American Family Traditions, Dutch Family Traditions

Sinterklaas tradition…. in the USA

It is the beginning of November and to make the American Holiday season just a little busier and more complicated, we added another Dutch tradition to it. When I was a little (Crafty) Dutch girl, it was a big holiday for especially kids. Now I’d like to introduce this special tradition to my own children in the USA. It is called “Sinterklaas” and it is celebrated between half of November and December 6th.

First a little bit of history:

St. Nicholas or “Sinterklaas” is the main person in this tradition. In the Netherlands it is celebrated on December 5th of every year (“Pakjes avond”). The tradition we celebrate today probably comes from a book written by a teacher in 1850, but the children’s Holiday might be a lot older.

Sinterklaas is a dignified older man with a long white beard and hair, a red cape with a red miter. He has a white horse and helpers, called “Pieten”. He was introduced by the Dutch settlers when New York was New Amsterdam. And now…. the Americans have Santa Claus.

You’re welcome!

In lots of different places in Europe this Holiday is celebrated, but there are differences in the way “Sinterklaas” arrives and how his helpers look like.

History of the Dutch Sinterklaas tradition

In the 15th or 16th century, people put their shoes in the St. Nicholas Church in Utrecht (the Netherlands). Every year on the official day St. Nicholas passed away, which is December 5th, the rich people in Utrecht put different items in the shoes, like food or clothing. The content was divided among the poor.

Sinterklaas celebration now.

Nowadays, it is more considered a celebration for children. Children in the Netherlands put out their shoe as soon as Sinterklaas arrives into the country (which is somewhere around half of November). Most of the younger children watch him arrive on the television, which is called “het Sinterklaasjournaal”.

When everyone had a fireplace back in the days, the shoes were put in front of the fireplace so the “Pieten” could come through the chimney and put something in the shoes. This could be something sweet, like “pepernoten”, “kruidnoten”, “speculaas”, “marsepein”, “chocolade letters” , fruit or a small toy.

In the last few years there was (and still is) a controversy about the “Pieten” being black. People are calling it a racist tradition. I personally think that this is a very old tradition. We grew up in a way that we understood, that the ‘Pieten” were going through chimneys to put presents in your shoe and they turned black because of the soot. To me, it has nothing to do with the “Pieten” being black and slaves. But that is just my thought. I can see it being racist and the connection to slavery, if you’re not brought up in the culture of the Netherlands.

This year I noticed on the “Sinterklaas tv show”, new and young “Pieten” were white and their skin got darker, the older they were, called “veeg-Pieten”.

Fun games on “Pakjesavond”

Sinterklaas 1978
My neighbor girl made a picture for Sinterklaas. That’s me in the stroller (1977)

When I was little, I remember “Sinterklaas” visiting our house with 2 “Pieten”! They tossed a lot of “pepernoten” and “schuimpjes” (“strooigoed”) into our living room. My parents gave “Sinterklaas” a big chair and he read all about us from a big red book. He asked us questions and wanted to hear about the things we did at school or home.

I remember being so nervous and shy. But it all went well and finally at the end we got our presents! Other times the “Pieten” knocked on all our windows and left a big bag with toys at our front door.

Sinterklaas tradition in the Netherlands
Strooigoed

And the older I got, the more I learned about the Secret!!!

When we grew older, “pakjesavond” (the evening of gifts) on December 5th turned into a mysterious event about the gift giver. Some of the companies, schools or sport teams (like my volleyball team) in the Netherlands had “surprise evenings”, which is like a Secret Santa or “White Elephant” here in the USA. Some people make it into a fun game! <- check that one out!

The year before my parents told me that THEY were the ones who did all of it for years, I was sad to end a fun tradition and I looked back at the things they did for us every year around the “Sinterklaas” tradition.

The next few years I helped my mom by keeping this tradition a secret for my little brother. I remember that one time, my mom left the vacuum cleaner on in the kitchen, so my brother and I thought my mom was working in the kitchen. In the meantime she sneaked out of the house through the garage door to put a bag of presents at our front door. Then she knocked hard at our front door! We were playing in the living room and the knocking made us jump. We ran to the front door and of course in the meantime my mom was back in the kitchen… That was the best trick!!!

Sinterklaas in the USA

So, in 2006 I became a mother myself and I knew we would move to the USA in a few months. The day I told my parents I was pregnant, was the day they came over to see Sinterklaas arrive in our town, which we could conveniently see from my living room window, which overlooked a river.

Sinterklaas tradition in the Netherlands

In the first few years, when our kids were small, we didn’t do much for Sinterklaas in the United States, but when J was 3 and K was 2 years old, we decided to start this tradition.

Of course, I wanted to do the knocking-on-the-windows thing and the presents at our front door, …. well, that was a big mistake. Even though I started singing Sinterklaas songs right after Halloween and I asked someone to knock on the windows that evening, it scared the heck out of them!

I had to figure something else out.

Best Indoor Treasure Hunts

We made the evening of December 5th into a fun game. Something easy for little kids, but exciting enough for the older ones too. Something like a treasure hunt inside the house to find the hidden presents (click on the link and you’ll find a few Indoor Treasure Hunts to do).

A little later, the kids started to watch Sinterklaas coming into the Netherlands online. Then I told them that two “Pieten” would come by plane to visit the Dutch children who live in the US. In the meantime my parents would send a box with Dutch cookies, candies and small gifts. Just to make it all more realistic.

From half of November till December 5th the kids are putting their shoes by our back door, because we don’t have a fireplace. I always  have to remind them that the Pieten would love to get gifts too, like a drawing, a letter, an apple or something to drink. The kids sometimes just take it for granted to get candy in their shoes.

Sinterklaas tradition in the Netherlands

As I’m writing this now, the box with Dutch Treats hasn’t arrived yet. Some years the box is on time, sometimes it’s not…like this year. Luckily I went to Aldi and bought some great treats, like chocolate coins, star ginger bread cookies and little chocolate Santa Clauses, which look a little like Sinterklaas;). Also VanderVeen Dutch Store and the DutchExpatShop in the Netherlands we use for Dutch treats.

This is the first year, by the way, that J and K know the secret…..you know what I mean! They’re going to help me set out the treasure hunt….wink, wink, nudge, nudge…as K would say! 

If you’re a Dutch mom, how do you celebrate the Sinterklaas tradition?

Sinterklaas tradition in the USA
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Medina
Medina
June 14, 2022 11:59 am

Love this page and all that you celebrate about Dutch culture. I do think it’s important to have a more… Read more »

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