When Brandon and I put up our Christmas decorations this year we were so excited! We love this time of year. However, we also knew with having a 3 year old and 1 1/2 year old it was going to be interesting.
One of the first things that happened was my son broke the sheeps ear from the nativity set. No biggie. It happens. A week after that I saw him playing with it again and I went up to him to tell him no, but then it dawned on me. "I need to explain to him what this is... he truly has no idea. Ah-ha! A teaching point!" I thought, as I stared at it. So, I bent down beside him and began explaining what it was and what it all meant. It was interesting and fun as it played out in my head. I thought about how I needed to explain it to him the best I could, but also at a 3 year old level where he could actually grasp and somewhat understand what was going on.
So, here's how it went...
"So, Christmas Day.... is Jesus' Birthday! Here is Jesus, and this is his mom Mary and his dad Joseph. They had Jesus in a ...barn! (feeling proud because what is a manger, really? He would totally know what a barn is.) So, that's why these animals are here. Then, you see these three people? These are Jesus' friends! They are called 'the three wise men'. They came to visit him for his birthday and it was actually a birthday party (ding, ding, ding!) because see.. they each brought him presents! And this guy is just here because he is taking care of the animals. So that is what Christmas is about! Jesus' birthday."
I have a great friend, mentor who always bakes a cake for Jesus on his birthday. When I was like 22, I thought to myself, well that is cool I guess but Jesus isn't here to eat it. That memory came back to me and I was like, "Bennett!!! We get to bake Jesus a cake for his birthday!!!"
We have had so much fun this year talking about the nativity set and playing with his Fisher Price nativity set. One time he grabbed a wise man and said, "This is the king!" because he has a gold crown on... Haha! And another time he grabs Joseph and says, "This is moses.." And I was just like (lolololol!) "Wrong story buddy..."
So just last night when Brandon and Bennett went to the grocery store to grab some last minute items they picked out a cake and icing to bake for Jesus Birthday Party. Christmas morning my family is coming over to our house for breakfast. We are going to light candles, sing happy birthday to Jesus and have cake for breakfast! Brandon and I are excited to start this new tradition for our family. It's so special to us.
Good job Mom!
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