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Three Kings' Day
Jan. 5th, 2009 08:30 amI am at work today and actually glad to be here. Tomorrow is the biggest holiday of them all here but I'm actually feeling a bit tired of holidays. Crazy!
Speaking of holidays, I doubt anyone remembers but last year at b.org I was wondering about Christmas traditions and Santa Claus. (Basically, while I have no problem with people who like Santa Claus, I just wasn't comfortable encouraging Ellie to believe in him. Even St. Nick, whose story I like, seemed sort of removed from the actual, religious reason for the holiday.) At the time, I remember thinking and maybe posting about 3 Kings Day and how while it has never been a family tradition, I like the idea because it's actually related to the Nativity story. (It boils down to kids leaving grass under their beds for the Kings' camels/horses and the Kings leaving presents in return. There's lots of other stuff, but that is the heart of it for a child.)
Well, this year, Ellie, for the first time, knew Christmas was coming. She *knew* who Santa was, even if she didn't really get that he brings presents. I asked her if she thought Santa was real or pretend (real) but I didn't correct her or do anything to encourage her. Still, I was just unhappy about the whole thing - I wanted her to get that fun feeling of presents coming but I just couldn't bring myself to encourage her to believe in Santa.
Anyway, yesterday, as we were talking about the 3 Kings in church, it hit me that just because we aren't PR-an and just because we aren't going to be here for Christmas anymore, that doesn't mean we can't have a little PR tradition in our lives. I suspect we will do it on CHristmas Day in the future, just to make it easier for everyone, but I think from now on - including tonight - we will help Ellie collect some grass (something she lvoes doing already) and put a present or two under the tree. It can be a nice tradition we picked up during our three years here and it will make everyone happy, I think.
Speaking of holidays, I doubt anyone remembers but last year at b.org I was wondering about Christmas traditions and Santa Claus. (Basically, while I have no problem with people who like Santa Claus, I just wasn't comfortable encouraging Ellie to believe in him. Even St. Nick, whose story I like, seemed sort of removed from the actual, religious reason for the holiday.) At the time, I remember thinking and maybe posting about 3 Kings Day and how while it has never been a family tradition, I like the idea because it's actually related to the Nativity story. (It boils down to kids leaving grass under their beds for the Kings' camels/horses and the Kings leaving presents in return. There's lots of other stuff, but that is the heart of it for a child.)
Well, this year, Ellie, for the first time, knew Christmas was coming. She *knew* who Santa was, even if she didn't really get that he brings presents. I asked her if she thought Santa was real or pretend (real) but I didn't correct her or do anything to encourage her. Still, I was just unhappy about the whole thing - I wanted her to get that fun feeling of presents coming but I just couldn't bring myself to encourage her to believe in Santa.
Anyway, yesterday, as we were talking about the 3 Kings in church, it hit me that just because we aren't PR-an and just because we aren't going to be here for Christmas anymore, that doesn't mean we can't have a little PR tradition in our lives. I suspect we will do it on CHristmas Day in the future, just to make it easier for everyone, but I think from now on - including tonight - we will help Ellie collect some grass (something she lvoes doing already) and put a present or two under the tree. It can be a nice tradition we picked up during our three years here and it will make everyone happy, I think.