I've felt impressed this Christmas season to concentrate on the true meaning of Christmas. I've never ignored the fact that "Jesus is the reason for the season" but I've never really dwelled on it either. Christmas is what it is...Jesus' birthday and a time to give and recieve gifts. I think my change in direction has come about because of Cade. He's 5 and very observant and inquisitive. He also never forgets anything you tell him or he hears from other places. He's at the stage in his life (so far) where he's really trying to figure things out. There are a few things that prompted this change...
Every holiday I buy window clings for our front windows. Last Christmas I had snowmen, christmas trees, stars, santa, etc. This year I bought snowmen, candy canes and a Nativity scene. Cade was super exicted b/c he loves putting them up everytime I buy them. He picks up the set with Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus in the stable and says "Hey, this isn't christmas". I thought "oh crap, my kid doesn't know what a nativity scene is!" I haven't put mine out since the kids were born b/c frankly, the pieces would be used as toys. Just ask the poor Superman and Batman ornaments who are missing arms. I proceded to explain to him what a Nativity is. Of course he knows that Christmas is Jesus' birthday but he's only 5 and won't put it all together without prompting.
Then there was the letter to Santa that ended in "I love you, Amen". and while we were in Family Christian bookstore there was a statue of Santa Claus kneeling over baby Jesus in the manger. As i'm looking at it I think to myself "that's kinda sacreligious" but Cade says outloud "Is Jesus Santa's son?". I assume that's a reasonable question given his age and how the statue was on the same display as the Nativity sets. Good thing we were there to buy a book about the "true Christmas" story.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for Santa. I think it's fun and exciting for kids (and parents too). I don't believe that kids believing in Santa Claus is going to mess with their minds or anything. But this is the first year that Cade "gets" it. Last year he was hip on the idea but didn't put it all together until presents appeared. This year he is all over it! He's very aware of where Fred (our Elf on the Shelf) is at all times, he tells Fred if Aly did something wrong, he told me he heard that Santa has a naughty list and he counts how many days are left-everyday. On the flip side of all that he comes home from school telling me about Gabriel, the angel that came to Mary, and the shephards that came to see Jesus. He was flipping through his Bible the other day (keep in mind he can't read yet) and I asked him what he was doing and he nonchalantly said "reading the Christmas story".
I guess it just proves that when you have kids your thought process changes. I have always known the "true meaning of christmas" but never really had any reason to think much about it. But kids will challenge you to think deeper. They don't do it intentionally but they do it, nonetheless.
When Cade was 2 I bought the book "The Night before Christmas". I have read it to him and Aly at bedtime every Christmas Eve since. I decided this would be a tradition but they have been too young to understand it so far. I was thinking about this the other day and realized that Cade will understand this year. I think reading "The Night before Christmas" is a great thing to do b/c it's a great story but he also needs to hear he real story. Some traditions we start new and some we carry from our own childhood. Every year of my entire life on Christmas morning all the Eichele's sit in Grandma's living room and she hand's the Bible to one of us and we read the Christmas story. As a kid we'd think "aw come on, we just want presents" but it didn't matter, we sat through that story. If we were lucky whoever was reading would want presents too and they would read fast! It's taken 31 years to appreciate those moments. So this year and every year after at my house, before presents are opened, we will open the Bible and read the true story (thanks Grandma).
What I have learned from all this is that even though I know stories, truths, or anything else-my kids don't. It is my responsibility to make sure they do. I can't take for granted that they'll just "pick it up along the way".
As we were looking at kids books in Family Christian, Cade points to a book cover and says very suprised "hey mom, Jesus can walk on water?!" I said "yep, he sure can"...we'll save that story for a different day.
