Appreciating The Smaller Things I Life

Being able to make my friends happy with a gift so small, is one of the biggest delights in my life.

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December 6th

Every year on December 6th, it is a tradition here in Belgium and the Netherlands to celebrate Saint Nicholas, patron saint of the children.

Parents lie to their kids for years, telling them a bearded man on a horse is bringing them presents if they have been good during the previous year. The Saint has some some dark-skinned helpers, who crawl to the chimney to deliver the presents. If kids didn't behave, they are told that the saint won't bring them presents, and his helpers will put them in a bag and beat them up.

The entire idea is so wrong in so many different ways, still, it's one of the most popular celebrations of the year.

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Don't Believe Their Lies = Not Getting Presents

In a lot of families, people stop buying their children presents once they stop believing the story about the Saint bringing the presents with him from Spain, and start realizing that the presents are bought by their parents themselves. Most kids become aware of the fact that their parents have been lying to them when they are about 6 years old.

Personally, I don't think you are setting a good example as a parent by lying to your kids from the day they were born, but of course everybody is free to do as he likes.

My mum never lied to me. She never pretended this Saint Nicholas figure was real in any way. Still, I received a present every year until she died when I was 30 years old. I have great respect for that.

Keeping The Tradition Alive

I'm not very fond of celebrations based on Christian traditions, but to honor her legacy, I try to keep the tradition in alive.

I don't have any children, but I think it's a lot of fun surprising my grown-up friends (who don't receive gifts from their parents anymore) with a little gift on that day. My gifts are small, but they are always super happy with it. Their inner child is still glad that the 'Saint' didn't forget about them.

It's wonderful to see how happy people can be with just a small gift.

Since the 'Saint' mostly brings a lot of tangerines and chocolate, I created a very last-minute gift for the friends that would come over for dinner that night.

DiY Gift

I didn't have time to go to the store, so I had to work with what I had.

So I filled a small flower pot with a tangarine and some chocolate, added some glow-in-the dark figures and a feather to it. Once finished, I noticed something was missing.

My craft suppies are very limited, but I had finally found my #googlyeyes a couple of days earlier, and used them to give the small present just that little extra touch.

This was the end result:

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I'm not very handy, nor do I have a lot of inspiration when it comes to DIY gifts, so they still look like they were made by a 5 years old. My friends didn't care about that. They were just excited that someone had put in the effort to give them a little gift.

Enjoying The Small Things In Life

I felt so satisfied seeing the lights in their eyes. They looked like toddlers who had just received the very expensive present they wanted so badly. Their happiness was the best gift I could ever get..

It's nice to be surrounded with people who know how to appreciate the smallest things in live... 💜💜

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Orginal Post On Instagram

I got my friends a (very) little something for our Saint Nicholas celebration. It's satisfying to see how 30- and 40 year olds can still appreciate the smaller things in life... 💜😎