As the pandemic marched on, we had to come to terms with the cancellation of many beloved Dutch holiday traditions, which usually help lift our spirits when the days become dark and cold. The kids still made lanterns at school for St. Maarten and Pete took the kids to a few houses in the neighborhood while I stayed back to give out candy to the handful of kids who stopped by.
I was especially bummed out about the cancellation of Sinterklaas activities. Yes, it can all be a bit much with the holiday spanning 3 weeks, but the parades, random run-ins with Piets at shops, and general merriment in the air were sorely missed. Usually, Sint arrives in one town in the Netherlands in mid-November and a crowd gathers to greet his ship, arriving from Spain ;). This year, the event took place online and his arrival location was kept under wraps to prevent a crowd. We made the most of it, dressed the kids in their Piet costumes, and let them eat unlimited pepernoten all afternoon.
The kids still set their shoes out many nights during the three week period. As this coincided with our family quarantine when Pete had COVID, it was a welcome distraction from our every day monotomy. Those Piets sure are sneaky to be able to deliver gifts while we were all stuck at home ;)
Pakjesavond (present night) was on a Saturday this year, so Sinterklaas visited ISA on Friday. How fortunate these kids were to be in school to celebrate! Parents were not allowed to watch Sint's arrival on his horse, Amerigo into the parking lot so we really enjoyed the photos that the teachers sent later that day.
Sinterklaas and Santa do such a good job coordinating every year! Sint knew we'd be in the US for Christmas and didn't want us to have to bring too many things across the ocean. So we had some extra presents delivered, much to the kids' delight. And just in time as the kids and I boarded a plane the next day to Miami....
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| Hij komt! |
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