Happy Birthday Jesus- Or Stepping on Legos

Ahhh Christmas! The anticipation of ripping open those gifts on Christmas day! The lead up to the day- the cookie baking, the Christmas plays and songs! Isn’t it a delicious time of year? And when you are a child, well, it’s just glorious, however, it’s not the same when you’re an adult. Somewhere between picking up the tinsel, balancing the checkbook, and making minimum payments on a credit card, the magic part gets lost!  And yet, if you quiet your rebellious soul and pay attention to the children, they have something to teach us; to remind us, what it means to be reignited and engaged in this darkest part of the year, yet the brightest part of the year.

One particular Christmas sticks out to me only because it was a painful learning experience. We were young parents; our kids were about 3, 6, and 10 years old.  It was a time in their lives when Santa Clause WAS in fact real; he ab-so-lute-ly was!!  The anticipation of the night of his visit was super intense, and my husband did not help with that by pushing the kids to the point of wanting to pee their pants from excitement! Not a good idea.

Christmas eve- the kids went to bed at 8:00 p.m. and woke up at 9, “is it time yet?”

“No, go to sleep” I snapped!

Then, 10 p.m. “Is it time yet?”

“No, go to sleep.” I snapped.

On and on for hours until finally 4:00 am arrived, “Is it time yet?” I looked over at my husband, “alright, fine, lets make some coffee and sit around and open the presents.”

“yippee” they all screamed.

 Around 4:30 everything was open. We sat there and stared at the mess on the floor. The kids seemed happy with their toys and gifts, and then 5:30 rolled around. I looked over at my husband. He was zonked, leaning up against the doorway, with his coffee nearly spilling out of his mug; even the three-year-old had dark circles under her eyes.

“Alright, that is it! Everyone back to bed” I barked.

 I got no argument this time and we slept in till at least 8:00 a.m., which I did not think was bad, considering!

It dawned on me later, in my still developing adult brain that I had missed a teachable moment with my kids by allowing them to focus on the presents and Santa.  It was then, that  for some reason, I remembered a story from History class called the Christmas Truce.  It was a spontaneous and unsanctioned ceasefire between British and German soldiers on Christmas eve. British Forces heard German troops singing carols, they saw lanterns and small fir trees decorating their trenches. The British soldiers responded by singing carols of their own. Before long soldiers on both sides braved ‘No Man’s Land’ to greet one another. The soldiers shared cigarettes, whisky, even a game or two of football before returning to their trenches. To this day it remains an extraordinary example of brotherhood and humanity amidst the horrors of warfare.

Christmas IS different for adults, and it should be! If it is not, then somewhere on one’s life journey they have not discovered the truth of Christmas. -It’s about stepping outside of yourself and thinking of others.  

While we felt awful for the rest of the day, I did not stress about it because I realized that doing Christmas right is impossible.  You kind of loosen up and realize that Gingerbread house is not going to look like Martha Stewart’s, you’re going to step on a sharp Lego with your bare foot, and the stove-top Christmas potpourri will eventually be forgotten about and burn on the stove! And, it’s okay, really! Because while it certainly was not one of our best Christmases, I think it was for me because I became a better parent. From then on, I would always sign my children’s gift tag, “Happy Birthday Jesus” as a reminder of the purpose of the day.