Preparing a Kerst-diner Gift!

It seems like I'm writing about a completely different world... but in reality, this was only about six months ago! Coronavirus and all the rest of the interesting events that 2020 have thrown in our faces has really changed things quite drastically in our little family... thankfully, nothing healthwise... but the impact of the shutdown has really been felt quite heavily, and has thrown some new perspectives on our priorities in life!

Anyway, enough about 2020... something that our girl's school does which my wife and I never experienced in Australia whilst growing up, is the idea of the Kerst (Christmas) dinner (also for Easter... ). This is where the school gathers again in the evening after a school day to celebrate together with a little dinner and party (in their class groups)... of course, it is more convenient if you happen to live close to the school which is more the norm in Netherlands!

So, the whole class have little things to bring for the dinner... everyone is assigned something to bring (little party food sort of things) and volunteers help out with the set of the classroom. It seems to generally coincide with a Wednesday before Christmas as those are the days where the school is only there for a half day in the morning... giving everyone more time to prepare for the dinner which usually starts with a school gathering around 1700.... and parents are definitely NOT welcome!

In addition to the group contribution to the dinner, every child has to prepare a dessert dish for another child in their class. During the week, every child in the class has to fill out a little piece of paper with their name and some of their most favourite desserts. Then, everyone in the class gives randomly given another child's name (and preferred desserts).... and then they are supposed to bring the dessert plate with with some of the favourites and to dress it up nicely as well!

So, the Wednesday afternoon off is a perfect time to prepare the little dish and craftwork that goes into making it nice. The range of effort (and sometimes.. parental help...) does vary from child to child... also, there is a bit of imagination and crafting skill that is at play as well. However, the idea is really quite a beautiful idea... that you are preparing something for someone who you might not know really that well and taking the time and effort to do it in a way that is personal.

The recipient of our oldest child's dessert gift had Brownies, Marshmallows and Donuts as his listed preferred desserts. So, we made some brownies.. bought some donuts (we don't know how to make those!) and disguised the marshmallows as the flag holders! The best part of all of this was the fact that our oldest designed the whole thing... and helped with the cooking.

It is a really nice way to spend the afternoon and the kids really enjoy having a nice surprise when they arrive at the classroom in the evening. They all are walking in with their gifts and creations eager to leave them at a special table... and no one knows who has made what for who! It is a great little moment of being aware of others and taking the time, energy and care to prepare something special for another person. A touching tradition to have and experience... and something that we missed out on when my wife and I were at school!

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