Christmas children

 

Christmas children

A Christmas three-year-old with matching doll

Nothing can compare to the delight in a small child’s face when faced with the joys of Christmas. All is magical and wondrous, and their eyes grow rounder and brighter as each new glory unfolds before them.

They retain that innocence throughout their pre-school and Infant school years, from the ages of two until seven. As they lisp their way through whichever version of a Christmas story they are telling in their concert,  wise adult eyes grow moist. Even their teachers, who have guided and drilled them through their words and songs, often find themselves unexpectedly moved by the unworldliness of small humans who have not lived on this earth for long.

Nonetheless, there are moments of unforeseen hilarity. Mary, struggling up a slope, slides backwards, and Joseph gives her a hearty shove. The Three Kings/Wise Men, always misplaced in the Nativity, fling their gifts at the little family with a grunted blessing and hurry away to the back of the stage. The shepherds try to herd their sheep, who are in some cases much bigger than them, and the donkey’s headdress keeps slipping over his eyes. The cattle have got colds and keep wiping their noses and Mary is trying to look like a caring little mother while unceremoniously thumping the baby (doll) into the crib. The Angel Gabriel appears amidst a host of angels and one of the angels has an enormous, homemade pair of ungainly wings which threaten to make her overbalance, if they haven’t already put out a smaller child’s eyes.

The words of the carols are sometimes not explained, so children happily sing nonsense, like ‘highly flavoured lady,’ and ‘stay by my side until morning is night,’ and ‘poor as I yam,’ that last one heard even among recordings of the exalted King’s College choir.

Almost without fail, the children will search the audience for their parent or grandparent or aunt or big brother, and will wave to them, even though they have been told repeatedly not to. There is usually at least one child who hasn’t got a family member attending, and it’s so sad to see their distress growing as their lips tremble and tears spring to their eyes.

Among the very youngest children, there will often be one or two who will be overcome by the occasion and burst into tears or wet themselves – sometimes both at the same time – or simply refuse to go onto the stage with the rest of the ‘cast.’ The solemnity of the occasion will be lost on many, who will proceed to chat, pinch, adjust their neighbour’s costume and ignore all warning glares from supervising adults.

Some children sing with gusto. The following clip is one I have shared before which never fails to make me laugh. The older children can be seen trying valiantly to maintain the ‘glory’ of the moment, while the younger ones are torn between admiration and astonishment.

By the time term ends, the children will have ‘done’ Christmas multiple times and their excitement will know no bounds. Overtired, over-stimulated, they are prey to all the bugs around and frequently fall prey to coughs, colds, sore throats, diarrhoea and vomiting and will be in no fit state to enjoy the actual festival.

All too soon, the greatly anticipated ‘most wonderful time of the year,’ as the song informs us, is over. New Year celebrations are understated, unless you’re a Scot enjoying Hogmanay, and at the very beginning of January, the spring term starts.

The small, exhausted children, having had very little time to appreciate their new toys, or catch up on their sleep, are chivvied back to school, where they are reacquainted with their equally tired teachers, and life continues. The term of generously shared illnesses proceeds apace, worried parents telling each other that it’s important for their offspring to undergo these ailments in order to build their immune systems, and so they do.

The wheel of the year turns, and all too soon, Easter eggs and rabbits and other chocolatey delights cram the shelves of shops, at just the right height to attract children. Amidst all this, at school, the children learn about ‘Cheesus’ and try to absorb the meaning of new life. After all, they are still very new themselves.