Hark the Hero Angels sing

It is difficult to get kids  to focus on the real part of Christmas when there is so much out there designed to entice and distract from the true meaning.  After all, a jolly, large man in red, distributing presents and sweeties with abandon trumps a hay-filled manager scene any day in most kids' minds.  So every year one of the local churches does a "real Christmas" experience for the little ones - one with no trees or fat men in red suits, but a taste of what a real Christmas so long ago must have been like.  They always have a small petting farm there too, where the kids can get up close to the animals that might have surrounded the first nativity.  There are  a couple of sheep, usually a donkey (this year it was a small horse, but I don't think the kids really noticed), a goat or two, and the usual sprinkling of small furry creatures like guinea pigs, rabbits and even a chicken.   There's something about kiddies and small animals together that just melts the heart.  The boys spent about ten minutes brushing all the hair on the horse upwards in the wrong direction, so that when they were finished, it might as well have been a shaggy-looking donkey standing there anyway.  

At the entrance, an "angel choir" greeted us with rousing Christmas carols (no Rudolf or Good King Wenceslas, thankfully!) but a traditional mix of Away in the Manger and Silent Night.  The choir master had fully entered into the spirit of the event, and was clothed in white with huge feathered wings. There is something a tiny bit odd about seeing a grown man with a beard and angel wings, but the boys were impressed no end.  "Look," whispered the one to the other, "It's Hawkman!" 

"The legion of the Super-friends!" whispered the other with shining eyes.  

 

I think they somewhat missed the point, but it caused a great deal of excitement.  Probably more so than if he had been an actual angel. They made him a bit nervous as they followed him around adoringly for a while.  And suddenly, the birth of Jesus suddenly seemed so much cooler with the added presence of a superhero at the side of the manger.  Yay - real Christmas, 1, Santa, 0.  It was official - the real Christmas was the best! 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We don't really do Christmas.  I have always thought that to see the spirit of Christmas through the wrapping of commercialism that accompanies it gets harder each year.  The cynic in me sees it as a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in our own way, by going to the mall of our choice. In  packed parking lots, people sit in their vehicles, hopefully following people who seem to be walking towards their cars with the same dedication as the wise men who followed the star.  Everyone is frazzled and upset as they search for the perfect gift like they were searching for the stable in Bethlehem.  It seems as though the whole hype of expensive presents and "get, get, get" fills everyone with an almost religious fervour and desire.  

Also, when you have kiddies, you can't avoid the endless parade of Christmas parties.  Last year we had six to go to.  They all tend to blend into one, I am afraid.

However, a real highlight this year was the Multiple Birth Club's Christmas party.  I think for the first time, the kids have been old enough to really appreciate the entertainment provided.  I was amazed as they sat transfixed by the magician (Little Miss Snoopy too), for a whole half hour.  Normally within that time period they could have got up to some serious mischief, but no - Zappo had them eating out of the palm of his hand.  Just the looks on their little faces reminded me that Christmas  is really not about opening our presents at all - it is about opening our hearts.  It is about seeing the world through the eyes of a child once more, when everything is wonderful, where every decorated tree is thirty feet high and you are surrounded by the ones you love and who love you.

My favourite quote about Christmas actually comes from a book loved by children the world over:

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, 

stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?  

It came without ribbons.  

It came without tags.  

It came without packages, boxes or bags.  And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore.  

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.  

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.  

What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.  

~Dr Seuss

So to all the cynics like me out there, take heart.  It is not about presents under a tree.  It is about your presence in their lives. You can find the joy of the season in the smiles on your children's faces!  And perhaps (or even most definitely!) that is all that matters.