We come from two fairly secular families, so religion does not play a huge role in our families - so far we've managed to avoid talking about the story of the baby Jesus, but the kid - he turned three in August - will probably find out soon in kindergarten.
St. Nikolaus here is on December 6 - and traditionally that's when stockings are filled or to be more exact: you leave your shoes/boots outside the door the evening before and the next morning there will be a (smallish) gift and tangerines and walnuts and chocolate.
Last year we had our first real Christmas tree and it was also the first time that the kid's grandparents spent Christmas with us and not the other way around. We got the tree on December 23 - it was some real last minute shopping and the plan was to keep it until after January 6, but after a certain someone pulled it down we got rid of it a little earlier.
Traditionally Christmas presents are opened on Christmas Eve and we stick to that tradition. The kid knows that people talk about the Weihnachtsmann (Santa Claus) bringing presents or the Christkind (Baby Jesus) doing the same, but we haven't really talked that up, so I'm not sure what he believes. Last year he was happy about the presents and rather uninterested in where they came from.
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Date: 2012-11-23 07:46 pm (UTC)Christmas traditions from Germany:
We come from two fairly secular families, so religion does not play a huge role in our families - so far we've managed to avoid talking about the story of the baby Jesus, but the kid - he turned three in August - will probably find out soon in kindergarten.
St. Nikolaus here is on December 6 - and traditionally that's when stockings are filled or to be more exact: you leave your shoes/boots outside the door the evening before and the next morning there will be a (smallish) gift and tangerines and walnuts and chocolate.
Last year we had our first real Christmas tree and it was also the first time that the kid's grandparents spent Christmas with us and not the other way around. We got the tree on December 23 - it was some real last minute shopping and the plan was to keep it until after January 6, but after a certain someone pulled it down we got rid of it a little earlier.
Traditionally Christmas presents are opened on Christmas Eve and we stick to that tradition. The kid knows that people talk about the Weihnachtsmann (Santa Claus) bringing presents or the Christkind (Baby Jesus) doing the same, but we haven't really talked that up, so I'm not sure what he believes. Last year he was happy about the presents and rather uninterested in where they came from.