Frohe Ostern! April 2, 2012

Happy (early) Easter!!

I was just working on the books and songs for my next German story time, and I thought I’d share some of the books and songs I’ve found. This session has been a challenge for me, as I really know nothing about Easter for children in Germany. What songs do they sing? What books do they read? I’ve found quite a lot of songs, surprisingly, but I have no idea which ones might be typically sung. As for books, I basically just looked for books about bunnies and eggs!

So far, I plan to keep our own celebrating at home rather low-key for Aleksander. I found a fun Elmo basket for him and got some small, inexpensive toys to put in it. I also will hide plastic eggs around the house – or maybe in the yard, depending on the weather – for him to find. In each egg, he’ll find a little capsule that, when you put it in water, grows into a spongy animal shape. I thought he’d have fun watching them grow (and playing in the water, of course!). So far, Aleksander is not much of a chocolate or sweets eater. I’m pretty okay with that So one day, maybe we’ll add some chocolates to his Easter basket, but not just yet.

What kinds of things do you do to celebrate Easter?

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Back to the German story time…. Here’s a list of what I’m planning (for song lyrics, click over to my story time blog). If anyone has suggestions to add, please let me know!!

Lieder  /  Songs

• “Häschen in der Grube”
• “Osterhas, bring mir was”  (Melodie: “Häschen klein”)
• “Heute geh’n wir Eier suchen”  (Melodie: “Häschen in der Grube”)

Kniereiter  /  Knee Bouncer

• Klein Häschen wollt’ spazieren geh’n (okay, this one is really a song, but I thought it made for a fun knee bouncer!)

Bücher  /  Books

• “Osterhas, Osterhas” from the book Mein großes Osterbuch  (Ravensburger, 2007)

• Ein buntes Ei vom Hasenfranz by Ursel Scheffler & Wolfgang Slawski (Ravensburger, 2008)

• Eins, zwei, drei, fertig ist das Osterei! by Ursel Scheffler & Wolfgang Slawski (Ravensburger, 2012)

• Der Hase mit der roten Nase by Helme Heine (Beltz, 2004)

Also, for some more info on Easter songs, I’ve found some websites that have been useful:

• Die Liederkiste – Osterlieder
• Kinderreime und Lieder – Ostern
• Kinderspiele-Welt – Ostern (this one has more than just songs)

Post-Holiday Post December 30, 2011

I can’t believe it’s already the end of December. This month has just flown by! Of course, we were away in the Netherlands for the first two weeks. Then all three of us got rotten colds Then my parents arrived on my birthday (the 19th), and my brother and his brood arrived on Christmas Day. They only stayed two nights, but with a three-year-old and 2-month-old twins, it was quite a houseful!

I’m still looking for ways to incorporate Dutch and German traditions along with the American traditions I grew up with. But with Sinterklaas and Nikolaus behind us, we pretty much focused on the traditions I know — along with a few we’ve made of our own. The one thing that is quasi-Dutch is the food that we eat. Read on – you’ll see what I mean.

On Christmas Eve, we have lasagna. PER makes it from a mix he gets in the Netherlands. It’s more like a béchamel sauce and doesn’t have any ricotta. We eat garlic bread and salad to go with it. I made some chocolate chip cookies for dessert. That night, we exchanged gifts with my parents and gave Aleksander his gifts from Mama and Daddy. It was very sweet as Aleksander helped deliver the gifts. He wasn’t greedy at all with his own gifts – although he did rather enjoy opening them. We tried not to go overboard – a set of Very Hungry Caterpillar puzzles (we found them in the NL … I hadn’t seen anything like them in all my searching to prepare for Aleksander’s birthday party with the same theme … then we came home, and I saw the very same ones at Target! Gaaah!), some blocks with letters, and an Eric Carle book about colors.

Christmas day began the same as it has for as long as I can remember … with the smell of cinnamon rolls baking in the oven. Mmmmmmmm! Then it was time to open presents from Santa. The ones under the tree were for Aleksander – a set of Duplo Legos and a giant Cookie Monster puzzle (it’s as big as he is!). Santa left little presents for all of us in our stockings – chocolate and lip balms for the grown-ups; trains for Aleksander.

