Thanks very much, Prosperity. It's very pretty.

Prosperity, Your Christmas decorations are lovely. And thank you so much for sharing your decos and the Christmas customs of Belgium. Reading your post made me realize how little I know about Belgium and I am going to google for more knowledge. I look forward to seeing more of your pics.

Thank you so much for sharing how Christmas is celebrated in Belgium.Please excuse my ignorance but do you usually have a goverment that only operates for half the year?
I feel really bad for the inflation you are dealing with...makes our $3.+ gas prices seem trivial.
The one thing I do know about Belgium is you export fabulous chocolate!

What a pretty way to post your pics--looks like Christmas cards.

Your village, tree, and nativity are very nice. Lots of ornaments on the tree, looks really great.

That was fun hearing about how you celebrate, and like Sandi, I know very little about Belgium and need to do some research to learn more.

That gas increase sounds horrible, makes it difficult for everyone. Hope you will have a decrease soon. And a government so the prices will stablize somewhat too.

Congratulations on completing your class, and we will look forward to having you here with us now that you will have more time.

Happy Holidays!

Luvs

Gasoline also increases, but in the same way as it increases in the USA.

Kathie, I really like the way you have interpreted the story of our government: French people love to tell "Belgian stories" (as Canadian tell "jokes about blonds") and what happens in my country is a Belgian story, except the fact that, for once, it is serious.

This is a really unusual situation and I think that your comment really funny ;-)

We never do anything like any other ... Even when we do everything wrong ;-)

Until June, we had a government (they were thieves and have not been re-elected for that reason), but since the election, elected members are unable to come to an agreement: Flemings want to separate from Belgium and Walloons have a leader who says "no" to each and every proposal that would create an agreement between these communities.

Kathie, you're right, we produce chocolate, the best chocolate in the world (especially Cote d'Or and Leonidas); we are also the home town of fries and our country produces more than 600 different sorts of beers.

We unusually have two world champion tennis players.

Thanks Luvs, I finally discovered how the photo editor works ;-)

Thank you for sharing the information about your Christmas customs. It is a shame that I do not know more about the Christmas traditions of other countries but we are trying. I try to get books for my grandchildren to read about different places and Belgium will be next on my list. I love your tree and I think you have done a great job in decorating and I love the tradition of clothes and books only for Christmas, I'm afraid my grandchildren are spoiled with all the presents they get. I think I am trying to make up for the poor childhood I had. By the way, I love those chocolates, a friend brought us some back from Europe once - they were wonderful!!
B

Thank you so much for posting your lovely decorations and I am in awe of how you have "framed" them. Very nice. Even tho everything is not perfect in life it is good that you have the Christmas spirit.

I have enjoyed reading about your customs, it brought back memories of when we lived in Europe in the late 70's.

I wish you and yours a very Blessed Christmas!

Prosperity, it was nice reading about your Christmas customs. Belgium (Brugge) was my favorite place when DH & I visited Europe 3 years ago. We had friends living there (Tervuren?) at the time, and got a good insight to some of the culture there.
How much do you pay for gas, for heaven's sake? It was outlandish when we were there, I can't believe it's even more than that! It sure made me grateful for what we have here in America and the conveniences here! I remember our friend was low on gas late one night and all the gas stations were closed. It got a little scary. ;) But I have many wonderful memories of Belgium!

I hope your government can come to some compromises soon. Have a Merry Christmas!

Paintingful, I myself only discovered about how Holidays are celebrated overseas one year ago, after having thought that my History site needed a brother or a sister ;-)

Obviously, I fell in love with these celebrations (Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter, Halloween...) that we tend to forget here in Europe because of the secularization of our society.

Luckygal, my photo editor software is some kind of new toy for me (it's Christmas some days in advance), happy to learn that you like my creations ;-)

Sharla, I know Tervuren a bit but never went there: I lived in Brussels for 37 years and like any Brussels citizen did not know about something that was not located IN Brussels... Now that I left my home town, I try to learn about my country.

