Although this is Eva’s third Christmas, it is the first that she fully appreciates in all of its indulgent, commercial glory and her greater awareness of a holiday-saturated culture in general - she knows exactly what's going on, or does she?
It is all visions of sugar plums, fat men bearing gifts, candy cane, gingerbread and princess Jesus.
She has embraced the holidays with all the desperate enthusiasm of an alcoholic at a whiskey sale, and although it is adorable, it's also a little bit disconcerting.Should we carefully shield her from the hype of the holidays as a festival of presents and candy? Limit her exposure to any medium that broadcasts holiday-fetishizing advertisements. We have made efforts to explain to her what Christmas really is supposed to be about - star in the east, baby in swaddling clothes, three wise men bearing gifts. We talk about the importance of giving and of being grateful and of celebrating family and friends and everything that we are so fortunate to already have. But still, after all of this, she remains intoxicated by Christmas. "Will princess Jesus bring us gifts?" she asks. The Christmas that decks the halls with boughs of holly and Tinker Bell Advent Calendars and that celebrates, above all else, the getting of stuff. I don't want to deprive my children of those childish pleasures, nor do I want to teach them that wanting (desiring, coveting) is in itself bad. It is, after all, okay to want things. But I do want them to learn that wanting things for oneself must be tempered by - and is most pleasurable in concert with - wanting things for others, and that Christmas is only incidentally about receiving material gifts. I want them to take to heart - when they're old enough to understand - the spirit of the Christmas story with its tidings of great joy and message of hope and peace and good will. I want them to understand the lesson learned by Charlie Brown, that shiny pink Christmas trees with mounds of presents are kind of cool, but are really beside the point, and that the best feeling that one can have during the holidays is that heart-full, love-smothered feeling that one gets when embracing the spirit of good will and hope and love.
It is all visions of sugar plums, fat men bearing gifts, candy cane, gingerbread and princess Jesus.
She has embraced the holidays with all the desperate enthusiasm of an alcoholic at a whiskey sale, and although it is adorable, it's also a little bit disconcerting.Should we carefully shield her from the hype of the holidays as a festival of presents and candy? Limit her exposure to any medium that broadcasts holiday-fetishizing advertisements. We have made efforts to explain to her what Christmas really is supposed to be about - star in the east, baby in swaddling clothes, three wise men bearing gifts. We talk about the importance of giving and of being grateful and of celebrating family and friends and everything that we are so fortunate to already have. But still, after all of this, she remains intoxicated by Christmas. "Will princess Jesus bring us gifts?" she asks. The Christmas that decks the halls with boughs of holly and Tinker Bell Advent Calendars and that celebrates, above all else, the getting of stuff. I don't want to deprive my children of those childish pleasures, nor do I want to teach them that wanting (desiring, coveting) is in itself bad. It is, after all, okay to want things. But I do want them to learn that wanting things for oneself must be tempered by - and is most pleasurable in concert with - wanting things for others, and that Christmas is only incidentally about receiving material gifts. I want them to take to heart - when they're old enough to understand - the spirit of the Christmas story with its tidings of great joy and message of hope and peace and good will. I want them to understand the lesson learned by Charlie Brown, that shiny pink Christmas trees with mounds of presents are kind of cool, but are really beside the point, and that the best feeling that one can have during the holidays is that heart-full, love-smothered feeling that one gets when embracing the spirit of good will and hope and love.
6 comments:
So funny, I love it!!!!
did she really say princess Jesus?
DD
vey good
loveit
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