Edmund Gets in the Spirit of Christmas

Edmund and Santa

As the holidays approach it seems as if time has flown by much too quickly. When I was a child Christmas couldn't come fast enough. Now that I'm an adult, I simply want time to stop or at least slow down, so I can accomplish all I want. There has been so much I want to expose Edmund to during his first Christmas season, despite the fact I know he won't remember most of it. It is important to me that I establish traditions, as it is the Christmas traditions I look back on fondly, not the presents.

During my childhood one of my favorite Christmas traditions was visiting Santa at Macy's in NYC. While I had no intention of taking Edmund to NYC this year, I did want him to visit Santa. Edmund is currently at an age where he knows who his mom and dad are, but will go to new people briefly. I was willing to stand in line with Edmund at our local mall knowing with almost absolute certainty he would not scream when we handed him to Santa. Edmund slept forty minutes out of the hour wait and spent the other twenty minutes watching the "big kids" and making friends with their parents. When we finally arrived at Santa I wondered if I would live to regret my decision to wait in line. I had watched at least ten babies around Edmund's age go ballistic upon being handed to the jolly old fellow. I sat Edmund in Santa's lap facing out to make sure he could see me. Since Edmund was not quite himself on account of his shots the previous day, it took several rounds of the laugh provoking "ah tu tu tu tu tu" to get him to smile, but smile he did. We got our picture, so I went to retrieve my baby. I thought Santa would hand him back right away, as he had been none too quick to give the other children back to their parents. Instead Santa turned Edmund to face himself and started asking him what he wanted for Christmas. Edmund studied him intently, and made a reach for the beard. Fortunately he didn't grab hold or we may have had an angry Santa on our hands. I don't think Santa wanted to hand over my baby as this may have been the first cooperative one he had all day, but I thought a few minutes of bonding time with a stranger, Santa or not, was plenty. Santa promised Edmund a Thomas the Tank Engine set. Santa sure is a better gift giver than Edmund's parents who think a box and wrapping paper will be just perfect for his first Christmas.

Edmund had quite the morning with Santa, but that evening would top it. Edmund was to play Baby Jesus in our church's children's musical, "The Perfect Gift." No pressure there! Since I assist with the musical I knew the child playing Mary well enough to know she would do just fine for the few minutes she was to hold Edmund. Unfortunately, when I agreed to the acting gig I forgot that Edmund was getting his shots the previous day. He had no problem with his last round of vaccinations, but this time the flu shot was added into the mix. I have yet to know a baby who doesn't react at least somewhat negatively to the flu shot, regardless of their disposition. Steven did all he could to make sure Edmund's understudy, the doll, would not fill in. He brought Edmund to the musical well rested and fed him during the first few minutes. Edmund was doing great until the scene prior to his appearance. Edmund started to get fussy. Did I mention his debut was to occur at 7:15, right at bedtime? Edmund hadn't reached full meltdown mode, so I gave him his pacifier and passed him off to Mary. When the lights came up Edmund looked stunned, but no crying did he make. Despite the modern socks and pacifier, Edmund made quite a wonderful Baby Jesus. As his Aunt Becca commented, "the 2nd best Jesus in history." Little Mary was so relieved when the scene ended, she exclaimed backstage, "He didn't cry!" Edmund is quite the little actor. He makes a repeat engagement as Baby Jesus on Christmas Eve, this time with an even bigger role. We hope to see you all there.