Ok, gasoline costs 1,50 euro ($2) per litre, fuel (for heating and cars) costs 1/1.10 euro per litre, about natural gas (for heating) it depends of the company: if your monthly bill was 100 euros ($300) it will cost 200 up to 250 euros per month. The only energy which will not increase is electricity.

If you need home fuel, you have to wait sometimes one month before receiving your delivery because companies are overwhelmed with orders when the price of fuel increases.

Lots of us are thinking of installing wooden heating in their houses but this is also expensive when you do not live in the Ardens where the trees are growing.

If you need gasoline, you are welcome to use the automated gas stations but they are not very engaging, often on the sidelines and deserted ;-)

Wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

Sorry about the euro and US dollar conversion: if your monthly bill was 100 euros ($150 AND NOT $300).

Prosperity, you've brought back many happy memories. We lived in Brussels (Evere) for a couple of years. How I miss Belgium. Besides the chocolate, lace, and frites...just the incredible architecture and air. I love Belgium!

In 1999, we went to the Christmas market at the Grand Place. That evening, with the lights, scents, and music, the sky filled with huge snowflakes. Oh, it was like being inside a snow globe. Awesome! I have a metalwork ornament of the Hotel DeVille with Brussels on it and a paper scene we purchased at the Christmas market that year on my tree right now.

I've been keeping up with the government struggles in Belgium. Sigh...one of the things I love best about Belgium is the dual culture of Dutch and French. I'd hate to see it separate.

I'm continuing my French studies....s l o w l y, but my son (17) is studying Dutch because we have friends in Antwerp and Gent.

Thanks for sharing!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Creative Soul

Prosperity,
Thanks for sharing the Belgian custums. We traded houses for a month in 1992 with some friends who were working in Brussels. We loved our stay. The architecture, the chocolate, the frites with the wonderful sauce, the Belgian waffles!!! We were in the Flemish area of Overjise. I wasn't aware of the current government struggles. Hope that is settled soon.

prosperity, i can't thank you enough for this post!!! my dad was belgian, but he knew absolutely nothing about his background ... he always said, "LeBoutons are belgians; end of story" ...

i have always said my heritage was belgian, however, LeBouton never sounded like a belgian name to me ... what do you think? ... i don't know what a walloon is (could that be what i am?)

why are your churches closing? ... political reasons? ... society has become so secular that people no longer attend church?? ...

this is all so very interesting ... you're the first belgian i've met ... except my dad, of course!!!if in fact, he was a *bohunk*, as he always referred to himself!

merry christmas from a LeBouton living in chicago, illinois!

I'm astonished by the knowledge you have of our country!!!

Well, it's a nice country with lots of different ways of life on a small territory. Cream of the crop, I'm a half & half: Walloon and Flemish.

If America, Australia and many more countries overseas, are able to manage with their foreign citizens, Belgium (as well as France) is unable to do it and we finally adapted our culture to theirs; which means that our society is under secularization.

For instance, public schools seldom celebrate Christmas as it is a Christian celebration and Moslims do not want that their kids participate in these celebrations.

So, our government decided to remove christian celebrations, they did the same thing for school meals (they only serve "Ahl Al" meat), courses (biology tends to disappear), etc.

Christmas is only celebrated in Catholic schools.

Happyintexas, I saw the Hotel de Ville of our Grand Place on your Xmas tree but wasn't sure that it was ours as many other places in Europe have the same architecture (which dates from the Spanish domination). Your idea to decorate your tree with souvenirs from countries you visited is so great!

I'm also amazed by the Dutch courses! I did not know that this language was known out of my country and the Netherlands...

Phyl345, LeBouton... well, in French it is "Lebouton" or "Le Bouton". There are Lebouton families in Namur and even at 10 km from my village, in Gouy-Lez-Piéton (in Wallonia) but there are also Lebouton families in Flanders.

Flanders were French Counties for so many centuries that lots of their citizens have a French name (and still speak French even if they don't want to). There are also Lebouton families in Wisconsin ;-)))

One thing you could do is to request a birth certificate of your father (or of his father). You'll learn where he was from. In Belgium we often do it as we were under so many different dominations (obviously, it's not free: we pay for everything here).

