Christmas Eve Differs In Countries Around the World.
The night before Christmas, Christmas Eve, is a very magical and special time of the year. Children are “wide-eyed” with anticipation on what tomorrow will bring. They have been waiting for this time of the year for a long, long time, and it is finally here. Christmas Eve traditions differ in various countries around the world, and in this article we will be exploring some of these traditions.
Santa and his elves have been working all year for this big night. Spanning the globe via sleigh and reindeer can have you working up quite an appetite. Children to the rescue. In both Canada and the United States, children leave some milk and cookies to feed Santa’s ferocious appetite. In Australia and Britain they prefer to leave mince pies and sherry. The children of Sweden want to satisfy Santa’s love of chocolate, so they 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.
Another tradition that has become popular in the United States is the reading of the book “A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement Clark Moore (or similar tale about Santa Claus). Other families watch a Christmas-related video or television show, like: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas or Frosty the Snowman. Singing Santa Claus songs such as Up on the Housetop, Here Comes Santa Claus, or Santa Claus is Coming to Town are also very popular.
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…
Parents have their part to play in Christmas Eve as well. There are a lot of gifts that need to be placed under the tree, and they will often be signed “From Santa” or “Love Santa”.
Did you enjoy this little tour of “The Night Before Christmas”? Christmas Eve is certainly a magical time of year…but we are not done yet. In future articles we will be exploring more aspects of Christmas, so stay tuned…
Want to find out more about Christmas, then visit Emily Latimer’s site on how to choose the best Christmas gifts for those special people on your list.
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