Toddler House celebrations began the 24th of December and wrapped up on the 2nd of January. The teachers were on holidays from the 23rd to the 5th of January, so the kids had a long break from school, and from all things in their normal routine. Christmas morning dawned bright and clear and everyone was in a joyous mood (well the majority of little people). Ghislaine and Nicole served up a fabulous ham and egg breakfast, thoroughly enjoyed by all. Some rushed through wanting to get “eating” out of the way and move on to other things, others slowly enjoyed their special meal while discussing what the rest of the day would bring. First on our agenda was the Christmas Pageant. Selecting 9 little actors we set to work dressing them in costume as Gwo Mama and Sé Ketlie rounded up the rest of the kids and set them down in front of the “stable”. Sé Ketlie read from Luke in the Creole Bible as Mary and Joseph, the angel, shepherds, and magi made their way through the yard to their positions. A glowing Chalinda held baby Jesus as Wise Daniel, Odeleine, and Robenson presented Him with gifts.
Miraculously we were able to hold almost everyone’s attention for the pageant, and after as Sé Ketlie retold the story in her own words and clearly pointed out each of our actors and who they represented on that wonderful night so long ago. After the story each child colored their own nativity page to reflect what they had heard. Markers made it off the page and onto faces and hands before long, so we moved on to the next item. Sweet, yummy, juicy, tangerines… for everyone. A real treat here. Easy to peel, with a thin thin skin the fruit inside is soft and delicious. No one has an indifference to tangerines, everyone LOVES them.
While they enjoyed their treat we moved the 8 ft tree down from the balcony and set it up on the play stand laying out the dozens of gifts below its branches. By the time everyone had been destickified we were ready. Each child was called up and received their individualized and tagged gift, that a church in Ontario had so graciously put together in a festive cloth bag with closeable draw string. As each child received their gift they returned to their seat and sat down, instructed to wait until everyone had gotten their gift to begin opening… harder for some than others. When the final gift had been handed out they began. “EEWWW’s” and “AAHHHHH’s” erupted as each child began pulling out toys from their bag. So many wonderful gifts so lovingly picked out by people they had never nor would ever meet, but cared for much from thousands of miles away. Nannies, volunteers, and myself were ready and able to disentangle toys from sturdy plastic wrappers, take garbage, and oh yeah… to playJ. By lunch time everyone was winding down and getting tired. So after white rice, bean, sauce, beat salad, and fizzy fruit punch (one of their favorite meals, and one not too heavy to follow up their fat breakfast) the majority lay down for a nap.
The oldest 20 could not be dissuaded though and played solid through their afternoon. Old Maid and Go Fish are nice games for a lazy afternoon and their new cards got some good use that day.At 4pm with the sun low in the sky and the afternoon temperatures cooling off, we gathered again in the yard… one more treat for the day… one that I loved most as a child. Stockings. My mother and sisters have made personalized stockings for every child and nanny that lives at the toddler house for the last three years and this year was no different. We filled them with balloons, parachute snowmen, reindeer sleighs, suckers, taffy, kaleidoscopes, bracelets, etc, and topped them off with a rice crispy treat. Last Christmas we made rice crispies for the first time ever for EVERYONE and it was a big success, so we decided to make it an annual thing. Once again a winner. One child has not taken off their “Happy Birthday Jesus” bracelet since pulling it out of his stocking. And it is not uncommon these days to see a child walking around with one red “sock” on their foot. I had hoped the red and white slide whistles would not live long, but just when I think they must all be dead I hear its shrill sing song and Jackson has revived his yet again gracing us all with his musical talent. There is nothing like Christmas with children. And nothing like watching a child from a slum in Port, or a small village in the south, learn about and experience Christmas for the first time ever. Only by His grace...
Molly
Isn't amazing how much they are able to do for the children? My eyes teared up when I read about the church in Canada donating the toys for the children!
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