A Visit from St. Nicholas

Dear Parents,

 

We began on Tuesday, basking in the afterglow of Sunday’s Advent Spiral. The children seemed peaceful and dreamy. Each child found his/her bowl and added fine white sand to it as the first layer of a moss garden. When we took our woodland walk, we found a patch of abundant moss and paused to ask Mother Earth’s permission to gather some.

 

Today, Wednesday, the children played energetically, and with a new mood of cooperation. The “sharks” that have been circling the rocking boat became “dolphins”. We polished boots and set them out in the mudroom. After the puppet play of a legend of Bishop/St. Nicholas who filled a ship with good food for families of a distant land who had nothing to eat, the story “came alive” when he appeared in our mudroom.

          “There’s Santa” said Maggie matter-of-factly.

James opened the door and Luka and Colt followed him out to quietly gaze as the robed figure with a shepherd’s crook and mitered hat silently filled each pair of boots with a clementine and a gold (chocolate) coin. Most kept a respectful distance and stayed inside, watching from the window. When he was finished he spoke a reverent message, asking the children to always be kind and good.

          James replied that he was practicing being good. (Aren’t we all lifelong learners?)

          Colt was eager to tell him about his family’s Christmas tree. (No, St. N did not inquire as to what the children “wanted”.)

After he departed, a lively controversy arose around the snack table.

          Luka: “That was Mr. Jack.”

          Maggie: “He told us to be good, so it had to be Santa.”

          Elsa: “That was St. Nicholas.”

          Maggie: “Yes, his hat was different. Santa has a fuzzy hat.”

          Colt (settling it): “You’re right, Maggie. He wears two hats.”

 

Out of doors, all 13 children were happy to find that the sand pile was no longer frozen. ALL 13 dug in together, creating pies, roads, volcanoes, and gardens. Miss Elisa observed that the children have now found ways of communicating with each other; speaking and listening to express interests and solve problems. This is the kind of harmony that we hope for by this time of the year, creating the hum that will carry them as a group through the year together.

 

Peace on earth, good will toward all,

Susan