“Even if I was invited, I would decline.”

There was one friend who understood the kind of investment Sinterklaas in my family, actually entailed.
And that it wasn’t for the faint at heart.

The celebrations have been passed on to the next generation, and I am no longer included.
I used to wonder why I didn’t miss it, since it had been the highlight of my year.

But before I elaborate it’s probably a good idea to explain the Dutch tradition of Sinterklaas.

Sinterklaas is pretty much just like Christmas celebrations, where children get their presents straight from The Man Himself.
But here it’s 5 December, instead of the 25th.

And Dutch children get rhymes with their presents, and “surprises’ which is hand-crafted themed-packaging.

F.e. if you get tickets to a soccer match, you may get a “surprise” in the form of an old soccer ball, and the tickets are hid inside.

However, it is not just a Children’s fest as many adult friend groups or extended families can also have a Sinterklaas party.
They buy presents for each other, make rhymes and surprises too.

And in the case of highly competitive adults all bidding against one another who has made Sint the best rhymes and has come up with the funniest verses;
This is when Sinterklaas-night can become the artistic highlight of the year.
And in our case, it did.

The work you put in was just as rewarding as the night itself.

Every year I made somewhere between 20 and 30 presents, beautifully wrapped and all with a rhyme.
And every year I had no idea how I would get it done.
It was a lot!
But it was so incredibly rewarding.

Yet, I never missed it once it stopped. By then, my creative energy had already found its way into my writing.
52 weeks a year.

This year I even started with a content calendar, which is a production schedule.
By now I create 5 pieces of content per week, for different accounts.

It’s like creating 5 different gifts, and I always fear I started too late and it won’t get done.
But it always does.

As if Sinterklaas still gives it a blessing.

~Suzanne Beenackers
Catacombe
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