Tuesday, December 10, 2013

keeping the focus


the wonder of Christmas is apparent with our little fellow.  he's infatuated by the tree, the lights, and the manger scene.  we tell him about God coming to earth as Jesus and what an amazing miracle it was and continues to be.  dax loves to hear the story and can now say the name "Jesus".  this past saturday we took him to see a walk through living nativity.  dax really liked going from scene to scene and watching the story unfold.  you could see the curiosity in his eyes.  no scene lasts longer than 3 minutes, so the attention span of a two year old is rightfully captured.  in the final scene we find Jesus lying in manger with Mary and Joseph surrounded by the wise men and angels.  will took him up close after most people had gone ahead so that he could be sure he saw the baby laying there.  his favorite comment when he sees something impressive is to say "oh wow" and he said it when he saw the baby there. 

with the hurry of the season and the previous desire to beat myself up for not pulling my ish together to do the elf on the shelf, the advent calendar (chock full of things to go, see, taste, and do), and other assorted pre-Christmas activities - we've decided to focus on the traditions we hope will keep the spirit of the season in our son's heart.  sure, we took him to see the lighting of the local town tree, sat him on santa's lap for a photo, and will take him to a parade - but showing him this living nativity, telling him the story at home with our various nativity scenes, rejoicing in songs about Jesus' birth, and praying in anticipation of the anniversary of the birth of our savior is what we're most happy to share with his little heart.  

i struggled with it last year.  i never bought the darn elf, and ended up being okay with that - but had every intention of doing the advent calendar. i'd gotten one as a gift from my mom and filled each pouch with star cut out activities to do with dax over the days leading up to Christmas.  i thought these things would make beautiful memories for him.  but then i realized the "stressed" out over worked mommy was probably going to leave more of a lasting impression than the activity time itself.  so i canceled the advent calendar as well.

this year is proving to be much more relaxed.  we've casually done things as we were able, and if dax couldn't hang because he was tired or just busy being a two year old it was no skin off my back.  but for the most part we've done lots cuddling - just the three of us, as well as lots of singing and dancing around the kitchen and living room and rejoiced in the birth of our saving grace.

he's tender, he's impressionable, and he's listening.  these are the things he'll remember and we hope he'll always carry with him.

4 comments:

Melanie McConnell said...

Simply lovely! I recall as a child it wasn't all the " fancy activities" but the things we did as a family. Like getting hot chocolate in travel mugs and driving around town to look at Christmas lights, or baking cookies for the neighbors and friends at school, listening to Christmas songs while decorating and going to listen to the choir at church. Everyone makes traditions and memories in their own way. What you are doing with Dax is exactly that - what you are doing - not what everyone thinks you should be doing. Enjoy your special times. xo

J.L. said...

Sounds like you are having a lovely Advent! And he might be too young for Elf on the Shelf... I think C would be, at least! She's a little too young for Advent, too. I just have a chocolate Advent calendar and I think she only thinks of it as a way to get her sugar fix. The Living Nativity sounds much more two-year-old friendly!

beth said...

Sister we did not have elf on the shelf and we survived. The very best present and memory you can give him are the simple, non rushed ones..cookies, the nativity, Santa and most importantly time with his parents. snuggle up and watch all of the Christmas cartoons, make him some hot coco and popcorn and relax...

Melodie said...

I love this. hope your family is having a wonderful season!