Christmas Revisited

As I have mentioned before, I am a badly lapsed Catholic so until we sort out a religious philosophy, Christmas seems to be about presents, Santa, and evergreens.  Right now I'm okay with that--and The Boy marked his first Christmas as a sentient gift recipient being very okay with that.

But, as we took down our decorations, he got sad.  "Christmas is over," he announces somberly whenever we see old Christmas trees waiting for recycling on the curb.  He is ecstatic when we pass a house that still has its decorations up--including, most recently, a giant inflated nativity scene:

"Who's that?" The Boy asked, pointing at the manger.

Hmmm.  The only begotten son of God, who died to take away the sins of the world?  Too much information?  I decided to go with, "That's baby Jesus."

"Who's that?" He asked,  pointing at Mary.

"That's Jesus's mom."  Easy enough.

"And that?" Pointing at Joseph.

"That's Jesus's dad."   Basically true.  Sort of true.  I looked around for lightning bolts or mortified neighbors.

He was quiet for awhile looking at the nativity scene, and I wondered if he was thinking about the Big Question: Who is baby Jesus and why is he so special that he gets his own inflatable form?  I hoped he wouldn't ask because I wasn't ready to go there.

"Okay," he said, meaning that he was ready to go.  He took a few steps away and turned around to wave goodbye.  "Bye Donkey!  Bye Sheep!" He said to the heretofore undiscussed animals on either side of the Holy Family and trotted down the street.

Huh.  I guess I've got  some time.

Comments

[Toni]

Something we all wrestle with - whatever our religious affliation. Do you ever get the feeling that you're going to make a mistake on whatever decision you make?? Gotta love the guilt :)

[midlife mommy]

Yep. It's so much easier to explain Santa Claus.

[AmyinMotown]

We're practicing formerly lapsed Catholics, and the child still thinks Christmas is Santa's birthday. I'm going to hell.Or probably at least confession.

[Kate]

Two year olds: A surprise in every box! :-)

[Sam]

I think that even as our children get older (mine is 11) we put more importance on these things than our children do. I know personally the monster that is Catholic guilt, however I try to remember just to stop taking everything so seriously. It takes all the fun out of things. And there's always therapy for when the kids grow up.

[Heather]

I'm a barely practicing Catholic as well, and I've never liked the "Jesus came to die for our sins" part. And we wonder how the guilt thing started!!! I do like how I explained Jesus to our daughter. I told her "God sent Jesus to show people how to behave and treat each other." I kind of like that one. That's how I always felt about what we were supposed to get out of the Bible - how to live a good life.

[Monica]

I, too, am a lapsed Catholic. My husband is a lapsed Jew. Both of our parents are far from lapsed and continue to wait for us to make a decision...one that we have no intention of making. Ugh. Who knows what will happen in the future.