By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
My four-year-old knew instantly that Mary was missing when she started playing with our Little People Nativity in early December.
“Where’s Mary?” she said a bit anxiously as she found me in another room.
At first, I had no idea what she was talking about. But when I realized she was talking about the Virgin Mary figurine, I racked my brain to think where she might have gone. Then I remembered that I’d put the small plastic Mary in with the ornaments after she’d gotten separated from the rest of the set while we packed up our Christmas decor. I found her, along with a wayward donkey and bale of hay, and put them back with the rest of the kids’ creche.
The way my preschooler grasped on to a once-lost Mary reminded me of an obscure Christmas book we got when I was a kid called “Cherubim.” Published by Pauline Books & Media, it focuses on an heirloom tree topper angel that goes missing after the children in the family are behaving selfishly. The kids decide to pitch in with gusto to help with Christmas preparations in the hopes that their good deeds can bring her back. And lo and behold, Cherubim reappears on top of their tree on Christmas morning.
Little People Nativity with Mary back in place. (Photo: Anna Weaver)
Both the creche and the Cherubim stories reminded me that I’ve been missing some joy so far this season. After Thanksgiving, I didn’t feel like rushing into listening to Christmas songs and decking out our house. Instead, I made sure our Advent wreath was ready, then the Jesse tree for our kids. But I slowly brought out the rest of the Christmas decor over several days.
I didn’t want to be rushed. I didn’t want to feel forced to jump right into Christmas cheer 24-7. My first grader also feels this way. While we were watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade he asked why there were so many Christmas songs and floats. “It’s the THANKSGIVING parade!” he reminded us.
So we’re easing into the holiday gaiety, and I’m glad that we have Advent to remind us to slow our roll toward Christmas Day.