Wise Men

Any one else feeling overwhelmed about imparting the meaning of Christmas to their little ones, lately? Everywhere I go, it seems that the majority of the world is pulling for the typical consumer/santa binge with another, smaller percent going in the extreme opposite direction towards self righteous grinchdom. My boys are understanding more and more this year and once November rolled around, I knew it was time to really think about how Christmas would go down at our house.

A tree? Definitely. Could not imagine Christmas without one. Our boys really loved going out for the tree this year. For you northerners, this means driving to a parking lot where we haul a small tree out from under the big tent for an astronomical fee. All though this year, we hit the discount jackpot with our tree! It was also located a mere four blocks from our house AND they were selling orchids and avocados on the side. So we may not have roamed the hills straining our frozen corneas in search of the perfect tree to saw down and drag home on a sleigh....but there were avocados. So we bought ourselves a little tree for trimming and had a lovely night decorating together. Toddler Translation: J and I squabbled over how much to trim the tree, baby got tangled in the lights, the netting the tree was wrapped in also become tangled in the lights, and the boys helped hang ornaments for 10 minutes before leaving me with the rest)

My craft and project table has been overflowing this year (insert dry thank you to Pinterest) but I really wanted to piece together this lovely skirt I found. I am leaving it plain this year and may add some trim next year. The boys love seeing the Nativity toile print beneath their Little People Nativity set.

Our nativity set never quite looks like a nativity. Not the serene pastoral scene of peace and holiness I see in most nativity photos. Our nativity often has a small parking lot for matchbox cars off to the side. The occasional brontosaurus leering down at the wise men. Camels and sheep are typically picked off one by one as the weeks go by, abandoned in some odd corner of the house until the January cleaning rolls around. Mary and the angel pushed off to the side, useless females with no role in the ever important game of, "Baby Jesus gets Rescued by Diego and the Okapi Brothers."

And then comes Advent. Where the main bulk of opportunity for teaching comes in. My goals this year were simple. 1) History of Why 2)Cement Tradition 3) Age Appropriate 4) Less Stress and above all 5) Know Jesus.

Every Sunday we cement tradition by lighting our advent candle and singing hymns with the boys after dinner. No long devotional for them quite yet. Just the memory of flickering lights and warm voices. A warm reassurance of joyful anticipation.

Age appropriate books are in stock by the tree. These are my top favorites this year...leading the pack is Humphrey's First Christmas followed closely by Song of the Stars. If your children are animal lovers, Song of the Stars is beautifully illustrated and follows creation's celebration of the birth of Christ.

The Advent Book is my less stress. I can't say enough about it! An Advent countdown with 25 doors, each door opening to a written part of the bible. No longer than 3 or 4 sentences. This is something I can do quickly at any time of the day. We alternate who gets to open a door on which day and the boys crane their necks in for a better look at what lays behind each door.

Written near Chicago, IL, this book also has a few special touches near to our hearts like the Frank Lloyd Wright door pictured on the left. :)

See that angel?

Next comes the History of Why. I picked up two Jesse tree books, one that works now and one that will work later, for my boys. Every day, I sit and read them a piece of the story that came before Jesus. This exercise has been a tangible, practical way of helping them see that the Bible isn't just a book of disjointed fairytales, but one long lineage of truth.

We end our daily advent with our magnetic advent calender by Kurt Addler. The boys are big fans of opening a new door each day to find the magnet inside. They also get to build and recreate the story, which is a plus!

Finally, the ornament corresponding to the Jesse tree lesson is placed on our tree. And we see the pieces falling together to form the why behind all the celebration. Are my toddlers suddenly transformed into little paragons of Christmas virtue and infinite knowledge? No. Some days they listen, some days they don't. But every day, they remember that Mommy opened the bible and read to them. Every day they remember that we bowed out heads and thanked Jesus for coming to this earth for our sake. It has become a cemented tradition with a clear WHY behind it.

Now back to the fat guy in the suit. Has Santa fallen into "He Who Shall Not Be Named" status? Not exactly. He can live in their imaginations like Rudolph or Frosty, just another storybook character we can enjoy. There is neither demonizing nor glorifying. In short, we just don't really talk about him. We spend all of our time talking about the birth of Jesus, what his birth means for us, his birthday and how we plan to celebrate it. Does this mean I will scream like a crazy woman and rip down images of Santa, as witnessed last year, when I go shopping? Nope. Santa is just Santa. Not the hero of Christmas but not someone I want to vilify either. And yes, last year at my local Target, I saw a long haired, little house on the prairie garbed woman ripping down pictures of Santa and announcing to everyone around her that they were going to hell. Ummm, clean up in the Fruit Loops aisle please!

This afternoon we are baking cookies for delivery to the neighbors. Its part of our giving project. This last week before Christmas we are focusing on serving others as our birthday gift to Jesus. Remember the goals? No stress, age appropriate and all that? I thought it would be tough to find ways to give this coming week. They are preschoolers and I can't exactly haul them all to the nearest soup kitchen. Yet, we have found small ways of accomplishing the giving for each day. Taking care of God's creation by tending our plants outside. Taking care of neighbors with a plate of cookies to make them smile. Visiting great grandparents and helping them cook or clean. Small things that repeat to my little men, "Serve the Lord always. The Lord will use you. Show God's love to others." and trains them to ask the question, "What would he have me do today to draw me closer to himself?"

Or as the Christmas banner in their room proclaims...

Merry Christmas :)