Jesus Socks

I am really enjoying myself this Christmas season. I have the extraordinary pleasure of having a three year old to celebrate with. Of course, it is so wonderful to celebrate Christmas with everyone from a new baby to a great-grandmother; however three year olds are just set apart from the crowd this time of year. Last year they had a ball opening gifts and eating sweets, and of course, they learned a lot and retained a little about traditions and the origin of Christmas. But at three, they are asking "why" all the time, and it catches me off guard when I see how many of my responses are remembered and taken seriously. Very seriously.

"What is Christmas? Why's it called Christmas? Why do we get presents? Why we eat together? Why we decorate a tree? Why did we get a BIG tree?" And on and on and on. As a mama who not only believes in Christ and wants her children to understand what we are celebrating, I am just tickled pink to hear comments like, "Oh, I'm gonna make Jesus a card for his birthday" and when pointing at the Christmas stockings hanging in our house, my little one said, "Those are Jesus socks." She came up with that one on her own, by the way. While shopping for groceries, we made a detour to the bakery for some cake watching, which always keeps the kiddies happy. Usually at the bakery I hear something along the lines of, "Look at that princess cake! I want that one for my birthday." But this time I heard, "Oh, Mama, I wanna get that cake for Jesus for His birthday!" Love, love it. I mean, of course there have been some moments of "I want this for Christmas," but when I take a few deep breaths and calm down after hearing the "I want, I want" chant, I realize that I really did much to create that problem myself by strolling through the shiny toy section at the store with the kids in the cart. What was I thinking? But for the most part, it has been not only a joy, but a lesson, to listen to my kid this December.

When my kids have a birthday coming around, I ask them how they want to celebrate. I try to shape the celebration around their likes, interests, and wishes. It's not my birthday, it's theirs. So after listening to my three year old talk about throwing a huge party for Jesus, that's just what we're gonna do. Red velvet birthday cake and all. Okay, so that's MY favorite cake, but I don't think Jesus would mind. I mean, it does look pretty Christmasy, you know. And we will put His name on it. But I don't just want it to be about the party. December is always full of charity bashes, food drives, and really great things like that. These things seem like something Jesus might want us to do, right? I want my family to be as involved in all those wonderful giving opportunities as possible. I don't feel like I've been commanded to celebrate Christmas, but I also don't feel commanded to celebrate any one's birthday. But I do it because it's a really cool way to show someone that he or she matters to me. And I'm gonna try my darnedest...(yes, that's a word...don't question it...I was raised on it...) to not get stressed about decorating and cooking and wrapping and shopping. Because that's just silly. This is a time set aside to celebrate. And I know that if someone threw me a birthday party, and it was a really nice party, but I watched that hostess stress herself out and go into debt buying things that weren't really that important, then I would be heartbroken. What's fun about watching someone you love make herself miserable for you? Seriously.

Now I'm sure I encounter people everyday this December who don't put or maybe don't even want to put much focus on Christ during this time of year. Me, I'm just gonna celebrate what I'm gonna celebrate. I don't want any judgment coming in my door or out of my mouth, especially this time of year. Anyone who wants to have a happy holiday season is welcome to do so with me....no matter if we see eye to eye. I mean, it's Jesus' birthday being celebrated, so I'm gonna try to go by His guest list...not mine.

Bored.

I am bored, very, very bored with lots and lots of things to do. But the things I have to do are not things that are fun. They aren't things I am looking forward to. So I am looking at my two toddlers. I am wondering if they are bored, too. I sure hope not, but sometimes when one or both of them get frustrated and start asking to do something but can't tell me what it is they want to do, then I start to think they are bored. Bored, even though they have a ridiculous amount of toys. Blocks and dress-up clothes, puzzles and My Little Ponies. There are dolls and stuffed animals all over their room. Princess toys, musical toys, and a bunch of random toys fill up bins in our living room. We have tons of craft supplies. We go on outings regularly, but I am still considering the possibility that my two little sweethearts are bored. Doesn't seem to make much sense, but oh well.



So here's what I'm thinking. I'm bored because I'm tired of doing the same things over and over and over again. When they start to act frustrated and ignore the things they have to do at home, maybe they are just tired of doing the same things over and over and over again. Sure, it seems silly. I mean, how could you get tired of relaxing in a kiddy pool when you have no responsibilities? Yet, everyone, no matter the age could benefit from a little change now and then. So, I've decided that tomorrow we'll just trade. My kids can dress up in mommy sweatpants and do the dishes and fold laundry, while I build a castle out of alphabet blocks then take a nap. Problem solved.



Or, maybe we'll just do something different tomorrow. Together. I'm thinking we might make bird feeders out of cardboard, peanut butter, and birdseed. It's a cheap, fun, craft we can make together, and they'll like it because it is messy and edible, at least partially.