Christmas Eve in the children's home - "I've come to the conclusion that Christmas can be very nice after all"
Created: 12/24/2022, 08:00
Manager Cecilia Mingazzini finds the Christmas season in the Tabalugahaus Schongau indescribably beautiful.
© Hans-Helmut Herold
The best thing about Christmas is being with your loved ones.
But what about those who can't celebrate Christmas with their families?
Schongau – There are fir branches on the table, a plate with speculoos and cookies is served.
It's still relatively quiet in the Tabaluga children's home in Schongau, as the children are still at school.
But the Advent season in the house cannot be described as calm and contemplative, says Cecilia Mingazzini, director of the children's home, and laughs.
But that is by no means meant in a negative way.
The pre-Christmas period is the most beautiful, but also the most exciting time of the year for children.
The festival and the preparation should be as similar as possible for the children to those in the families.
Typical traditions such as baking cookies or an Advent wreath are part of it.
Another must-attend event before Christmas is cutting down the Christmas tree together with one of the teachers.
"It's always an adventure that the kids really look forward to," says Mingazzini.
Every year on the Sunday in the week before Christmas, the Holzhey family comes to the Advent tea - they make their former parents' house available to the Tabaluga Children's Foundation.
The children usually prepare a Christmas carol or a poem, and the excitement can sometimes be great.
Every year the whole group gets something for free.
Very often they are nice excursions such as a day in the thermal baths or in the Augsburger Puppenkiste.
The longing for family grows particularly strongly during this time
A former resident tells of her experiences at Christmas in the home.
She associates only good things with the festivals.
"The mood is very happy and harmonious," says Martina B.
(name changed)
.
Mingazzini sees it the same way, but also knows how difficult this time is for the children.
The longing for family grows especially during this time, which is why the educators try everything to make the Christmas season as familiar as possible.
Almost all children spend December 24th indoors.
They're together all year round, so they want to celebrate this day together too.
Only on Christmas Day do some of them go to their families.
This is how Christmas Eve is celebrated in the children's home
Christmas Eve starts early for the children.
In the morning, the self-cut Christmas tree is decorated with baubles and stars.
Afterwards the group goes shopping together for the raclette dinner in the evening.
Everyone chooses the ingredients that they would like to prepare in their pan when eating.
Then games are played.
The tension and anticipation grows among the children as the gift-giving draws nearer.
Everyone makes themselves extra chic for this special day, even the little ones.
In the afternoon we go to the children's mass.
"Everyone always came with us," says Martina B.
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Of course there is also an alternative program for children who do not want to go to church.
In the meantime, you can continue to have fun with games or you can get in the mood for the contemplative evening with the educators in some other way.
After the service, the children stream back into the house to eat raclette together at the festively set table.
Then it goes towards the main room to see if the Christkind was already there.
But first you have to be patient.
The whole group then waits anxiously behind a curtain in the kitchen.
When the bell rings, allow the children to come out slowly.
There is no such thing as stormy gift-wrapping.
One of the children gets to distribute the gifts to all the others.
When the presents are over, as in all families, there are sometimes small quarrels, but mostly among the little ones.
"I always got everything I wanted," says the 19-year-old gratefully.
(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Schongau newsletter.)
Gifts for children - Local companies help with procurement
In order to make the children so happy and to give them what they want, support from outside is of course needed.
Local companies find out about the children's gift requests in good time and buy the things that end up under the tree in the Tabaluga house.
"We are very grateful for this network and the numerous donations from outside, without which this would never have been possible," says the director.
Some children also receive gifts from their families.
In this case, it ensures that everything is reasonably balanced.
The caregivers also often receive little things from the children, such as pictures or handicrafts.
"I've come to the conclusion that Christmas can be very nice after all"
Martina B. was invited to the house again this year on Christmas Eve and is happy to be able to celebrate with the other children.
"To me, Tabaluga means family," she says.
She particularly likes to remember her first Christmas party at the children's home.
She had previously had bad experiences with Christmas and actually didn't feel like all the hustle and bustle.
Nevertheless, she came to the children's mass and was enthusiastic.
“I've come to the conclusion that Christmas can be very nice after all.
I was made to feel accepted.”
The two women wish for one thing for the future of the Tabalugahaus: The classification of the children who grow up in the home must finally stop.
You still have the creepy ideas of children's homes from the 50s and 60s.
But that hasn't been the reality for a long time, says Mingazzini: "The children are not at all responsible for growing up in the home and are therefore not second-class people, but completely normal children."
"It wouldn't be so bad living in the home if it weren't for the other people outside."
Little boy in the Tabaluga home
A sentence that a little boy said to Mingazzini at Christmas has stayed with her to this day: "It wouldn't be so bad to live in a home if the other people weren't outside." She wishes that clichés and prejudices against children who live in children's homes disappear from people's minds and people understand that the children grow up well protected there as well as in families.
Martina B. also wishes the children a happy, healthy and exciting Christmas.
"Exactly what I was able to experience there for years," she says gratefully.
You can find more current news from the region around Schongau at Merkur.de/Schongau.
