Wolfenoot — say “wolf-uh-noot” — was a holiday born in 2018 after a y-year-old New Zealand boy told his mom that, “The Spirit of the Wolf brings and hides small gifts around the house for everyone. People who have, have had or are kind to dogs get better gifts than anyone else. You eat roast meat (because wolves eat meat) and cake decorated like a full moon.”
Just weeks after Jax Goss of Hamilton, New Zealand, mentioned on Facebook that her son had invented the holiday, the official Facebook group has nearly 4,900 members from the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, various European countries, Norway, Dubai and Japan.
It is a small idea, but it comes from a child whose family doesn’t even have a dog. “We’re the kind of people who won’t keep a dog because our garden (yard, in the U.S.) is too small. We have two cats, though,” says Goss, reached by Skype in her home in Hamilton.
Goss doesn’t reveal her son’s name because of his tender age but says he’s “an extremely imaginative kid. He’s a pretty remarkable kid, if I do say so myself. I never had to teach him to share. He’s always had that spark of being a kind person, which makes me super-proud.”
Goss works at a zoo and is also an independent book publisher. So where Wolfenoot goes from here is logical. “I don’t want too many expectations,” she says. “I have some ideas about how it can continue and do some good in the world. At some point, we will probably sit down and make a children’s book together, telling the story of the Great Wolf.”
Until then, though, she’s encouraging people to celebrate the holiday – celebrated annually on November 23 – in ways that feel best to them. Vegetarians don’t have to eat meat, she says. People can make pies instead of cakes if they wish, she says. “Just go ahead and interpret it however you would like. You don’t need our permission,” she says.
“Every year I get comments about how close Wolfenoot and Thanksgiving are. We do not have Thanksgiving in New Zealand so it was not something that was ever thought of. Also you can’t control the imagination of kids! Think of it as a wonderful month full of reflection and kindness ( and an extra day to eat a delicious meal!).”
Goss has turned Wolfnoote into a full-brown charitable foundation, reminding everyone that the one thing that needs to remain in celebrating the holiday is the expression of kindness. “The kindness, the small presents thing, has gotten kind of lost. You need to think about what the person would like and seek out something to please them.”
A 7-year-old’s understanding of what makes a good small present is limited, his mom says. “He’s been talking about it for a while, and he’s specific about little presents because it’s so close to Christmas. When I asked him what would be good gifts, he told me Hot Wheels cars, Kinder Surprise Eggs. Or maybe a toy, a puzzle, bath bombs for moms, presents for the pets.”
Though her son doesn’t fully understand what’s happened with the idea that he says “just came out of my brain,” his mom says, “he’s happy that people want to do his thing. He’s really happy that people are doing fundraisers for dog charities and wolf sanctuaries.”
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Photo Credit: Holly Kuchera / Shutterstock.com