Okay. Evie's not 2. She's really just over 1.5. But it's not really Christmas yet either. Christmas is still over a month away. It's my favorite time of year (how cliche), and because of the move I'm holding off decorating the condo. This. Is. Hard. Yes, I know most people wait to decorate for the holiday until Thanksgiving has at least passed, but in my mind Christmas is the highlight of winter and it always seems to come and go so quickly. So why not put the decorations up early and milk it for what it's worth? I really feel it ought to be in February. That's the worst month of all, isn't it? I guess if I lived in some warm climate I might love February. But in Chicago it's brutal. The holiday season has long gone, the city has taken down it's decorations, and all that's left is bleary (yes, I combined bleak and dreary) weather. It's usually too cold to even snow in February.
Which brings me back to my point. Since I can't decorate early this year, I decided I had to find another way to bring the Christmas cheer to our home. Cue Christmas carols. And Christmas books. And pointing to any and all signs of Christmas that we pass along the way. Mount Carmel (the church down the block) is having a Christmas festival this Saturday. It's after Evie's bedtime, but I'm considering pushing the limit with her so we can enjoy at least a little of it.
So far, Evie's favorite part of this holiday learning is the combined Christmas book/carol we brought home from the library. We took a trip there yesterday after she very insistently informed me she did NOT want to play at the playground. Okay. Sharp right turn, cross the street, and end up at the library (and en route I realize just how much I'll miss our neighborhood. Such a change of plans will not be a simple reality once in the suburbs). She was thrilled to go to the library. She pulled out a little chair for herself and got a stack of books. When I pulled down a Christmas book, she was not interested in the slightest. She wanted to read the book about trucks. So I read it, and stashed the Christmas book in my bag to check out as we were leaving. She saw me do it and threw a small fit. She knew I had plans for this book!
Once we got home I pulled it out and we began. It was the 12 Days of Christmas, with vivid pictures and surprisingly altered words (I guess to make it more understandable or enjoyable to younger readers?). I sang along with each flip of the page. "For the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a paarrrty in a pear tree" And so on. Evie's absolute favorite is "Fiiiiiiiivvveee shining stars" Each time we get to that page she cuddles her head against my chest and then looks up at me with a huge smile after we finish the line. It's because of this line that only 24 hours later Evie seems to be able to identify the number "5" in the book. Each time we turn the page she finds the line that says "5 shining stars" and points to it expectantly, looking to see when I'll finally get there. And then when I do, we cuddle again. At the end of the book there is a picture of Santa and I don't even begin to know how to explain him to her yet. So, I start singing "You better watch out (Santa Claus is coming to town)" in an effort to elaborate. And I realize the song is pretty threatening to a not-yet-2-year-old. Am I really telling her some random man watches her while she sleeps? Creepy...
Anyway, tonight at dinner I invited Will to join in the fun. We decided to sing "Deck the Halls". No surprise she was enthralled. Fa la la la la? What better carol could there be? It's like her favorite book of all time "Moo, Baa, La La La". "More! more!" she signed each time we finished. We asked her to sing along, and explained when we pointed to her she should say "fa la la la la". Didn't quite work, but man did she enjoy the game.
The moral of the story seems to be that I don't have the words to explain all that is Christmas to Evie. She'll have to learn it year by year like we all do. From all the various sources and loved ones. And eventually she'll come to choose her own meaning for the holiday. In the meantime, I have to decide whether I'm really on board with this whole story of the random man creepily watching over her while she sleeps...
Which brings me back to my point. Since I can't decorate early this year, I decided I had to find another way to bring the Christmas cheer to our home. Cue Christmas carols. And Christmas books. And pointing to any and all signs of Christmas that we pass along the way. Mount Carmel (the church down the block) is having a Christmas festival this Saturday. It's after Evie's bedtime, but I'm considering pushing the limit with her so we can enjoy at least a little of it.
So far, Evie's favorite part of this holiday learning is the combined Christmas book/carol we brought home from the library. We took a trip there yesterday after she very insistently informed me she did NOT want to play at the playground. Okay. Sharp right turn, cross the street, and end up at the library (and en route I realize just how much I'll miss our neighborhood. Such a change of plans will not be a simple reality once in the suburbs). She was thrilled to go to the library. She pulled out a little chair for herself and got a stack of books. When I pulled down a Christmas book, she was not interested in the slightest. She wanted to read the book about trucks. So I read it, and stashed the Christmas book in my bag to check out as we were leaving. She saw me do it and threw a small fit. She knew I had plans for this book!
Once we got home I pulled it out and we began. It was the 12 Days of Christmas, with vivid pictures and surprisingly altered words (I guess to make it more understandable or enjoyable to younger readers?). I sang along with each flip of the page. "For the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a paarrrty in a pear tree" And so on. Evie's absolute favorite is "Fiiiiiiiivvveee shining stars" Each time we get to that page she cuddles her head against my chest and then looks up at me with a huge smile after we finish the line. It's because of this line that only 24 hours later Evie seems to be able to identify the number "5" in the book. Each time we turn the page she finds the line that says "5 shining stars" and points to it expectantly, looking to see when I'll finally get there. And then when I do, we cuddle again. At the end of the book there is a picture of Santa and I don't even begin to know how to explain him to her yet. So, I start singing "You better watch out (Santa Claus is coming to town)" in an effort to elaborate. And I realize the song is pretty threatening to a not-yet-2-year-old. Am I really telling her some random man watches her while she sleeps? Creepy...Anyway, tonight at dinner I invited Will to join in the fun. We decided to sing "Deck the Halls". No surprise she was enthralled. Fa la la la la? What better carol could there be? It's like her favorite book of all time "Moo, Baa, La La La". "More! more!" she signed each time we finished. We asked her to sing along, and explained when we pointed to her she should say "fa la la la la". Didn't quite work, but man did she enjoy the game.
The moral of the story seems to be that I don't have the words to explain all that is Christmas to Evie. She'll have to learn it year by year like we all do. From all the various sources and loved ones. And eventually she'll come to choose her own meaning for the holiday. In the meantime, I have to decide whether I'm really on board with this whole story of the random man creepily watching over her while she sleeps...
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