Christmas Ramblings


I just love this time of year. Our boys are too young to be caught up in all the stress and busy-ness of school parties, end of the year concerts, and whatnot. So while so many are running around stressed and overwhelmed, as of yet this is a very special intimate time of year for us. I hang an advent calendar of small bags, in each is a Christmas themed activity for the day. I do a bit of scheduling before hand so that we pull ‘Attend the Messiah” on a day when there is a free Messiah sing-along going on in town, for example. A stomach bug has cycled between us all and we had to miss the Messiah sing-along, Bach Magnificat, and rest home visit. (We’ll be sure to visit the rest home later this week when we’re all back to health) and I’ll played the Messiah at home. But despite our illness we’ve managed to bring a good deal of holiday cheer and Christmas spirit into our home.
One of my favorite traditions is one my Mom introduced when I was a girl. I made a small manger out of scrap wood and cut strips of yellow paper for straw. At meal times we talk about actions we saw others do that was Christlike, and for each action we add a piece of “straw” to the manger. The hope is to have a nice soft place for Jesus to lay by Christmas. It puts a beautiful emphasis on the sweet kind things my children are doing as well as helps us focus on the kindness of strangers. This year and last it has resulted in a magical transformation in behavior from Scotland. (Anders is still a bit too young to get it, so unfortunately it hasn’t had the same effect on him!) The week following Thanksgiving Scotland was an absolute terror. Snobbish, rude, moody, obstinate. Nothing we could do seemed to make a difference. The Spirit, however, was able to transform him back into the sweet, thoughtful boy that is his norm. Within a week of December he had littered our Tree skirt with wrapped presents for everyone in our family. He went through three rolls of tape within a few days time wrapping present after present for Tom, Anders, and I. His excitement at each new gift to give, was endearing- the spirit of giving has overtaken him and I’ve found him many a night sitting up late, wrapping some new gift. Most are odd and end toys of his, a block, a ball, a few marbles, a Lego piece. Some are more thoughtful: “Mom, guess what! I’m giving Dad the book that shows what our body looks like on the inside. Because that’s what he does all day!” or “Mom, I thought, since you’re taking Dad to Star Wars for his Christmas present. I would give him my Star Wars book!” (The said book, is from the library.) He has been so excited about giving that it’s made it easy for me to want to give likewise (without worrying I’m encouraging greed and entitlement), I’ve spread out the nights of wrapping so that every few days I can excitedly announce- “Look at the gifts that Dad and I got to give you and Anders! We’re so excited for you to open them!”

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As has become his ritual Scotland was lying belly down under the tree looking at all the gifts one morning. I had placed a rather larger heap of new presents there the night before. Seeing me he asked. “Mom, when did you get all these gifts!” “I got them at night.” I told him. He looked at me with concern, and said “You must be very tired!”

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Another favorite tradition, is our moving wisemen. On the first of December I put out all our nativities. One is a Schleich set that my parents gave us so the kids could play with it. It comes with three elegantly robed wisemen with two camels. I always place the set in a highly visible area where the kids can see it and play with it, but the Wise Men start far from the manger scene and daily move closer and closer on their way to visit the Christ child. I love how excitedly Scotter will announce when he sees them each morning: “Mom! They moved!” I love how it instills the “magic” of Christmas with a religious theme.
This year we checked out lots of books from the library. (I reserved them before Thanksgiving so I would be sure to get them in time!) Some are old classics like T’was the Night before Christmas, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. But my favorites are ones like Tomie dePaola’s The Legend of the Poinsettia, The Christmas Train, The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomie, or Angelina’s Christmas. It’s an easy way to bring the Christmas spirit into our regular routine, and provide opportunities for good discussions and ideas.
Both our boys are VERY excited about Christmas, and Tom and I might match their excitement. (We keep discussing whether we should move Christmas up- why not?!) Too bad Scotland has been vigilantly counting down the days until Christmas, thanks to our advent calendar. Every morning he announces how many days until Christmas Eve, and how many days until Christmas. Maybe I’ll just insert “Open one gift” on each day leading up to Christmas- might as well spread out the fun, right? That way we can really engage and celebrate each gift? We’re fortunate that Tom has this entire week off for Christmas! We have several projects we want to attend to around the house, and many Christmas tasks to finish up, but we’re hoping to spend lots of time to enjoy our boys at this beautiful age of wonder and joy.
On a spiritual note, I am once again savoring the opportunity to be pregnant at this time of celebrating the baby Jesus. I sang in our ward’s Christmas program today and was so touched by the beautiful solo sang by my friend Hannah about Mary’s love for Christ. Tears rolled down my face as the narrator spoke of all the comforts Mary lacked during her first birth: “A caring female midwife, a cool towel, a clean bed, etc.” And yet what she had was an immense amount of love and dedication to her child. A willingness to sacrifice everything. As we sang the Christmas carols my sweet little baby danced and leaped within me, more active then I’ve felt her. Might she too have been rejoicing!
 


One response to “Christmas Ramblings”

  1. Hi Kjirsten,
    My mom, Martha Pettijohn Morrise, has been telling me all about your cute blog about your family. Tom’s mom is my first cousin, but I haven’t seen her for 45 years! You and your husband are my kids second. cousins.
    I am heavily into family history and would love to send you information about your husbnd’s family if you’d like. My mom and I are working on some books through Shutterfly telling about the ancestors. We can send you the Pettijohn one when it is finished. They are kid friendly books.
    If you ever get on familysearch.org, you can see more things about Tom’s family. He has some wonderful, stalwart members of the church. I would be happy to help you with anything on familysearch.
    Good luck with number three coming up! Congratulations! I have two daughters who each have three children. One lives in Lehi Utah and the other one lives in Greeley Colorado. My son will soon move to Boston.
    Loves from cousin Michelle

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