holiday holidays are...

...pretty nice.  I highly recommend taking a break from the usual holiday shenanigans from time to time.

D and E weren't gone very long, but I didn't wear myself out cooking or cleaning up so the time they were gone felt like quiet, unstructured time.  I worked on holiday cards, organized some shelves downstairs, watched old episodes of Newhart, and slept a bit.  I ate soup and cold mashed potatoes (leftover from last night), and it was way way okay.  I did not miss the feast.

I'm still thinking a lot about Christmas and Solstice and how to begin sharing these holidays in a meaningful way with E.  D came from a very Catholic family and went to Catholic schools.  I became an "official" Catholic for strategic and hopeful reasons before E was born.  I wanted to make it work for me, but that hasn't happened yet.  The label that fits me best of all is Pagan Buddhist (Catholic) Gardener.

D and I were married on winter Solstice, and it's an important idea for me that -- deep in the darkness -- the light is born again.  My mentor K (who used to be a professor of religious studies and who has witnessed my spiritual and emotional growth for the last 25 years) suggested I focus on the tree and the symbolism there.  This sounded good because I already had decided that this was the year to get a real tree so that E could smell it and appreciate its (sacrificed) life.

K also suggested that E would be at a prime age to experience/play with a nativity set.  She said that young children often get excited about the advent because they're so excited about a baby being born.  Bingo!  E is focused on birthdays and babies big time right now.  It would be wrong of me to deny her an experience of the Christmas story.  Besides...  Jesus...  the Sun...  I can make it all work together in my heart so that my sharing of it feels genuine.

So now I'm looking for a nativity set for us.  This is harder than I wanted it to be.  The nativity set I want to share with her will...

• be under $50.

• not have overly caucasion-like features or skin colors.

• be well colored or painted (or not at all -- like if it's just carved wood, but that's not likely under $50).

• be medium-ish kid-friendly (porcelain okay, resin better, wood great) because I want her to play with the pieces.

• have some animals -- sheep, donkey, ox, and maybe a camel.

My parents were secular Protestants and a nativity set was intentionally not part of my childhood (and I used to get in trouble for sneaking out to church with my friends).  I made up for that by studying world religions and collecting religious statues and images for the last twenty years, but I don't even have a full holy family set.

I went to Christian Supply last week (and was surprised that I wasn't struck dead when I walked through the door), but I didn't find a nativity set that worked for me.  I've been looking online a lot and have just started to look on ebay.

I wish I could find something that all of us could enjoy for years to come -- not simplistic, not just for kids, but kid-friendly.  I'm not opposed to a ceramic set at all.  It just has to be colored with some rich tones.  I've seen a bunch of sets of ebay I'd buy for *me* if I could afford it.  I love this stuff.

Comments

[Taylor]

We deal with stuff like this too. My family does a big 4 day party out at the beach for Solstice, with gifts, feasts, ritual, etc. My husband's family does a Christian thing with all the traditional trappings.

I am trying to be clear with the Christian side of the family (no pressure from them or anything, thank Goddess) that I celebrate Christmas as the birthday of a Peace Activist and a day of good magic. But it's not really my thing.

And I'm trying to figure out good holiday balance for the small son. And how to not focus on the acquisition of stuff. The joy of giving and receiving is fine... but not stuff for the sake of the American Shopping Machine.

It's a challenge.

[Betsy]

Have you tried etsy.com for a nativity set?

[Chris]

Cathy, I'm a former Catholic, Pagan-inspired, pan-non-theist...or something like that. My husband's totally a-religious. I wanted to introduce the story of Jesus as part of our Christmas celebration, but didn't want to spend a lot on a nativity or have some junky knick-knacky thing, either. So, I started making a nativity for my kids last year. So far, I've made the family, two shepherds, and two sheep. My plan is to add to it every year...more animals, the wise men, etc., but I didn't this year. The Christmas Craft Book from Floris Books has instructions for making very easy, very playable figures. The bodies are made of felt-covered card stock and their heads are tiny wool-stuffed dolls heads, like the one you made, but smaller (and way easier--I made a dozen in a couple hours last year). I love our little set and the kids really enjoy playing with it. Annabel loves to discover Jesus (a tiny bit of wool wrapped in a bit of lavender silk) in his walnut cradle on Christmas morning. Last year I found a perfect bit of moss for the cradle, but this year all the moss was covered with snow...I used a bit of wool in the walnut instead.