Santa or the Weihnachtsmann?

Or both?

This post deserves to be much longer than I'm allowing it to be.

But for now, in the 5 minutes I'm giving myself after a day that started at 4:30am...

As I like to remember her

We've got 12 minutes until the official Christmas is here, and I couldn't let the evening end without sharing how wonderful it was, even more wonderful than how wonderful I thought it was in the past, to play Santa tonight. Or the Weihnachtsmann...whoever I was embodying while I wrapped all those presents and wrote a note back to Kaya. As I've said in the past, this holiday is my mom's, and it seems that with every passing year since she died 2 years ago, I feel that much more connected to her during this time of the year. Staying up late to wrap presents great and small is just a part of it.


My five minutes is nearing an end, so here's what I've got with what I've got left:
...as our story goes, in our family, Nikolaus comes on the evening of December 5th, mostly to those kids who speak German, though sometimes to those who don't. Santa, or the Weihnachtsmann, however, come on the evening of the 24th, mostly to those kids who speak English...though definitely to others, as well. As I write that, I know how bad that must sound, esp. coming from one who claims to appreciate other cultures. But in my defense, I wanted to keep it simple for our 3 year old...so for now, that's our story. BUT, as you have surely already noticed, it's not anywhere close to lacking holes. Are Santa and the Weihnachtsmann the same guy, for instance? Or are they brothers, as I think I told her one afternoon? Honestly, we're not even really clear on the story ourselves...it's a really good thing they start out young and grow older and wiser, as it gives us time to figure it out on this end! I can say that we decided to address our Christmas note this evening to the Weihnachtsmann, though not without Kaya mentioning, part way through the letter, that we should address it to Santa. In returning her note, I signed it 'Weihnachtsmann', but on all but one of her gifts, I signed 'Santa'. Poor kid. We're definitely gonna need to figure this one out relatively soon...!

3 Minutes and counting...

So with this, I wish you all, wherever you are, a very Merry Christmas, Frohe Weihnachten, Feliz Navidad, and would SO love to hear your thoughts on how you have chosen to gracefully (or not) mix your cultural traditions.

Oh, and to all of you out there who sent me wonderful support in response to my last post about my Apocalyptic Apprehensions, whether in word or just in spirit, THANK YOU. I can't tell you how much it meant to feel that support!

With love,

Santamara