Anyone with kids who still believe in Santa
 

I have a WONDERFUL tradition that I would love to share. It's St. Nick's Night, Dec. 6th. This celebration has been in my family since the begining of time and is so much fun for the kids, a tad bit scarey, but that just makes it all the more fun. It brings story telling and caroling back into the home. If anyone is interested, let me know and I will go into the greatest detail so your children plus a frind or two will have a night they will never forget. Just to let you know, long after my kids stopped believing in Santa, the still believed in St. Nick!

Love it! And it's on our anniversary!

Please please post details!:)

Please hook me up with the info yo!

Just to let you know, I'll write it out and keep it on file. As soon as I'm satisfied with the details, I'll send it out to anyone who has shown an interest. In the meantime- It's so exciting, that depending on the ages, you realy need to limit the guests to one or two. Carnation, with your brood, you may have enough kids to ignite the excitemet. The first time, my son was hiding under the table when IT occurred-he was laughing though. Call the mother of each guest and find out something very "special" that THAT particular child needs to work on, ie, put your shoes in the closet or don't fght with your sister,____. The more individualized the better.

This isnt exactly related but I heard on the news tonight that the New Zealanders equate Santas Saying "Ho Ho" as meaning "NO NO". LOL How weird is that. I remember those days when I believed in Santa as a kid. How grand.

JAM! We always used to celebrate St. Nicks.. I miss home!
It was a tradition for each of us to put a shoe outside our bedroom door, and in the morning we would awake to find it filled with candy (like the gold foil chocolate coins and peppermint sticks) fruit to keep us healthy throughout the year, and a little trinket or two!

DAMN IT! LET ME IN ON ALL OF THIS HOLIDAY STUFF!!!

pwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeaaaaaassssssssseeeeee!:(

JAM,
Sounds fun; please count me in! :)

I'm intrigued! Please share!

Me too!!! My family lived in Holland when I was ages 3-6, so we always looked forward to St. Nick and loads of candy. Now, St. Nick has wised up and sends me cards and packages in the mail with bath and body works or other fun stuff. He still hooks me up each year with a gift!

Last night one of the kids I babysit was telling me how Santa was not real, he didn't believe in him, you get the picture. I thought that was SO sad b/c he just turned 5! (he's the oldest so I don't know where he got his info from since his little friends said Santa brought them presents.)

Justamom,
Iwould love to hear about this. I have two younger sisters ages 6 and 8 and love to do stuff like this with them!!

Nichole

kids? I still believe in santa!

While I write the instructions, this is what you can be doing.

1. 2 brown paper bags. Turn one inside out and GLUE it to the inside of the other bag. This way there isn't a grocery store name visible.
2. One stick apx 8 inches long per child PLUS an extra one for the grownups. Sticks need to be kind of strong, kids get upset if their stick breaks. Plus, most will keep it like a party favor.
3. Beige, unlined paper. You may only need 2/3 of the page, but each stick gets paper for a note even the adults.
4. TWINE or STRING, but TWINE looks more authentic. (HIDE THIS)
5. Fruit 2 or 3 pieces/child-Sometimes you can find fruit that still has a leaf on it. REMOVE ALL STICKERS.
6.NUTS, lots and lots of nuts and penny candy. Once again on
the candy, try to find something they don't usually see or buy. Caramels were a good choice and of course peppermint and little Hershey's Christmas wrapped candy.

All of this must fit into the grocery bag.
If you are inviting friends, don't forget to call and find out what each child needs to work on. NOTHING SERIOUS OR PRIVATE!Have something light to eat, but in the spirit. Hot cocoa or apple cider, little sandwiches or if not diner food-cookies. This will gather the children together as you tell the story of St. Nick. I'm working on this so each can adapt it to their family.

I almost forgot- You must line up someone DEPENDABLE to be
St. Nick. I was St. Nick for my nieces when mine were too young to know what was going on. My sister's boyfriend was St. Nick a couple of times and we used neighbors and teenagers as well.
The teens were not as "rowdy" as the older people, but it still worked.
The important thing was to have EVERYONE at the gathering so one child could not say-"Oh, it was your Dad." or "It was your brother." All known people MUST be accounted for. When my nieces called to tell me St. Nick had visited, Hubby told them I was taking my bath.

I've sent to all who made a request. If I missed anyone, please let me know!

JAM,

Please PM me this stuff too; thank you!!!

me too...sounds fun and i'm curious. :)

why don't you just post it for everyone here?

There's no Santa? Say it isn't so!

OK-but it's LONG & wordy!
 

Don't forget the preparatins on prev.pg.
The instructions follow the story.

St. Nick
Here are the points of the story we told to make it real.

