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My Work
Article 4
Christmas, like home, has that lived-in feel
Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
December 14, 2006
Author: Cornelia Seigneur
Traditions of Christmas, like home, has that lived-in feel
We have this Nativity set made of carved olive wood, imported from Israel, that I purchased at a church bazaar when our high school children were toddlers. It is a very simple set, with Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus plus the Three Wise Men, shepherds and a couple of sheep, one now with three legs, and a donkey with an ear clipped off.
But we adore that Nativity set. It represents real life. My husband built a stable for it, and every year while decorating our Christmas tree the children arrange the little wooden figures facing Jesus in the manger.
I am glad this Nativity set is wooden and not porcelain so my kids can play with the figures, but the other day my children gave new meaning to the phrase "action figures."
The scene went like this: While fixing dinner and listening to Christmas music, I looked over and saw my twin sons, 9, making the Wise Men box and wrestle one another along with Joseph and the shepherds, complete with sound effects. "Pow, wow, pow, pow!" And "uhh," when one fell.
Then the Magi and Joseph and shepherds were flying through the air as my youngest, Augustin, 3, giggled hysterically. Sheep were scattered on the couch, the donkey was in the kitchen, and baby Jesus was missing from the manger.
For a moment I wanted to stop all this, thinking these were sacred symbols and my boys should not be throwing them around. But then I decided not to interrupt their play and realized they were just boys enjoying the moment. They were not mocking anything.
So what if the manger scene is not perfectly arranged? Is that not the true nature of the Nativity story --and real life for that matter?
Just as that first Christmas in Bethlehem was probably not neat and tidy, our homes do not need to be extravagantly tinseled for the season of celebration. Though we do our best to create a festive place during the holidays, life and Christmas with kids will not always be perfectly organized and arranged. And that is perfectly OK.
We have a home that has life.
I think of our Christmas tree filled with all kinds of decorations, including handmade ornaments. We have no theme for our tree. Instead, every ornament is welcome, telling stories and bringing back memories.
One ornament is a frame made from Popsicle sticks with red and green and gold glitter that houses a photograph of my twins in preschool. While we decorated our tree, one twin, Wesley, sat holding this ornament, teary-eyed. When I asked him the reason for his melancholy, he said: "I wish I were little and cute again, like Augustin."
A perfectly themed Christmas tree would not bring about this kind of reaction in my children.
While I was growing up in Corvallis, guests were not allowed in the bedroom of one of my best friends. We were relegated to the den. Her bedroom, complete with a pink lacy canopy bed and untouchable dolls arranged neatly, was more like a museum than a child's room.
In contrast, I want to create a home for my family, both during the holidays and other times, that is welcoming and comfortable and easygoing.
A real, live, breathing place where my children want to bring their friends. A place to relax and be at home. A place, even, where Wise Men figures can sometimes be seen flying through the air.
Real Life Mom appears monthly. Reach Cornelia Seigneur, a West Linn mother of five, at RealLifeMom@comcast.net.
Edition: Sunrise
Section: Metro Southwest Neighbors: Lake Oswego
Page: 33
Copyright © 2006 Oregonian Publishing Co.
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