The Reason for the Season

Each Christmas Eve we have a little nativity and the kids get to act out the story - it's nothing fancy and the costumes are always interesting, the story doesn't last long and it's not rehearsed, but it's beautiful. This year Ksenya chose to be the angel instead of Mary, leaving the Mary slot open for Ayvri and Kabe stuck with Joseph. Brigham and Daddy were the wise men and Mommy got to be the shepherd. Ayvri preferred being pregnant to laying the baby in the manger, but Ksenya liked to have speaking parts.
Another interesting development this year was the running debate about Santa Claus. Ksenya and Kabe had multiple arguments about him and I didn't intend to step in but then when Ksenya lost her tooth Tyler and I discussed the tooth fairy and why we perpetuate him. Finally Ksenya came right out and asked if they are real and we decided it wasn't fair to lie to them so we told them that those things are fun to pretend, to imagine and play at but that they aren't real. Then after the nativity my wonderful husband took a precious opportunity to teach our kids that a lot of the things that we pretend (Harry Potter, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy) are fun but that they are just for fun and are not real, but fantasy. Then he explained that the Nativity, the Christmas Story and the Savior of the world is not a fantasy but is very real, Jesus is a real person and really did atone for our sins. He bore a simple powerful testimony and the Spirit was so strong! I hope that by being honest with them they will trust us, knowing that we never lied to them and that they will realize that Jesus is very real. This may not be the answer for every family, but I'm thankful that Tyler followed the spirit and took the opportunity to teach a very important lesson.