We all took naps during the day and then spent the afternoon preparing for Christmas dinner. Three years ago when my brother came with his family, we started a new tradition. My sister-in-law doesn’t eat red meat or pork … so there went my idea to do ham, or pork tenderloin, or some kind of roast. I just couldn’t do turkey again, since we’d just had it at their house for Thanksgiving. Chicken? Fish? They just didn’t seem Christmas-y enough to me. So PER and I talked about some of his traditions. The idea of Fondu came up – but he doesn’t like the cheese kind, and I’m not crazy about the oil. Then we hit on the idea of something that apparently had been popular in the Netherlands for a while – teppanyaki – or table grilling. It was perfect! And we’ve been doing it ever since. It’s pretty easy to prep – just a lot of slicing and dicing. We had beef (marinated already by the grocery store), chicken, and brats; scallops (with bacon) and shrimp; zucchini and mushrooms. So everyone gets to eat things they like! We also brought Calvé sauces back with us from the Netherlands. And I make a salad, biscuits, and roasted potatoes to go with it. For dessert, PER makes his Dutch apple torte – he calls it pie – I say it’s more like a cake crust. Whatever it is, it’s delicious! Also made from a mix he gets in the Netherlands.

My brother and his family arrived around 5pm. At 6 we sat down around our new dining room table (we’ve only used it once since moving into our new house) and let the fun begin! There was lots of chatter over the sizzle of the grills. We put the boys at the heads of the table, so they were a safe distance away from the hot grills. The babies slept right through it all! Aleksander and his cousin had time to play before bedtime. It’s astounding how well they get along. My brother’s family stayed in our guest room in the basement. It was perfect – at least from our perspective. We didn’t hear a peep from them all night! Their son is an early riser, so we asked that they hang out downstairs until Aleksander was up at his usual 8 o’clock (yup – he’s a fabulous sleeper!). It’s a great space, though, with a bathroom and kitchenette plus toys and a TV, so they had plenty to do.

On the morning of the 26th, we had a big breakfast. More cinnamon rolls (I didn’t want my brother to be deprived of the ritual just because they arrived the afternoon of Christmas Day!), eggs, bacon, and fruit salad. Then we had one final round of presents, exchanging gifts with my brother’s family. My parents also gave the boys their gifts. It got a little bit crazy with both boys opening presents, but it was a fun morning.

That afternoon we munched on chips & salsa, naan & hummus or Boursin, and smoked salmon on melba toast. I had a homemade tomato sauce simmering on the stove all day, so for dinner we had spaghetti with meatballs. It’s only the second time I’ve made my own sauce, but I have to say it was quite tasty!

Everyone left on Tuesday, the 27th. The house felt quite empty. But it’s nice to just be our own little family again, too. And now I can finally get back to speaking more German with Aleksander! I still have so much trouble staying in our German groove when we have guests.

So that was our Christmas. It seems like most of the traditions center around food! But you’ve got to feed all those guests!

One thing we kind of missed out on this year (since we were away) was our advent calendar. My mom made it when I was a little girl. I can’t remember ever having a Christmas without it! It’s a little bit worn and could use a good cleaning (anyone know how to clean felt??). My mom made some minor repairs last year. But it’s so very special to me. I can’t wait for Aleksander to be old enough to really appreciate it.

Advent Calendar

I managed to decorate the house – though not as thoroughly as I would have liked. Being in a new house, I wasn’t even sure where to put everything! My German Christmas things were highlighted on the mantle – smokers, pyramid, and nutcracker. My mom helped me hang ribbons to which we attached the Christmas cards. We had a big tree in our foyer covered in red and silver balls (I like to have a different color theme each year). And we put our little tree on a table and hung some of the most beloved ornaments there (out of reach of toddler hands).

On the Mantle

So that’s it in a nutshell. I hope I have time next year to look for other holiday traditions from our three cultures to incorporate into our Christmas celebrations. It’s such a warm, festive time of year. I’m always sad to see it end!

I hope you’ve all had a magical holiday! I would love to hear about your holiday traditions! And I’ll end with a little wish for us all:

May there be peace in your heart. May there be peace in your home. May there be peace in our world.

Melding Holiday Traditions December 7, 2011

This post is part of December’s Blogging Carnival! It’s being hosted by Tales from Windmill Fields.

