This was the Christmas that I stopped wanting my kids to grow up. Instead of wishing they'd get easier to manage (visions of them wiping up their own spills dance through my head), I saw everything they did as precious: G. hula dancing her way through the nursery school Christmas concert, K. in crown and bathrobe boldly announcing Caesar's census in the church pageant, and their squeals of delight as packages were torn open, over toothbrushes and ghetto-blasters alike.
Last week I caught them rearranging the nativity set. A tall, slender Father Christmas was standing with the little shepherds. But K. had placed a small plaque with the words "Peace on Earth, Goodwill towards Men" in front of the jolly red figurine. I overheard him telling G., "That's so he'll read it and know that all these people aren't here to visit him."
Longing to see K. stand in awe over how God got in the manger rather than how the elf got up the chimney, when he was 5 years old I snuffed out his Santafication almost before it began.
For whatever reason, perhaps the joy the oh-so-real Twinkle the Tooth Fairy's visits have brought to our home since then, or the way ideals relax with child #2, or the fact that my girl loves fantasy almost as much as her brother loves scientific explanations, I couldn't bring myself to de-elf G.
After we decorated the tree G. said, "We need presents under it. When Santa comes down the chimney....(look of horror spreads across little face)...WE DON'T HAVE A CHIMNEY!" I told her, "You'll still get lots of presents. Santa doesn't need a chimney. He's like the tooth fairy." (No lies there.)
Leading up to Christmas G. had me playing: "You sleep and I'll be Santa filling your stocking." About as many times, she got me playing: "You be baby Jesus sleeping in the manger and I'll be Mary tucking you in." (I enthusiastically encourage all games that require me to sleep.) The magic of Santa didn't overshadowed the miracle.
Just like G.'s hula didn't distract me from "the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay." It pointed me right back to him, with a heart full of gratitude.
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