in America, but it’s celebrated in Germany and a few other European countries.

What is this holiday, you ask?

It’s a holiday to celebrate Saint Nicholas, of course. :p Oh! You meant how do they celebrate? Haha! Well, in Germany, at least, children put their shoes outside their bedroom door on the eve of December 5th, just before they go to bed. If they were good during the year, St. Nicholas will come around and place candy and perhaps some other goodies in their shoes. It’s like a present for being good.

However…

if the children were bad during the year then St. Nicholas’ doesn’t give the children any presents. Rather, St. Nick’s companion, Krampus, pays the children a visit. Unlike St. Nick, Krampus is a demon. His gift to children is a quick beating with a staff or, if they’ve been really bad, he will kidnap the children and take them off to his lair.

Now, isn’t that just a charming story? Hee hee! Just like those dark tales of the Brothers’ Grimm, this tale has a dark side, but I love it! I would love to make a tradition in my household of story-telling, leaving shoes outside bedroom doors, and fearing that Krampus might steal us away. Having as much German heritage as I have (somewhere in me :p), I see it as embracing a part of my culture.

P.s. I got home from work last night to find this sitting on my bed. It looks like someone filled my slippers with Milka and Kinder chocolate, some peppermint bark tea, and the third book in A Song of Ice and Fire. I love my brother and sister-in-law. ^.^

Movies To Watch 1) The Santa Claus 2) Unaccompanied Minor 3) How the Grinch Stole Christmas 4) Scrooged 5) Love Actually 6) Home Alone 7) Home Alone 2 8) Nothing Like the Holidays 9) The Holiday 10) Rise of The Guardians 11) Rudolph, The Red-nosed Reindeer 12) Frosty, The Snowman

Activities To Do 1) Decorate the Tree 2) Make Cookies 3) Build a Gingerbread House 4) Visit Christkindlmarkt 5) Ice Skating 6) Hot Cocoa by the Fireplace 7) Build a Snowman 8) Snowball Fight 9) Complete Holiday Puzzle 10) Read ‘A Christmas Carol’ 11) Christmas Party 12) Participate in Secret Santa

Have you heard of St. Nikolaus Day or Krampus? Do you celebrate this holiday? Perhaps you celebrate in a different way. Tell me about it in the comments!