Children around the world wait all year for Christmas Eve. It\’s a very magical and special time of year. Santa will soon be here, bringing gifts to all the good boys and girls…which is one tradition. But did you know that Christmas Eve traditions differ in various countries? In this article we will be exploring all the traditions of Christmas Eve. Welcome, we hope you enjoy it…
This big night has been a long time in the planning. Santa and his little helpers have been working tirelessly throughout the year to get ready for just this moment. Taking all these gifts around the world to all the good boys and girls can work up quite the appetite. Children to the rescue. They understand that Santa needs nourishment to complete such a huge task, so they leave him a little something to keep him going. Kids from Britain and the United States will leave out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. British and Australian children prefer to leave mince pies and sherry. Hoping to satisfy Santa\’s love of chocolate, kids from Sweden will leave brownies.
Now that Santa has been fed, attention must be turned to the reindeer. After all, who can pull a sleigh full of Christmas presents around the world and not work up a big appetite? Children to the rescue one more time. Kids from Canada, Australia, Britain, and the United States leave a carrot to help give Santa\’s reindeer a \”bit of a push\” as they span the globe. Children who follow the Dutch custom of sinterklass go a bit further. They will leave a carrot and some hay in a shoe. When they wake up the next morning it will be replaced by a gift.
Reading books and watching television or videos have become a Christmas Eve tradition as well. One popular book is \”A Visit from St. Nicholas\” by Clement Clark Moore. Popular videos are: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, or Frosty the Snowman. For those who like to sing Christmas Carols, popular titles are: Here Comes Santa Claus, Up on the Housetop, or Santa Claus is Coming to Town.
On Christmas Eve, children all around the world will put their stockings on the mantel. They are full of anticipation that St. Nick will soon be here, and will fill their stocking with gifts, candy, and \”other goodies\”. Next they will look up the chimney to make sure that the \”Big Guy\” has not arrived yet. They will take a glance out the window to see if they can see a passing sleigh, and then perhaps unlock the front door (just in case Santa has problems getting down the chimney). With all the prep work done, it\’s time to go off to bed…
Up til now it seems that children have been doing all the work, but not it\’s time for mom and dad to join in on all the action. There are plenty of gifts that need to be placed under the Christmas tree. Many times these gifts will be signed \”From Santa\” or \”Love Santa\”.
We hope you liked this little tour of the traditions on the night before Christmas. In future articles we will be examining other aspects of the Christmas tradition. Hope you will join us…
Learn more about Christmas Gift Giving. Stop by Emily Latimer\’s site where you can find out all about completing that Christmas List.