It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas

Yesterday, after I read the kind comment from my friend Sharon, I realized that I had been approaching it all in the wrong way. Christmas had become my to-do list. I was trying to think of how I could turn that around, when I realized that I had a few Christmas decorations in the closet, and not with the boxes in the garage.

The most important ones.

David’s nap went really late, so I asked Silje to help me. In fact, she was so eager, I told her that the nativity would be her job to set up every year. After all, it’s just up her alley as far as arranging etc.

She took her job so carefully. I took each styrofoam container out of the box, and she carefully unwrapped each one, and set it up. I didn’t tell her where any piece went, but told her she was in charge of arranging it.

I used this time to talk about the Christmas story, and what it meant. She had such insightful comments in that discussion. Have I said lately how much fun she is?

In the end, she was very pleased with her arrangement…for 5 minutes or so. Then she rearranged them about 10 times. It stopped when she accidentally dropped the shepherd, and it broke. She was very upset to say the least. This is not a cheap set, and I was upset at first too, but I was able to control that, and just hold her and tell her it was ok. We talked about how the nativity set is there to remind us of God and what he did. Then we talked about how she was made in the image of God, and that also reminds us of God and what he did. We talked about how she was more important than any nativity set could be, because she was made in God’s image.

The break was clean, and I’m sure it will super-glue up very nicely with only a shadow of a crack. If it is visible, hopefully when Silje sets it up last year, she’ll remember our conversation about how she was made in the image of God.

I tell that story not to say that’s what I always do. I’m just excited because that’s normally what I don’t do. Typical me is yelling at her, and sending her in another room while I calm down, and then sulking that she broke one of “my” things. This was one of the few times I responded correctly, and I’m pretty proud of that. Just thought I’d fully disclose that I’m not doing things as I should all the time. But sometimes we need to celebrate when we do, right?

The other thing I had in our closet was my set of nesting boxes. Silje took them all apart, and put the lids on. Then Elias inspected them while Silje and I placed them around the house.

Now I might be ready for the Christmas boxes outside.