When your Great-Great-Grandpa and Grandma were little, they honored St. Nick in a very special way, in hopes he would pay them a visit! You may wonder who St. Nick is- well, KNOW ONE REALLY KNOWS.
Some think he is Santa Claus himself! Others think he's an elf. A lot of people think St. Nick is the SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS-NOBODY REALLY KNOWS. (Because my Grandpa came from Luxembourg and Grandma from Germany it was easy to bring this into the story. You can too by describing your heritage.)
If you were very, very good, St. Nick would bring you all sorts of things like nuts and candy. But if you were a naughty child, St. Nick would bring you COAL and STICKS!!!
When your Grandpa/Grandma was little he/she was a very good child. (Here you use some example of how the entire family had to work together-things our kids don't see like milk cows or hang laundry) This made St. Nick very happy, because he knew the
children were filled with love and kindness.
(Here is where you get creative-Every family has one...we had Uncle Mel)
Sometimes, children misbehave and fight with their family or don't do their chores. ST. NICK KNOWS!!! When your Uncle Mel was a little boy, he would take all the cookies and not share them with his sisters.(Use something they ALL can relate to) Sometimes he
would pretend not to hear when his mother or father asked for some help doing chores. So, on St Nick’s Night, Your Uncle Mel got quite a surprise! There wasn’t any CANDY,
There wasn’t any FRUIT! There was NOTHING for him but COAL!!! Well, Uncle Mel was very sad and right there and then he promised he would be a much better boy NEXT year. Do you want to know what happened? Well, Uncle Mel tried his hardest and only slipped up a FEW times, but he would make up for it by doing double chores or being extra nice to his sisters.(Now you get a little more quiet as you tell the next part-move in
closer) The next St. Nick Night, the children waited and waited but nothing happened. St Nick didn’t come. So the children started singing they sang Silent Night and
________.__________ (Whatever songs your kids know) They said “Merry Christmas to everyone in the house and then sang some more. St. Nick MUST have heard them because the windows started shaking (get a little louder with the example) and the dog started barking and the lights were twinkling on the tree. OUT OF NOWHERE , A BAG OF GOODIES FLEW INTO THE HOUSE AND THERE WAS CANDY FOR EVERYONE! Sometimes it comes through a WINDOW, sometimes it comes through a
DOOR, it even comes down CHIMNEYS! You just NEVER know!
So tonight, if we REALLY BELIEVE and wish and hope and SING, maybe St. Nick will visit us! I hope so.

Now you put on some Christmas Music. There should be a little time for the kids to
discuss the possibilities-not too much though.
You go to a phone where they can see you. Call “a friend (time and weather) Has St. Nick been there, no, not yet? Tell the kids-St. Nick ALWAYS goes to the Schmidts’ house but he hasn’t come yet. Pretend to talk a sentence or to and get really excited
“WHAT! HE’S THERE? HE’S THERE” Yell at the kids HE’S THERE! OK everybody we better start SINGING! Turn off the music and Say EVERYBODY knows RUDOLPH start... you need to get them to sing at LEAST two or three songs to keep working them
up.

Now, at this point, the person outside takes a broom. The broom and bag of candy has been hidden outside. First they bang on the garage, they bang on the windows like they
are circling the entire house IT MUST BE FAST AND LOUD WITHOUT BREAKING A WINDOW.(they have to run,so ahead of time you need to make sure all gates are open
and the path is CLEAR) All doors should be unlocked so you don’t give it away. You know which door it will come through so you distract them to another window or door.
The door flies open and the bag is THROWN in so that the contents FLY all over the place. St. Nick goes “HO HO HO Merry Christmas” and gets the heck away. Maybe even hiding for a few minutes. Mine got to the point where they were brave enough to run out to see.

Now, for the sticks and notes
Each kid get a note in rhyme nothing literary, My dear little Billy, a good boy are you, but there are a few things I’d like you to do. Pick up your toys and be nice every day. Listen to your teachers and what your parents say. Write the note in pencil like an art chalk getting a thicker shaded type of print. Use a left slant to disguise it. Sign it St. Nick Role it onto the stick and tie it with twine. With a pencil, write their name on the outside of
the paper so they know which stick is theirs. VERY IMPORTANT the note to the grownups Something to all of them.-Very rough it’s been years
Mothers and fathers, grown ups one and all. Things can be hard when you’re not very tall.
Your children are precious gifts from above. Always treat them with kindness, tenderness and love.
It wasn’t so long ago when each of you- was filled with the joy of Christmas too.
Fill your heart with happiness and love and you’ll be blessed by God above.

I THINK these are the last details.
When telling the story, be very animated and see if you can get them to add or ask questions.
Have a time established that the banging will begin, plan event backward from there.
Make sure to use the phone maybe even someone to call you. ENTHUSIASM to the point of being down right SILLY is imperative.
St. Nick needs to dress in dark clothes and wear a hat (like Blaire Witch) JUST in case someone catches a glimpse out the window.
Warning-This became such a special event, we were the only family that did it this way. There can be hurt feelings if you break a group of best friends. We never let them invite the same people the next year.
If you have any questions, or need some ideas on the notes, I’ll be glad to help. I am a whizz at poor poetry!
PLEASE IF YOU DO IT, TELLLLL ME! I REALLY WANT TO KNOW!
JAM

Bumping because its that time of year again, and this sounds adorable! :)