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Help!! How do we combine the holiday traditions of Sinterklaas (Dutch), Nikolaus (German), and Santa Claus (American)??? Not to mention the other Christmas traditions of each country, too! Aleksander is still a little young for these things, but it’s about time we figure out how we’re going to celebrate them … and how to explain them all to him! My first task, I think, is to make sure I understand the Dutch and German traditions. So here’s what I’ve learned so far….

Sinterklaas lives in Spain and travels to the Netherlands by boat in mid-November. He brings along his gray horse and a whole lot of helpers, known as Zwarte Pieten (black Peters). Any time after Sinterklaas arrives, the children can put out their shoes at night to be filled with things such as chocolate coins or little presents. (Of course, the parents have to agree on the night – often a weekend – and they only do it once.) All the Pieten have specialties, such as shopping, wrapping, and writing poems. On the evening of December 5th, a Piet rings your doorbell, leaves the presents, and then runs away. Sometimes he leaves a note instead telling where the presents are – maybe in the attic or on the balcony. Poems often accompany the presents.

Later, when the children are much older, they make special presents known as surprises. They tend to be very creative and somewhat elaborate. Sometimes the gifts can even be teasing the recipient. PER once made one for a friend that was a miniature house (since his friend had just moved) and inside the tiny mailbox was a little envelope with a note saying that he was giving his friend a gift of money for his new home. So the house was both a present as well as the package to deliver the gift. The surprise is usually accompanied by a poem written for the recipient.

Nikolaus generally visits German children on the evening of December 5th while the children are sleeping (in some regions it is December 6th). Children leave their shoes or a bowl outside their door (it could also be the bedroom door). When they awake the next morning, they find mandarins, nuts, chocolates, or little surprises left for them in their shoes by Nikolaus. However, Nikolaus is also accompanied by Krampus (southern Germany and Austria) or Knecht Ruprecht (other parts of Germany). If the children have been naughty, he leaves eine Rute (switch) in their shoes instead! Tradition also states that Krampus/Ruprecht would put naughty children in his sack and carry them away. He may even eat them!!

Santa Claus arrives on the eve of December 24th. He lives at the North Pole, where he and his elves make toys in his workshop for the children. Children write letters to Santa Claus, telling him what they would like to receive on Christmas morning. Santa Claus keeps a list of all children, noting which ones have been naughty and which ones have been nice. On Christmas Eve he travels by sleigh with his 8 reindeer and goes down the chimney to leave presents for good children under the tree and in their stockings. If the children have been naughty, they get a piece of coal in their stockings instead.

When I was growing up, we always exchanged family gifts on Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas morning, we would open our presents from Santa Claus. My parents also did an extremely clever thing by putting a small tree in each of our rooms. It was fun to have our own little trees to decorate. But the best part (for my parents) was that Santa would leave a present or two under each of our trees as well. So Christmas morning, when we woke up very early, we could open those presents and play quietly with them in our rooms while our parents got to sleep until a normal hour! Brilliant!!

All three figures have similar appearances: they have a white beard and wear a red coat and hat – - -

Sinterklaas & Zwarte Pieten

Nikolaus

Santa Claus

Okay, so how do we blend these similar – yet different – traditions and explain them in a way that makes sense to our kids??? I mean, how many times are they supposed to leave their shoes out? And just how many presents are they supposed to get?!

I really like the idea of the suprises and the poems that accompany Sinterklaas. So maybe do that on December 5th. Then that night the kids can leave out their shoes to be filled by Nikolaus, waking up on December 6th was a few treats. Then we’ll exchange family gifts on Decemeber 24th and open gifts from Santa Claus on December 25th. That really spreads out the gift-giving! Which is actually not a bad idea, especially while the children are young. I know Aleksander can’t take too many presents at once – he doesn’t know what to do with them all! After his birthday party last month, I put at least half the toys in the closet to take out at later times, so they’re like “new” all over again.

The next challenge is dealing with all the feasting and other traditions that go with the various regional holidays. But I think that will have to wait for another post….

I know different regions have different takes on Sinterklaas/Nikolaus/Santa Claus. And the traditions even vary from family to family. But if I’ve gotten anything wrong or forgotten about something, please let me know! I’d love to hear about other traditions, too!

And if anyone has any suggestions on ways to fluidly blend various holiday traditions, I’d be grateful for some advice!!