I'll ask a friend of mine who lives in Gouy if she knows something about a Lebouton family who left our country to live in the USA...

What an interesting thread this is! Thank you so much for telling us about Belgium and the holidays.

hugs, Karen

Both my dad and grandfather were born in Wisconsin, so getting their birth certificates wouldn't help. I was astounded when you said you knew of LeBoutons in Wisconsin ... that's my family!!!!!! Well, i SUPPOSE there could be *other* LeBoutons in Wisconson, but I am pretty sure it's all the same family.

I was going to explain in more detail in my first post, for instance, when i was a child & would say " ... but, BUT daddy, where did you come FROM?" ... & his standard answer was always the same ..."I DON'T KNOW honey girl, my folks are from Belgiumtown" I never knew if he was kidding or not ... it might have just been a knickname for an area near Green Bay, Wisconsin.

How is it you happen to know there are LeBoutons in Wisconsin? What a huge coincidence!

So, what would be your best guess ... if dad's family lived (a long time ago) in one of the French counties that you described, would i be a Belgian or a Frenchman??? This is SO MUCH FUN ... thank you so much ... Phyl

---

P.S. I usually never bother with capitalization (as I am sure you noticed in my first post), but decided to be a little more sophisticated as I am speaking to a European!

Hahaha, I cheated the system and had a look at Google Belgium ;-) It seems that some Belgian citizens know that they have family members in America and particularly in Wisconsin.

It's really hard to know where Belgian come from since they were under Roman, Celtic, Gallic, Spanish, French, Dutch (and much more) domination over the centuries. Also lots of Walloons went to Flanders and Flemish went to Wallonia. For instance, if your family comes from Namur (Wallonia) they would have been German a few centuries ago.

But well, I am sure that Le Bouton (or Lebouton) is a French name and your family probably lived in the French part of our country; especially if your ancestors went in America after 1830.

If your family is from Flanders, you have French ancestors: Flanders joined the future Belgian provinces in the late 18th century.

1830 is the Kingdom of Belgium's birth year and the moment that our provinces were created one time for all.

As for Belgium Town, thanks to you, I discovered that there is a Belgium Town in Wisconsin and that there is "The Village of Belgium" located into this town! Their citizens came from Luxemburg (which is located in Belgium) as well as from the Grand Duché de Luxemburg (which was under Belgian government till its independance).

That is probably your father's native town... which means that you're probably from Luxemburg province (Wallonia).

You know, since in Europe we are interested by our lineage, we are able to ask for birth certificates of all our ancestors - when available obviously as lots of archives disappeared during the wars - so, if you ask for your grand-grand-grand-grand-grand... father or mother certificate, I am sure they exist.

Some of our nobles still have archives of the employees who worked in their castles over the centuries...

This way, you may learn that your family arrived in America during the 17th century.

I made this kind of search because my father had an Italian name and learned that his family did not arrived in Belgium after the second world war as it is the case for majority of Italians in Belgium but his family was already in Belgium in the early 18th century and that was the reason why my father's family did not have the Italian nationality. I did not investigated more ;-)

I also learned that my mother's last name is a name coming from France (this is my name too) and that there was a mistake made by a communal employee at a moment: our name is written with only one "l" but normally it has to be written with two "l"; which means that every person who's last name is written with one "l" in Belgium is from the same family than mine.
I noticed your application on writing with capital letters... but this was not a problem for me to read your previous message. You know, our kids tend to write in sms language and that is really hard to read as well as to accept ;-)))

Here is a link that might be useful: The Village Of Belgium In Belgium Town

I have loved reading this thread and the ties between our countries...it does sadden me to think that churches are disappearing though.

Your Christmas customs sound so very charming and not driven by the retail industry and media as they are in the U.S.

One of my best friends is Dutch - she has lived in the U.S. for many years but still maintains her Dutch citizenship. I go to the Dutch store with her sometimes - do you buy the chocolate initial for December 5 for each family member? The store has wonderful candies, meats, cheeses and pastries....we were there the other day buying these little packaged toasts and colored sprinkles that her visiting grandchildren love.

