The Sandman

Here's an event which has become common at home: Daisy rubs her eyes in the morning. She feels some "sand" in her eyes, and picks it up and looks at it. Then she tries to stick it back on her face.

Daisy, like all German children, is visited by the Sandman. He comes between 6:50 and 7:00 every night to sprinkle sand on the kids and tell them to go to bed. It's a very retro TV program, coming straight to us from the DDR. I've included some youtube links, but I'm not sure if they'll work from the US. Hope so!

Each night, the cute little Sandman makes an exotic entrance: trumpeting from a mail truck, riding an elephant, or flying in on a magic carpet. He sees some children, who greet him warmly:

Sandmann, lieber Sandmann,

es ist noch nicht soweit!

Wir sehen erst den Abendgruß,

ehe jedes Kind ins Bettchen muss,

du hast gewiss noch Zeit.

English translation:

Sandman, dear Sandman,

It's not time to sleep yet!

Tell us one more story

Before we have to go to bed -

We still have a little time!

Then, there's a five-minute cartoon. After it's over, the sandman tells the children to go to bed and sprinkles them with sand. 

Kinder, liebe Kinder,

es hat mir Spaß gemacht!

Nun schnell ins Bett und schlaft recht schön,

dann will auch ich zur Ruhe gehn,

ich wünsch’ euch Gute Nacht.

English translation:

Children, dear children,

I had a lot of fun with you!

Now go quickly to bed and sleep well,

And I will also go to bed.

Good night, sleep tight. (sprinkle!)

We're not really TV people, but it's cultural, so....Actually, this adorable little show easily became a part of our nighttime routine. We love how short it is (10 minutes!) and how calm it is. A brilliant tradition for a country to adopt!