We unburied the nativity set the other night.
Dusted off the angels and sang the manger song.
I tried to show Ellie how Joseph and Mary walked to the stable.
She said, no, the Wisemen and Jesus wanted to go to the park.
And, embracing what nearly every other student in my classroom seems look forward to the most during this season, we paid some big bucks to start another little Christmas tradition.
We named him Stuart. It was going to be Howard, but Ellie couldn't pronounce that one.
And, it was a good night to introduce him to our family.
Ellie took a big old spill (like bloody nose, frozen peas and call to the doctor kind of spill...)outside and wouldn't calm down except for little Stuart. She tucked him in gently under the covers, sniffing through her swollen nose the whole time.
See, actually, in all seriousness, I've debated silly things like Stuart because I really want my children to understand the miracle more than the magic of December. I remember when I was a child, my parents finally sitting us down to explain that Santa is no more than a tradition and a celebration of giving. We all humbly accepted this realization and calmly headed to bed that late night when our somber attitudes were interrupted by a knock at our front door. We all hurried to the door to see, in head to toe red, bells and fur, a genuine white-bearded, jolly belly-ied Santa man complete with a huge sack of personalized gifts for us. Unbeknownst to my parents, a friend of the family was making rounds to all the children making Santa just a little more real to them. So, their Santa discussion took a few more years to truly get the point across to us.
But, truly, I want my little ones to know and to believe that the silent night we sing of brought us the triumph, the joy that we can now live in.... But, my husband convinced me that having a little pesky elf hiding each morning is not going to scar my little ones forever. So I believed him.
And, to prove his point, my momma heart was most blessed our Ellieboo thanked God for angels as a part of her prayer last night.
