Straws for baby Jesus
A story of life in the Fowler house.
When I was growing up, my parents would put a cradle by the fireplace at the beginning of Advent. (Advent being the first season of the Catholic church year, and encompassing approximately the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas). It's a time for preparation and joyful anticipation, which is pretty similar to the secular Christmas season but maybe with a more altruistic tone. But I digress, back to the cradle.
The cradle was a tangible, kid-relatable reminder that what we were celebrating is the event of the birth of Christ. That is HIS cradle. And my parents, in their infinite wisdom, would have us fill up the cradle with "straw" so he would have a nice bed to lay in on Christmas Eve. (The straw was actually strips of newspaper.) In order to put a straw in the cradle, you had to do a good deed for someone. To facilitate this, we would draw names from a hat each Sunday, and you were assigned one person to be especially kind to in the family. This usually included things like doing a chore for them, making their bed, etc... I'm sure my sisters have better recollections of the details than I do. My parents are smart people, no?
This year I'm trying to do one act of kindness each day during Advent. I hadn't remembered this childhood story until today (Day 4), but I now realize that my acts of kindness are not some amazing adult insight that I've had on how to make this season more meaningful. They are actually remnants of childhood brainwashing. In true Fowler fashion, I've now decided to inflict it on my wee ones and ask Brynna about what nice things she does, which I will then write on a piece of paper and put in her stocking :) And so turns the circle of life...
When I was growing up, my parents would put a cradle by the fireplace at the beginning of Advent. (Advent being the first season of the Catholic church year, and encompassing approximately the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas). It's a time for preparation and joyful anticipation, which is pretty similar to the secular Christmas season but maybe with a more altruistic tone. But I digress, back to the cradle.
The cradle was a tangible, kid-relatable reminder that what we were celebrating is the event of the birth of Christ. That is HIS cradle. And my parents, in their infinite wisdom, would have us fill up the cradle with "straw" so he would have a nice bed to lay in on Christmas Eve. (The straw was actually strips of newspaper.) In order to put a straw in the cradle, you had to do a good deed for someone. To facilitate this, we would draw names from a hat each Sunday, and you were assigned one person to be especially kind to in the family. This usually included things like doing a chore for them, making their bed, etc... I'm sure my sisters have better recollections of the details than I do. My parents are smart people, no?
This year I'm trying to do one act of kindness each day during Advent. I hadn't remembered this childhood story until today (Day 4), but I now realize that my acts of kindness are not some amazing adult insight that I've had on how to make this season more meaningful. They are actually remnants of childhood brainwashing. In true Fowler fashion, I've now decided to inflict it on my wee ones and ask Brynna about what nice things she does, which I will then write on a piece of paper and put in her stocking :) And so turns the circle of life...
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