We seem to be mixing our festivals into a huge Christmas pudding of confusion. Saint Nicholas comes on 6 December. Saint Nick/Santa Claus/Father Christmas, surely, just coming a little earlier, with his white beard, red coat and big sack, to ease the load of Christmas eve? No, St Nicholas is an old bishop. The Weihnachtsmann is Father Christmas and he really only visits children who has been televisually and internationally corrupted. Innocent Austrian children, unpolluted by foreign custom are visited by the Christkind. The Christ child/Jesus? No, a beautiful angel with curly hair who brings presents and decorates the Christmas tree on Christmas eve. What on earth was the Christkind doing visiting our house before the 24th?, the children's friends wanted to know, on seeing our beautifully decorated tree well in advance of Christmas eve. In the end both Father Christmas and the Christkind visited our house and left a little note explaining how much they had enjoyed working together.
