" The mother goes out. Of course
there is nobody there; and when she comes back the child calls out:
"St. Thomas's Day! What will you give me to let you in?" So the mother
promises something, which is usually chocolate, with a piece of
_cramique_--a kind of bread with currants in it--and not till then is
the door opened. This, of course, is great fun for the children, who
always hope that their parents have forgotten what day it is, and so
will be easily tricked.
A week later is the Festival of SS. Innocents, or _Allerkinderendag_
(the day of all the children), as it is called in Flemish, which is
observed in memory of the slaughter of the children by Herod. On this
day Belgian children are supposed to change places with their parents,
wear their best clothes, and rule the household.
They can put on their parents' clothes, and go about the house making
as much noise as they like, teasing the servants and giving them
orders. The youngest girl has the privilege of telling the cook what
she is to prepare for dinner; and all the children may go out and walk
about dressed up as old people.
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