It's only taken me 25 days to get my s*#t together and write a post about how our Nikolaus morning went...I found inspiration a week ago or so, as I was reading another blogger's post about their preparations for the day. And I even took a few videos on Nikolaus morning, in part for Geoff. He was at work when Kaya awoke to find her boots filled with goodies--I wanted him to be able to see how excited she'd been!
As you may recall, or know from experience, Nikolaus 'comes' on the evening of Dec. 5th and fills the children's boots with nuts, oranges and chocolate...at least for those children who have been 'good'. Krampus (or Ruprecht) takes the bad ones, or hits 'em with a switch. Fortunately, Kaya is still cute enough to avoid that nastiness...
So, in addition to filling her boots with a couple pieces of chocolate, mandarins and a fruit leather, Geoff and I 'indulged ourselves' in leaving a gift next to her boots, as well. I found this awesome dollhouse on Craigslist, completely furnished, to replace the smaller, unfurnished one she had before. I thought it would be fun for Nikolaus to furnish her bathroom, along with bringing her some chocolate--she'd been asking for a toilet for her dollhouse, and I was eager to replace Geoff's cardboard creation, as ingenious as it was.
Here's the second video I took, which shows how happy she was with the chocolate, as well as how clear it is to her who brought her these yummy gifts. You'll here me asking her to tell me who (Wer?) brought her this chocolate, and you'll hear her responding as if she doesn't know (wer?!). As I run through a long list of various people who may have brought her the goodies, it's clear to her that it was none of these people...until she hears Nikolaus' name. At the end, by the way, she gets up and says that she's going to put the trash in the garbage (that's our Kaya, for ya!) [Ich werde das in den Muell bringen.]
She was so enamored with the chocolate that it wasn't until I asked her what else he'd brought her that she noticed the gifts next to the boots. She dove in to unwrap them, savoring each piece of furniture for what it was and what it could do for her little dollies. She opened each one so carefully, and was so attentive. It was so sweet, so innocent...and honestly, much different than the experience at the end of December once she'd had a few days of opening one gift a day...
In addition to sharing about Nikolaus, I've been wanting to sum up our holiday season, specifically as a reminder for myself for next year as I'm perched on the edge of the season, trying to remember what worked and what didn't. I clearly remember thinking that this 'one gift a day' idea didn't turn out exactly as I'd hoped...
It's late, though, and we're on the eve of our New Year's cabin trip!
...So, until that post makes it into the cyber-waves, it looks like you'll just have to sit on the edge of your seat and wait...
2012, here we come!
Happy New Year!
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