A Child at Christmastime

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.
--Laura Ingalls Wilder

My heart has indeed grown tender this year as I've watched Kathleen delight in Christmas preparations. Her joy and enthusiasm in cooking, her wonder at the beauty of decorations, and her growing understanding of the gift of the Christ Child have made this season truly special.

We've given (or will give) sugared pecans to many of our friends for Christmas this year, and Kathleen was very helpful in preparing the nuts. She's not so good a measuring yet, but she's awfully good at putting measured amounts into the mixing bowl. And she loves to stir. Not everything she stirs stays in the bowl, but she's improving.

Look at me! I'm helping!

Kathleen loves our tree, which she calls a "Crissen Treat." We've had many discussions about that fact that it is a tree -- like the trees in our yard, for example -- but she insists that it's a treat. I suppose she's right, in a way. Kathleen was a big help in decorating the lower parts of our tree. It's a far cry from last year, when she pulled off the ornaments every day! The post tree-lighting ceremony was held at General's Loop (where -- you guessed it! -- the generals live), and our family walked over for the festivities. Kathleen's face when they lit the giant tree was priceless. "Oh!" she whispered, "Pretty lights!" (The fire engine was the other highlight of the tree lighting ceremony. Santa arrived on it, but since Kathleen doesn't really know who Santa is, he wasn't nearly as interesting as the fire engine itself.)

A few weeks ago we visited Ala Moana mall (the one the tourists visit, too) to have dinner and do some Christmas shopping. Although a trip to the mall happens for most people at Christmastime, a trip to Ala Moana actually qualifies as an event. There's a stage show in the center of the mall, based on the local Christmas favorite The Christmas Gift of Aloha. We hadn't thought that Kathleen would be too interested in the show; I guess we figured it would be over her head. We were absolutely wrong. We wandered over after dinner, and Kathleen watched from her Daddy's shoulders. She was transfixed. The singing, the dancing, the lights -- she loved all of it. I actually cried in the middle of the mall, overcome by the joy of watching my child transported by Christmas magic.

Kathleen has taken to singing lately. She's mastered "Happy Birthday" -- between Kathleen, Mama, and Jesus, that song gets quite a bit of use this week. Her holiday favorite, though, is "Jingle Bells." She sings it all the time. She has no interest in learning the "jingle all the way" part, however, so she simply sings "jingle bells" over and over again. We recently put her down for the night and listened to her sing "jingle bells" for nearly five minutes before she decided sleeping wasn't a bad idea after all. Another favorite is "Deck the Halls." Despite my attempts, "Silent Night'' and "Away in a Manger" haven't been nearly so popular.

And, best of all, Kathleen is learning about the real meaning of Christmas. We have a little magnet nativity set that I picked up one of the times we visited Prague, long before Kathleen was born. Kathleen loves to play with the set. (In fact, we've found the pieces all over the house, although the Holy Family seems to travel together.) She can identify Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus, and she knows that Christmas is Baby Jesus's birthday. Hearing her sweet little voice as she talks about Baby Jesus is truly precious.