Christmas Eve

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  But that doesn't mean everything will go right!
My kids have a funny way of interpreting the lyrics to Christmas carols. A has been singing that all he wants for Christmas is his toothbrush teeth. And he thinks the words really are " Shrek the Halls with Shrek and Donkey". And B substitutes the word "train" for any word he is unsure of. There are entire Christmas Carols that consist of the word train repeated over and over to a familiar tune. And then there are the songs which they sing correctly. So adorable. C always sways back and forth or dances. These are priceless and precious moments...

So let me tell you about THE CHRISTMAS PAGEANT. On Christmas Eve our church has a family service which includes a Christmas play with the little ones. I love the idea of said play, and was hoping to see my little ones participate this year. (We missed out last year when A had an asthma attack and instead I spent Christmas Eve in the ER with him.) So this year, I would have two shepards and an angel in the production. Yay!

As we drove to church, I must admit I was a little nervous. Our last rehearsal had not gone well, with C crying and B sneaking to the front repeatedly to try to turn off the CD playing the music while the other kids were singing.  But, we were making every effort. I'd love to tell you that my worries were unfounded and that my babies were little cherubs who performed beautifully.

The best thing I can say is that they looked really cute in their costumes. After we congregated, I was approached by an older Angel who told me it was her job to stand next to the Advent Wreath during the production and make sure none of the little kids knocked it over. "Especially your boys", she said.  Well that's good. At least my kids probably wouldn't burn down the church on Christmas Eve. Meanwhile the three little ones were running around and giggling with their friends. All was fine til group picture time. Shepards were first. C wanted her picture taken with her brothers and the other shepards. We explained that the Angels would be next, but being 2, she REALLY wanted her picture taken WITH HER BROTHERS.  The waterworks started, and escalated, and pretty soon all she wanted was her daddy and her grandaddy, seated in the Chapel waiting for the service to begin. Being that she is 2, and the youngest in the play, I kissed her bye, and Grandmommy took her over to the church to wait and watch. One down.

I turned to the boys.
My kids feed off each other, so the boys were a little upset at this point too. OK, my sister and I can manage this, I thought to myself. We can calm them down and get them engaged with the group and sneak over to the church.

Well, during the confusion with C, another Angel sat in A's seat. This was, of course, a personal affront to A. He started crying and said he wanted to go home.  Then B wanted to go home too.

Then there were tears.

I tried to encourage them.

Their teachers from the morning program they attend once a week tried to encourage them.

Other parents tried. 

Our Priest tried to encourage them. He told them they looked great and they would be excellent shepards.  B looked at him and said "I don't WANT to be a shepard, I just want to be a KID".

I told them Santa was watching. I told them how sad people would be if they didn't participate. But the bottom line was, they really didn't want to do it, and I don't want their memories of church at Christmastime to be tainted by bad feelings.

What was I supposed to do? Say you WILL be in this production and have them march in crying and wailing and miserable?

So we all sat in a pew. My mom, dad, sister, bro-in-law, husband, twin shepards, an angel, and I.  And we watched the other kids do an adorable job.  And it was lovely because I was surrounded by my family at church on Christmas Eve and everyone was now happy.

Haha, and I did not have to worry about my little ones burning the church down.