I like Peanuts I hate carrots shirt
I think that it depends per country. In my country we have a I like Peanuts I hate carrots shirt of Saint Nicolas. His day on the ecclesiastical calendar is the 6th of December. But the Saintly Bishop arrives in our country around the 15th of November. That is also the moment that the High Streets get their decorating lights. Days are short it gets dark shortly after four o’clock. The decorations in the shops are focused on Saint Nicholas. Special sweets and presents for children. There are special children shows on television. When I was a child we were invited to come to the head office of my father’s employer, Unilever, for a special afternoon with a magician and of course a visit by the saint Nicholas himself, with his assistants Zwarte Piet. (Black Peter) At the end we were given a nice small present, chosen of course by our parents (but of course we did not know). After the 6th of December when Saint Nicholas had returned to Spain or Heaven, the shops turn on to Christmas decorations. Some times we see some imported Fathers Christmas but we do not have narratives about father Christmas.

I like Peanuts I hate carrots shirt
When I was quite small, my family were Jehovah’s Witnesses. My big brothers remembered their Catholic beginnings, they remembered magical Christmases. My little brother and I did not, we’d never been Catholic yet. We used to get very sad that all of our friends had lovely Christmas or Hanukkah, and we did not. We’d pout. My big brothers tried their best to console us. Our best friends lived across the I like Peanuts I hate carrots shirt . Their dad was not home much, but he was a very stern man. He had quite the temper (when we grew up, we realized that he was always drunk, but when we were small he was just scary). He had a Doberman called Rex who we were all also terrified of. One year, I’m probably four or five, we’re sitting in my brothers’ room wistfully staring out the window at our friends playing with their new toys, wearing their Christmas sweaters, all that. The oldest two brothers, maybe trying to console us, convince us that we do not want Christmas at all. They tell us that Scary Dad is Santa Claus. They tell us that Rex the Doberman is actually Rudolph. Would we really want Rex landing on our roof? Would we really want Scary Dad judging whether we were naughty or nice, and sneaking into our house while we slept?

