Many, many years ago, when the grandchildren in our family were actually children, my Mom and Dad would let them go wild in their linen closet and take any of the sheets, towels, bedspreads and table cloths they wanted to create costumes and then put on a home production of the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day.
For sure, it was quite a menagerie of costumes for shepherds, animals, Mary the mother of Jesus. Joseph the carpenter and Mary’s husband and of course, the youngest, no matter whether he or she was a baby or not, got to play the role of the Baby Jesus. It always added a little realism if the niece or nephew was still drinking from a bottle.
It was our family’s way of focusing on the real healing spirit of Christmas and letting the children know that they shouldn’t get consumed with the commercial aspects of Christmas as in shopping, shopping, and more shopping. I remember that the production started to become quite sophisticated one year when one of the older grandchildren took paper plates and glued cotton balls to one side the plate and then put ribbon through and tied it on the head of one of the younger children as a hat so that we would know he was a sheep.
Needless to say, none of the adults in my family could keep a straight face watching this motley group of theatrical players even though some of them did take it seriously and tried to give the production a bit of respect.
I write about our family Christmas pageants because a friend sent me this tender and innocent YouTube video of a group of children in New Zealand doing their own version of the story of The Christmas Story.
Please check it out. It’s very sweet! :
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