You are here
Never Too Young to Teach Christmas
Can a twenty-two month old baby girl teach us about the meaning of Christmas? Is someone that young qualified to teach?
This just happened this past December week, 2009, and whether or not it is a 'miracle', it certainly raises questions about the young communicating far beyond our usual mundane expectations.
We help raise my son's daughter, five days a week while he, a single dad, works.
She is twenty-two months old, talkative, playful, loves soft music, rockin' rhythms and of course, anything to do with puppies and princesses. She also loves to go to Church looking at all the statues and crosses. Anything christian she calls "babies". Watching videos, even christian rappers, she uncannily calls "babies", though rappers and normal music groups are ignored. Symphonies are ignored too, but Handel's Messiah elicits a "Babies!"
She is familiar with Christian themes, though only very loosely, and we have never "preached" to her or taught her other than agreeing with her that this or that Christian theme, is in fact, "babies". She also knows the name Jesus, the guy on the cross, the baby in the manger, the rabbi teaching the "Lord's Prayer with hands outstretched. The one missing name we never use, is "King" since it is a concept we never use although "Princess" and "Prince" are a favorite story time theme. And never, until now, have we used King in relation to anything christian or attached to the name Jesus.
When autumn changes first brought colder weather, I would hold her in my arms watching big clouds race across the sky and tell her, "Winter is coming! That's why the leaves are changing. That's why they fall down. It's going to get colder. Winter is coming! Christmas is coming! Then Santa Claus will come."
With the arrival of Christmas decorations, and pictures of Santa and reindeers in the mail and on TV kid shows, she became more excited. She laughed and pointed to these signs saying, "Kwissmiss!"
This week we were dressing her in her new fake-fur hooded pink winter jacket to go out and see our local main street richly decorated at every step with Christmas displays, decorated trees, piped in carols and wrapped presents.
As I prepared her to leave, I said, "The reason everyone celebrates Christmas is because it is Jesus's birthday. When Jesus was a baby, everyone celebrated His birthday.
She looked up at me, and said in a strong voice the single word, "KING"
A little taken aback, because that is a word neither I nor my wife have ever used with her, I repeated that the reason everyone does all this Christmas stuff is to celebrate Jesus's birthday.
"KING" she said again in the same strong voice.
I called my wife in and told her to listen to this. I repeated my "...reason for the season" line and the little girl repeated the one word, "KING".
My wife's mouth dropped open and smiling, she asked her, "How do you know this?"
The little child did something she only does when we play peek-a-boo but has never done out of context of playing that universal child's game.
She covered her eyes with her two little hands and remained silently "hidden".
"Oh," my wife said, "I see!"
Whereupon she uncovered her eyes and with a mischievous smile, giggled, climbed off the bed and ran to the door shouting, "Kwissmiss!"