Merry Christmas Prosperity and please continue to post here - you are an interesting person!

Cattknap, thank you so much for your kind words :)

Chocolate initial is a Dutch tradition and Belgians also give that kind of chocolat to our children on December 6th (it's the date in Belgium) and to our family members on December 24th Eve or on Christmas day.

Some Dutch stores opened in Belgium 15/20 years ago and then, we buy lots of Saint Nicholas and Christmas items in these stores.

My country started 10 years ago - with the help of the private televisions - to commercialize Saint Nicholas and Christmas. Advertisements start on October 30th for Saint-Nicholas and on November 15th for Christmas.

Unfortunately, I just read in the newspapers that Brussels Courthouse just removed the Christmas decorations in order to not hurt Muslims that live in our country :-(

In the middle 60's my 1st DH and I spent Christmas in Brussels helping a Christian missionary who owned/owns a Christian Printing company. We worked hard and loved it!!! We had a coal heater in our tiny 4th story bedroom, that had an isinglass window to view the fire...it was a lovely couple of weeks we spent in your area. I am still wearing a jacket that we bought in the main shopping district!!! It is some worse for the wear, but I still love it and the fur collar is nice and snuggly!!
In more recent years, I have worked for a jeweler who always buys his loose diamonds in Brussels...he brings me wonderful pictures each year that he goes over! (and one of "your" diamonds is in my engagement ring that DH gave me when we married 10 years ago!!) It is wonderful to see you posting and I hope that you continue to post and let us know how things are going with your country!! and you!!!!
Merry Christmas and many blessings to you!

Hooooooo! You've come in our country during what we call "the great years". Our country was a "pays de cocagne": a country where life was better than everywhere else in Europe.

I presume that the main shopping district was the Rue Neuve (New Street) with its nice stores like the Bon Marché and also the Innovation (which burned in the late 60's).

Now it has changed... Nobody does appreciate this street any more and lots of people prefer the Woluwe Shopping Center, also the Ixelles and Louise avenues and obviously the Waterloo Blvd (where lots of haute couture stores are located).

Oh, yes, I forgot that Belgium (and especially Antwerp) is the kingdom of diamonds ;-)

Brussels changed a lot since the 60's and is not beautiful as it has been but it's my hometown and I love it. I'll think of you when I'll arrive Monday ;-)))

God bless you :)

I feel like I have taken a charming "armchair" Old World tour of Belgium,and my world has expanded, all the while sipping coffee and enjoying the first day of my vacation.
Secularization, if there is such a word, is something many countries are facing, including the U.S. So, while I can, just let me wish you a...
Merry Christmas!

Yes Ma'am.....Bon Marché is where I bought my jacket and Antwerp is where the jeweler goes for the big diamond sale each year!!! THANK you for refreshing my dull mind!!! I could NOT think of specific names when I was typing yesterday!! And yes it was an absolutely beautiful city when I was there! And I LOVED the pommes frites (??)stands...probably ate too many of them :^)...and then there was the dark chocolate...mmmmmmmmm good!
It is lovely to visit with you!!
Blessings to you!
J

Prosperity, thank you for taking the time to share with us how you celebrate Christmas in Belgium... it's a marvelous education, and a joy.

--Jenn

Prosperity, we homeschool (as we did when we lived in Brussels) and that allows my son to study whatever language he likes. :0) For him Dutch is a practical language because he likes to work with a small church youth camp in the Ardennes during the summers, plus we have friends in Gent and Antwerp.

Woluwe Shopping center was not too far from my apartment. I bought a great sweater there as well as a pair of shoes. Happy memories. While I loved the shopping near the Grand Place, having an mall nearby was a comfort, too. :0) The store I fell in love with was IKEA. Such fun cooking and lighting things. As far as shopping goes, I miss, miss, miss the weekly street markets.

I miss the walking everywhere mindset. We lived within walking distance of two grocery stores, two wonderful French bakeries, a pastry shop, a butcher shop, and a few miscellenous shops. I grew to love shopping for groceries only a day or two in advance. And the bread....habit forming. I miss that. Walking everywhere was so very good for me.

