The last day of the winter holidays is about to arrive, the one in which the children wake up with a delicious gift: the Befana stocking! Sweets and sweets, perhaps better if prepared at home, will delight the palates of the little ones, but how do you go about getting the “perfect sock”?
If the teachers did not fail to assign gods assignmentsthen let’s make sure that our puppies don’t do them on the last day of the holiday. Also, let’s say goodbye to the dear old man coal and we choose rather than chocolate, better if it is of good quality and fair trade.
In short, no homework, no coal and lots of chocolate, are the three Cs suggested by the pediatrician Italo Farnetani, full professor at the Free University of Human and Technological Sciences of Malta, already known as a staunch opponent of exercises to be done on school break days.
“The Epiphany – explains Farnetani – is the last of the holidays of this period, precious opportunities to get to know one’s roots, cultivate family traditions, experience the magic and joy of tasty surprises. The homework has been assigned, in some cases there have been quite a few, but the return to class is now upon us, so for those who have been left behind I suggest a nice justification to put in their stocking. Children and young people will catch up on their work at school, without too many problems. It is useless to burn the last day of celebration on books and notebooks”.
Green light for the stocking instead and as for the other Cs, “the chocolate in the stocking is very good, it is rich in ‘good’ fats, a little caloric but the children will not eat too much of it. The charcoal on the other hand is a useless addition, which leaves a bad taste in the child’s mouth, even if it is sugar”.
And are socks only good for those who believe in them? Absolutely not! Generally, it is up to the age of eight that children believe in the presence of the Befana, then they discover the role of mum, dad and grandparents, but it is always nice to receive her and it is also nice for us adults, the moment we realize that our loved ones have thought of us and have prepared a sweet surprise for us.
Ultimately, the Befana stocking is much more than a simple container of sweets: it is an opportunity to celebrate childhood, enhance traditions and give moments of joy shared within the family. Whether it’s homemade sweets, quality chocolate or small tasty surprises, the important thing is to convey to our children the sense of celebration and magic, without forgetting that these last days of holiday must be lived peacefully, in the name of rest and being together.
Let us therefore let the Befana close the holidays in the sweetest way possible, preparing adults and children to set off towards the daily routine with energy and serenity.
