Author: yoongz

Today is the day that Samichlaus & his Schmutzli traditionally come & visit the children. He’s like Santa but the Swiss/European version & the Schmutzli is his companion. i have been told that if a child is good, then Samichlaus (looks pretty much like Santa) gives him/her goodies. If a child is not good, then the Schmutzli (dressed in all black with a black beard) will bag the kid & dump him somewhere. i’m not sure when this Samichlaus comes on this date – at Christmas over here – it’s the Christ Child that comes & gives gifts.
There was also the big Chase the Samichlaus thingy – the Kuessnachter Klausjagen – which happened last night – it’s a big event in a little village called Kuessnacht. Every year we try to make it there but we never do get to it – sigh! Hopefully next year.

So today we went to our local supermarket to see Samichlaus – it’s Tobias’ 1st Samichlaus (previous 2years don’t count – he was too small to do anything) Tobias was a little unsure what to do with a big man in a red suit with a white beard & his little help in all black. He sort of warmed up to them when they told him to open his bag so they could give him the goodies (peanuts, chocolate & mandarin). The Schmutzli had to bribe him with a chocolate so he would stand with Samichlaus for a photo. Here’s the photo (i forgot to ask the Schmutzli to get into the picture):

It has been windy & rainy – not nice weather at all – the temps are bad – just wind & rain makes it all gloomy – hopefully this will pass & we’ll get some nice white snow for Christmas.
Now to get off my bum & get to writing cards – yep haven’t even written them – let alone send them out!!
syc

We saw a little hedgehog on our back terrace a couple of nights ago – i had wanted a nice little photo but unfortunately it was dark & i didn’t want to flash at the little guy so we didn’t get a picture. So check out Hedgehog Central then you guys can have a look how cute they are.
Tobias was really excited – it was cold so we wrapped him in a fleece blanket & let him stand at the doorway looking at the hedgehog. We turned on the light to see it better but the little hedgehog walked away after a while. It did come back but went away quickly as i think it didn’t like being stared at by 3x pairs of human eyes ;).
We’ve been hoping to see it again but it hasn’t appeared – maybe i’ll try & put out some food for it to see if it will come back. Now that i know what it eats that is – just concerned that the neighbourhood cats might beat the little guy to the food.

On other matters which occupy our lives at the moment, we are in a frustrating waiting thingy – we’ve been waiting for Walter’s office & client to confirm if we are going to Texas or not & when. It has been like this for a month now – sigh! At 1st they said 2x months, & now they say maybe just Dec & now they aren’t even sure – sigh! Hopefully we’ll know within the next few days – i’ve been constantly telling people that we are going & people keep asking when & i keep saying i don’t know (especially hard with the Krippe & our Music & BSF classes, the latter 2x i had hope to be able to carry on if we do go there) – the other frustrating bit is not knowing how much we can plan for – esp during this festive season – sigh!!

On a good note, Tobias has started telling the ladies at the Krippe (daycare) when he needs to go to the loo – which is great!!! He’s also picking up more & more Swiss now. i have to now listen hard to see if he’s saying something in Swiss or English, which has it’s funny & frustrating moments – i must remember to write down what he says.

So that’s it – now to motivate myself to start on writing Christmas cards & sending them out before it’s too late. Tired from waking up early to drive Walter to the train station – he’s in Germany till tomorrow.
syc

Today over lunch, i watched a documentary on our Charlie & the Chocolate Factory DVD – it was about Roald Dahl – the author of Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. Near the end of the documentary, Dahl is quoted saying “Children don’t need ‘snotty’ parents. They deserve ‘sparky’ parents” (note: quote is not exact). Somewhere in the documentary they also say that Dahl had 2x ‘sparky’ parents. So it set me thinking – what are ‘sparky’ parents? They sound great & if they can help a child grow up to be a fun-loving genis like Dahl – i wanna be one too.
i’ve always known that i would be hard on my kid/s (one of the reasons i thot i should never marry was that i thot my kid/s would suffer too much). & i’m finding that to be true now that i do have a kid. i’m real strict on what can & can’t be done or should be done & expect a lot from him – am i expecting too much? Maybe – i think so. That’s why the idea of being a ‘sparky’ parent really appeal to me.
What about my parents? They were strict but they are also, in my opinion, the best parents anyone could have – i won’t trade them for the world. Sure there were times when i was young that i thot i didn’t really like them but those times were few & far between. My parents are great – they had rules about the important stuff but other than that they let us be who we are & tried to support us in any way they can. They are also great fun to be with – i grew up in a household that was always noisy & full of laughter.
i can truly say that i believe my parents are ‘sparky’ parents! & i wanna be like them.
i will aim to add some ‘sparkyness’ to my parenting.
So what do u think are ‘sparky’ parents?
syc

PS: If you have not watched the movie or read the above mentioned book, please do – it’s great!