I used to ride the #63 bus from my apartment to the Grand Place. Along the way were several examples of wonderful Art Nouveau architechture. What an incredible country! Even on the bus, there are sights to be seen.

You've made me very homesick for my other country. Thanks!

Here is a link that might be useful: Creative Soul

I absolutely loved this thread and hated when it ended. It was so interesting. My roots are in Spain, but I did live in Bitburg Germany for three years. I just love Europe.

Unfortunately, Bon Marché doesn't exist any more, the company closed the store, sold Innovation and GB separately (GB is now Carrefour Belgium - a French company) and Innovation is now "Inno", stores where you find lots of haute couture sellers. JC Penny also disappeared (I loved these stores!)

Pommes frites... yes, it's our national meal ;-) We never eat to many of them - except that I don't really like fries and prefer baked potatoes or sweet potatoes.

We also sold our national chocolate company to a Swiss company but the chocolate is still the same. However, the company tried to switch the cocoa butter by low fat butter and finally wasn't authorized to do it.

My parents live in Evere (near NATO), so I know the 63 bus very well ;-))) but I grew up near the Cinquantenaire park (EEC district). It's now a district that looks a lot like Wall Street and where very few people still live (my aunt did not move from there).

My companion and I were living in Forest(South-West of Brussels) but when we separated, I've been living in Watermael Boitsfort, near our famous Bois de la Cambre (South of Brussels); which is our "Central Park".

As you talk about our weekly markets: each Thursday, there is a night market (from 3 PM to 7 or 8 PM); I liked this market and especially at Christmas time, when the lights provided a fairy atmosphere.

This Brussels district is a nice mix between the city and the country.

Happyintexas, I notice that you know Belgium more than I do, lol. Ikea is one of our most famous stores: it's a Swedish store that sells beautiful things (Furniture, ornaments, everything for the home) for a low price: Ali Baba's cavern!

Sunday breakfast with my parents: two "pistolets" (small round breads), butter, jam, coffee or hot chocolate (for kids). Breakfast at my home: croissants, coffee or tea. Belgian people love bread. They couldn't live without it.

On Sunday afternoon, those of us who visit their family eat rice pie and drink coffee: Belgians drink a lot of coffee. Walloons prefer "pecket" which is white alcohol (awful!)

I noticed that Belgians don't invite the whole family for Christmas or other holidays and if they their parents, they will not invite their parents in law... the following year, it will be the opposite. I don't know why ...

Vique pa... I've also lots of Spanish memories as my mother got married with a Spanish 35 years ago ;-)))

Here are some pics I love:

Cinquantenaire Park:

Bois de la Cambre:

Abbaye de la Cambre:

My classic dance teacher's former house (a Saint-Cyr creation and classified house):

Baron Horta's Art Nouveau (Hotel Solvay - classified architecture)

Thank you for the beautiful photos...it's like having my very own personal tour guide.It has been such a pleasure reading about your little corner of the world.
May you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and a healthy, happy New Year...and may your name fortell your future ;-)

Prosperity, I also would like to thank you for the beautiful pictures & stories of your country. It's one thing to read about a country, but quite another altogether to hear it from someone from there.

Thank you so much for your kind words! I learned a lot about America while reading your posts all along this forum, and hope to learn more as the time goes by...
Just wanted to stop seeing USA like the American dream (good or bad) that each European who never left Europe sees your country and its people (now you're real and not only pictures on a movie).
I hope that our old continent seems a bit more real for you too ;-)

PS Normally (which means: if I don't forget) tomorrow I'll post more Christmas decoration pics: I'll take my camera with me when I'll go shopping.

Oh, and I also featured some of your pics on my Christmas site. The page is called "Breathtaking Christmas Decorations).

Prosperity, I've so enjoyed reading this thread and all your posts. Thank you for taking the time to share the history and traditions of your country. It's so much nicer, and often more accurate, to learn such things from people like you who actually live in the country being discussed rather than rely on our usual media sources. I've also enjoyed reading what our other members have written about their experiences while living or visiting your lovely country. My DH also read the posts and says thanks!

Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Diana

Thanks to you and your hubby, Diana :)

I'm back from my Brussels Christmas trip ;-)

Well, Belgium is on high alert because of threats of attacks and there are very few people in the streets. On the other hand, there is a lot of policemen in the train stations, subway and everywhere else. It's a bit scary...

Very few houses are decorated for Christmas, so I've not been able to take pictures: Brussels citizens only decorated their windows with the Belgian flag (because of separatism threats).

Oh yes, good new: we have a new (temporary) government! Obviously, ministers who participate are those who have not been elected by Belgian people (as usual) and the majority of them should be in prison. I'm wondering why elections are mandatory in Belgium ;-)))

Otherwise, our Christmas Eve was calm: my grand-mother is 87 years old and went back home at 10 PM. My parents, my son and I spent some more hours watching a movie and talking.

Next year, I'll organize a Christmas Day dinner instead of a Christmas eve... this way everybody will be present and we'll enjoy this family gathering.

I also spent some minutes on this forum, showing my mother your beautiful Christmas pictures... She told me: "OMG! I always said that I want to live in America! Americans know how to do things big!"

Well... She should begin her American way of life by decorating her apartment for Christmas: there was only a mini Christmas tree in the living room ;-)

Prosperity....I cannot begin to thank you enough for posting. It was so enjoyable reading about how you celebrate the Christmas holiday. It sounds like you are blessed with a wonderful family and tradition. I am embarrassed to say that I was unaware of the political turmoil there. It is good for us to open our eyes to what others are facing. All of your Christmas pictures were just lovely. I especially love the houses that you collect and that gorgeous nativity. I hope your New Year is full of happiness, laughter and health. Happy New Year! ~Robin~

How nice of you & so enjoyable to all of us to get a taste of your country. The company my husband works for has a company in Belgium, but he's never been there. He does bring home chocolates everytime someone from his company has been there & they are delicious.

I had heard some about your government & it's instability. Sad, but seems the way of the world now. We can all just pray for peace on earth, but I doubt we'll see it in our lifetime.

I so enjoyed all your pictures, the history of your customs etc. I hope you continue to post here all year long, not just at holiday time.

Welcome!

...and don't forget the Belgian Waffes! :)

Thanks for sharing with us.

You made me think of the American humourous author David Sedaris - he's currently living in France and is/was taking French lessons with a group of Int'l students and he writes about cultural issues that have come up in class.

While he's been in France:
He learned that in the Netherlands children open their presents on Dec 5, in celebration
of St Nicholas Day. Saint Nicholas is painfully thin and dresses somewhat like the pope, and the outfit was a carryover from his former career, when he served as bishop of Turkey.
St Nicholas doesn't live at the North
Pole - but in Spain! In the Dutch version he arrives in a boat, transfers to a white horse and he has six to eight black helpers. David could never
pin down the exact count. It was always six to eight!
In the early days if a child was naughty, Saint Nicholas and the helpers would beat him with a small branch and kick him, and if was
really bad....he would be kidnapped and taken back
to Spain. I thought just being on a naughty or nice list was bad enough. LOL
Now Saint Nicholas just pretends to kick you!... Progess!
Oh how dull is our American version after reading that - has all the makings of a Tim Burton movie.

His French teacher couldn't believe when he said in US the Easter rabbit/bunny comes w/a basket and chocolates.
A rabbit? In France the chocolate in brought in on a big bell that flies in from Rome. A bell?

Ahh - the American big, while I was browsing some French and Danish blogs I noticed
how "restrained" the Christmas decorating was to ours, I'll be thinking of that when I'm taking mine
down, packing up and hauling it all to the attic over many hours...sometimes less is more, well easier anyway.

Jim

Hey yachter, our chocolate is the best chocolate you'll ever find.

But these last months we have been known for something else: on our National festival (July 21st) a minister also sang the "Marseillaise" (National French hymn) instead of the "Brabançonne".

