On the evening of December 5th in Germany and other European countries, children polish their shoes, then put the shoes outside the house in front of the door. During the night, St. Nicholas fills the shoes with small presents like sweets, oranges, and nuts. And this morning, December 6th, children rush outside to see what Nicholas has left them.
I loved introducing this custom to my children (back in the day) because with "shared custody," they were sometimes at their father's house for the hoopla and excitement of Christmas, Santa and early morning presents. Not to mention that a shoe full of candy was much less expensive than Christmas morning.
Unfortunately, my children didn't wear shoes that one could polish, so I often had great boat like sneakers to fill with Hershey kisses, peppermints or Reese's minis.
1 comment:
How fun! I knew about this tradition but it is only now that I stop to wonder if it's to late to implement it here. Hmmmmm....maybe next year. :)
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