St. Nicholas, the Kleeschen, Santa Claus, and Jesus Christ

I believed in Santa Claus until I was five. It was exciting and magical! I wrote to him about being a good girl and told him the gifts I wanted to get from him on Christmas Day. Out of a long list of toys and dolls, I would get at least one.

I discovered that Santa wasn't real when we moved to the Philippines when I was five years old. There was no snow. The climate was too warm for Santa to go sleighing from one house to another. There were no reindeers. There were no chimneys. I wrote my wish list to Santa but I got candies and chocolates sold from my Lola's sari-sari store found in front of their house.

We no longer had the tradition of writing to Santa after that. A few years later, I'd just see him in Hollywood movies, shopping malls and Christmas decors. After all, I learned that Jesus was the real hero of Christmas. Of all the gifts we can ever receive, the one He gave was the most precious of all. This is something my husband and I taught our son,Polo.

Now, living in Luxembourg, we are introduced to another gift-giving personality -- St. Nicholas. History says that Santa Claus started as St. Nicholas. But not all acknowledge Santa Claus here. For locals, it is St. Nicholas, whom they call the Kleeschen, who checks if children are naughty or nice and gives them their most desired gift together with some chocolates, fruits and nuts on December 6 every year. The Kleeschen is not only a role acted out by the parents for their children but also by the god parents, friends,and family.

Preparing gifts for the children, lining up to get a gift from St. Nicholas in the malls, and everything that comes with it was all fun for Polo. But as Christmas approached, I wasn't sure if we should introduce the Santa and Kleeschen traditions to our sons.

We live in a country that believes in the Kleeschen; have family who live in the U.S., where there is a Santa Claus; and grew up in a country where it was too hot for the Kleeschen and Santa. We decided that as long as our son knows that we celebrate Christmas because of Jesus Christ, then, we're good. :)