At least that is what you might ascertain if you saw the Swedish Lucia celebration - but probably you would just think Lucia is a cute young blonde girl who loves to sing.
Anyways, meaning be damned, it is a beautiful Swedish tradition - that really maximizes the need for coziness at this dark dark time of year.
But if you have little kids? It really is all about the cute.
St. Lucia means little kids on parade - singing and doing those silly hand gestures. It's awesome.
Little Swede was TERRIFIED of all things Lucia, they told us at his pre-school a few weeks ago.
So bring in Operation Save St. Lucia Parade here at our house
We sang songs all day long - thanks to the Barnkammaren Silverboken.
An example of dinnertime discussion: "What does Vingesus mean exactly?"
"Vingesus? That's not a word, vingesus!"
"Oh really? Because it's in Barnkammare boken."
Oh Vingsus
Yes, �lskling I mean Vingesus
The kicker is all I remember is that vingsus is something about fluttering wings, don't know if I have that right anyway.
(Why is pronunciation SO frustrating sometimes)
Anyways, the St. Lucia parade was a success! Little Swede, in a tomta/santa suit which we had to practice wearing for at least a week - led the way and sat down in his place no problem. He then stared out into the audience for about 5 minutes before shouting 'PAPPA!' when he finally spotted us. Then he continued staring.
The preschool teachers did a great job of singing. There was a little bit of everything. Some kids ran immediately to their parents crying. One little girl repeatedly fell off of the bench they were standing on and landed on some kids below. (She was promptly wooshed up and replaced on the bench - no tears shed).
One kid emphatically did all of the hand gestures.
The rest just kind of watched us.
It was classic.
Afterwards there were saffron rolls and rice porridge - what more could you want?
I love Lucia!
(Here is a pre-school lucia just for grins)
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