Ahh, Christmas. The season of togetherness, giving, warm feelings and…hey, sit down in front. Sit down. Sit down! SIT DOWN!
Every year at our preschool we go to see our kids in the Christmas pageant. It has become tradition, as we’ve been through four of these, to find a spot roughly in the middle of the church, eagerly await the arrival of the children in their costumes, and think, “This’ll be the year we get to see the pageant.” My wife implores me to try to get a picture of [insert child name here], which is like asking me to get a few pictures of shooting stars while I’m out camping. Uh huh. Once the kids come marching in singing, that’s when the true nature of society is revealed. Forget manners, forget the Common Good, forget respect for fellow parents, nope, that all goes down the crapper. It’s all, “Aidan! Aidan! Aidan! Aidan! Look at mommy! Aidan! Aidan! AIDAN! AYE-DEN!” Repeat for Jaden, Braden, Kayden, Caden, Tayden, Hayden, and Paiden. So this year I knew what was coming and made sure to get some clear unobstructed photos of my son. This would be the first year I’d actually know what my child was dressed up as. Here we go!
Wait, hold on, that one is a little blurry. I got a much better picture about ten minutes later.
The dude in the black hot rod t-shirt? Standing for about three-quarters of the show and the rest of the time it was his wife. Standing up the whole time makes sense in a stadium. In a church with flat sightlines, it makes the Lord frown from on high. I have no doubt they were loving grandparents who just wanted to see their little darling dressed as a lamb or a star or a lamprey or a jar of caviar. I don’t know what kids dress up as for the Christmas pageant because I’ve never seen it. Happy holidays!
Writer, architect, father, husband.