The crazy enthusiasm and drama our family brings to singing what has to be the most popular Sinterklaas song of all time is one of my deepest and fondest memories of life with Dad, starting from as early as I can remember up to the last Sinterklaas we all did together in 2022. While the lead-up and planning for this very Dutch holiday was always lots of fun: buying little gifts and writing riddle poems and treasure hunt instructions for them, deciding who will surreptitiously deploy the gift basket by the front door and who will bang on the outside of the house to drive the kids into a frenzy running all over trying to spot Sinterklaas, and figuring out what kids have become old enough to be let in on all this the behind-the-scenes magic, to me how we’d sing “De Zak Van Sinterklaas” was the part of the holiday that captured Dad’s energy and joy best.
After dinner we’d gather in front of the fireplace and he would remind us that, in order for Sinterklaas to hear us so he’d know to come to our house - hopefully with gifts…, we’d have to sing loudly, very loudly in fact since he was based all the way in Holland. And so for maximum effect, we’d begin with “De Zak…”, starting quietly on the first note after taking huge breaths, and then building volume for as long as we could hold that “De…” to a massive crescendo, and then belting out the rest of the song while often cracking up with laughter too. When not long after we’d hear banging outside, and then while no one was looking the door would fly open and candy would go flying across the floor next to a magically-appeared basket brimming with loot, we knew we’d done our jobs!
As a kid I couldn’t wait to do this and see how long we could hold that note, watching Dad lead the charge with a big smile and a dramatic gesture as he inhaled, trying to make my breath last as long as his. I was then able to watch my younger siblings go through this rite of passage, and now our kids, each taking their own little batons from Opa to keep Sinterklaas coming back year after year.