We also are famous for our alcoholic minister who was interviewed while he was drunk. The show has been worldwide scheduled... Cream of the crop, he still drinks a lot and is never ashamed! Ah, my beautiful country and its people ;-))) We have TOO tasty beers;-)

Living in Belgium can be funny...

Hahaha, I'll try to post all year long even if it's not every day (will have a new english training course and also a web design training in order to find a job in an IT service) as there are holidays all year long.

Seriously, I plan to visit these forums as often as possible as I also have a garden but no "green fingers".

Chijim, you're right, we have so delicous waffles. Especially Brussels waffles, even if Liège waffles are good too!

You're also right regarding the Dutch Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas). Belgians don't know where their Saint Nicholas comes from but he comes on December 6th - maybe because he has a lot of work in the Netherlands on December 5th ;-)

But ours doesn't punish naughty children and has only one Black helper (Black Pete).

Bells of Rome bring Easter eggs to our kids and we have a maxim for grinning children: "If bells of Rome ring, you'll remain like that all your life" (not sure about the translation).

Prosperity, don't be embarrassed by your drunken minister--as you know, we have had worse embarrassment from our leadership in the past. Just because they get elected to a position of leadership does not mean they are morally good examples. LOL

Sorry you are experiencing so many changes. Hope things level off pretty soon.

I have to say that while I know we do the Santa Claus thing to make things fun for the children, it does concern me that so many of our holidays involve make believe characters like Santa and the Easter Bunny. But it is nice to see them have so much fun, and none of us seemed to suffer from learning that it was all just make believe. LOL

Luvs

Moreover, it's a Walloon minister, elected by Walloons and since Walloons love to drink "pecket" I presume they found a friend into this minister, hahahaha.

The way you celebrate and organize your Christmas Eve and Day are the right ways - and I think that British people still do the same as you - because here we never share Christmas Eve and Day with our family so, when does Santa bring the gifts? On December 23rd as the gifts are already under the tree on December 24th when we arrive in our family. We don't open them on December 25th as we leave our family after the 24th dinner.

Regarding the Easter Bells, it's easier to believe because parents disperse eggs in the garden or in the apartment the night before and the on Easter day, children leave in the egg hunt.

I think that believing in these characters or things is important for our children and... for us ;-)

Porsperity, as Luvs said, our country & it's elected are not above reproach either. We have plenty of our own embarassments here in the U.S.

Santa brings the gifts on Christmas eve (the 24th) and children wake up to them on Christmas morning.
My oldest grandson (11) just admitted he does not believe anymore. He tried his hardest to believe still, but kids at school made fun of him & he realized he cannot admit to them he believes anymore.
I hope you do continue to post, we get a glimpse of your country, as tourists would with a great guide!

Lots of children lose their belief at school. By obligation, because children are cruel or by accident.

In Belgium, Saint Nicholas is also celebrated in schools: on December 5th or 6th they receive the great patron of schoolboys who gives candies and a little gift to the children.

I remember that, when I was 8 or 9, Saint Nicholas was visiting kids at school and someone screamed: "Philip Craig removed Saint Nicolas beard! Now we know he does not exist!"

I still remember the name of the child who did it! I'll never forget. My grand-mother was so disappointed when I told her that I didn't believe any more.

I hope that your grand son will not talk about it to his youngest brothers and sisters or even to his cousins.

Thank you so much for your compliment, I love history and social issues. My ex husband often said that I'd rather be a tourist guide or castle guide than an accountant or an IT (web design) employee ;-)

Yesterday evening, I watched Euro News and CNN and learned a bit about how the American elections work. So... preliminaries started in Iowa. Can't wait for being in November to know who will become your next president ;-)

I know there's a time when all children stop believing in Santa (and the Easter Bunny), but its such a wonderfully magical time till then to revisit them thru a child's eyes.
And I think when the magic of Santa and the Easter Bunny are long gone, one only has to remember that they still remain with us as they are the Spirit of the Season.
I like to think of dear ol' Santa as maturing into Father Christmas, he may not be as visible as he was when we were children, but we should always know he's "there" with us.

hugs, Karen