Now that Halloween is over, it feels like the holiday season is officially upon us. Walking around downtown Chicago, the window displays are in full effect at Marshall Fields (yes, I know that it’s now known as Macy’s). They’re setting up the German Kristkindl Market at Daley Plaza. The stores are now carrying décor for every aspect of your life. You can’t walk anywhere without being reminded that Christmas, and the holidays, are upon us.
For many (myself included), this is a season of stress—getting the Christmas cards made, addressed, and mailed; making sure that the decorations get put up; and trying to plan a thousand holiday parties with friends, family, co-workers, professional organizations, and the kids’ schools. Not to mention the nativity plays and holiday performances that kids have to attend rehearsals for! Oh, and did we forget buying gifts? That’s a thing, too.
And yet, for many (again, myself included), all of this stress somehow fuels us to do more, enjoy more, and make this season magical.
I was trying to schedule a time for my older two kids to see Santa (that’s how you do it where we live—it’s not like when I grew up and you just showed up and stood in line—now, there are fast passes and reservations required). I was planning that one of us (my wife or myself) could stay home with our 6 month old baby girl, because she won’t get much from the experience, and it will interfere with her nap schedule, and it might detract from the experience for our older two, and besides, this is the FIRST TIME seeing Santa for our older two… so if they waited this long, she could wait too.
And then I got an email: our Church wanted our sweet baby girl to play the part of Jesus in the nativity pageant on Christmas Eve. Apparently, she’s the youngest member of the congregation. Either my wife or I would therefore play the part of Mary.
“Well…” I thought to myself… “I’m not sure this is a good idea. It’s late in the evening, it will add another component of stress to the festivities (after all, if she cries while we’re just sitting in Church, we can walk her out into the hallway… but if she’s baby Jesus, it’s a little harder to slip away unnoticed), etc. etc.”
But then, in talking to my wife about it, she reminded me that (for those of us who celebrate Christmas), this is the season of celebrating Jesus. A BABY. And we were basically coming up with reasons to eliminate our BABY from any and all festive outings, on the basis that she was a BABY.
So that settled it. We will have ourselves a baby Jesus in the pageant.
In this, the season of celebrating the birth of a baby, we will do our part to make sure our own baby will be included. While she may not remember anything, and while it might add an extra element of stress, it’s her Christmas, too—and we can’t let our baby girl be forgotten during this Christmas season of the forgotten trimester.
(And on a lighter note—if anyone has tips on how to help a baby sit quietly while playing the part of baby Jesus, I’m all ears…)
~The Forgotten Trimester~ 