Allie:
I
believed in Santa Claus long after I probably should have. Actually,
when I met my husband somewhere around ten years ago, I tried to
convince him that Santa Claus really did exist. I was, oh, I don’t
know. Fifteen.
This
fact, together with my love for the Christmas season, contributed to
my fascination with a new Santa Claus I learned of when I spent my
first Christmas with him and his family, somewhere around three years
later.
My
father in law is someone who I love very dearly. But he’s strange.
Strange, like me, and as such, when I first heard him mumbling the
words to a Christmas song I’d never heard before, I was intrigued.
Intrigued, because I’d never heard it before, and intrigued,
because I hate Christmas music. But you couldn’t hate this song. It
sounded so innocent and so soothing sung from this Dutch-Indonesian
man’s mouth, and I just had to know more about it.
I
whispered to my husband as his father disappeared down the hallway,
and with a disgusted look like he couldn’t believe my ignorance, he
said, “Sinterklaas Kaopentje”. Like, of course I should know all
about it, or something.
Needless
to say, the song is quite well known in The Netherlands and in
Belgium, and goes something like this:
Sinterklaas
Kapoentje,
Leg wat in mijn schoentje,
Leg wat in mijn laarsje,
Dank je Sinterklaasje!
Leg wat in mijn schoentje,
Leg wat in mijn laarsje,
Dank je Sinterklaasje!
And
for those of you who need a translation, like me:
Saint
Nicolas Little Rascal,
Put something in my little shoe,
Put something in my little boot,
Thank you little Saint Nicolas!
Put something in my little shoe,
Put something in my little boot,
Thank you little Saint Nicolas!
I
just find it terribly awesome that at eighteen, I, the Christmas
fanatic, had something to learn about Santa Claus. I think we should
remember that Christmas may not look or sound the same in every
house, but it’s still just that. Christmas.
Merry
Christmas to you, from our home to yours.
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