St Nicholas a children's saint

Today for many children in Europe it is a day of bounty and joy! Sint Nicholas, patron saint of children distributes presents and goodwill galore. Being Dutch, this is my favourite day of all, I well remember the excitement of waiting for Sint Nicholas to arrive on a boat from Spain, together with his helpers called black peters (zwarte pieten!), who dressed as 17th century court pages add to the fun by carrying round a bag with presents, but also mock to punish children who misbehave. When you get older and no longer believe in  Saint Nicholas, riding on his white horse on the roofs of houses, the evening before Sint Nicholas feast, on 5 December is a time when adults will give each other'surprises' or small presents often with a joke attached and accompanied by poems describing, the personality and perhaps faults of the recipient.

Good clean fun and a good occasion to give each other a present. Especially as for me this helps christmas take on a more religious and family meaning, and is not so overrun with commercial present giving. For children it is hard to distinguish the real meaning of Christmas and thus Saint Nicholas provides parents with a good occasion to split the commercial aspects of Christmas from the spiritual one