I remember that on the afternoon of Christmas eve we kids would be BANISHED on pain of unspecified pain from the downstairs of the house. During this time the Christ-child (the central European franchiseholder for Santa) would appear, but only if no children were there to break the magic!
During that time we might or might not hear the sounds of a tree being schlepped in, decorated in a maternal whirlwind, and the soft telltale of wrapped parcels being placed. Remarkably i never heard the sounds of the Christ-child uttering Viennese curses in my parents' voice.
Schieße
