Christmas Traditions

I love this time of year. It’s filled with joy and crafting and songs and lights and decorations, and here in Iceland all the Christmas lights make it easier to get through the dark days of winter.

One of the things I love the most about December is the family traditions. Each country seems to have their own special traditions surrounding Christmas. In Holland there is Sinterklaas, who arrives on December 6, bearing gifts for the children. In Spain the Christmas season begins on December 8, with a weeklong observance of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. In Sweden the Christmas festivities begin on December 13 with St. Lucia’s Day, which celebrates the patron saint of light.

For my children, and other children in Iceland, the excitement started today. Yesterday, children put their shoes on the windowsill, for tonight the first of the 13 Icelandic Santas - or Yule Lads - came down from their home in the mountains, bringing little gifts left in the shoes of well behaved children. Every night until Christmas Eve, one of theses Lads will come to town and leave a little something for the kids, but only if they behave. If they behave badly, they will get a potato in their shoe.

They don’t behave particularily well these Lads, and each of them has a quirk and a suitable name. Door-Slammer is loud and likes to slam doors, Meat-Hook likes to steal meat from the kitchen and Window-Peeper, well, he likes to take a peek through the window The parents of these lovely Lads are trolls, and they are said to come to town and pick up badly behaved children, put them in their sack, bring them to their cave in the mountain and feed them to their cat, which is a big black animal called the Christmas Cat. Needless to say, children in Iceland usually behave very well for 13 days before Christmas LOL

So, last night, my children put their shoes in the window.

And when they woke up this morning, this is what they found

Just a little bit of Christmas to make the wait for the real thing a little easier

So, tell me about your traditions…I’m always curious to know more about other cultures and traditions that are important to other people.

- Lilja