A guest post from Kayla…
I recently shared about Jasper’s first memorable Advent and I’m back to share how Christmas went.
[My husband] Spencer’s gifts to his parents was installing under-cabinet lighting in their kitchen, so he headed to the farm early on Christmas Eve to have a work day. Spencer’s mom worked an afternoon shift so I stayed home with Jasper. He helped me make Christmas gifts for his grandparents.
We made letters on the side of the stove to spell a message and then made a collage with the images to make a phone wallpaper and refrigerator magnet for each grandparent. He loved looking through pictures from the year and sat nicely on my lap while I made the collages.
Here’s the phone wallpaper we made Mom:
And the refrigerator magnet.
As a joke (but I think they actually went over well?) I made magnets of Jasper’s funniest faces from the year for his uncle. I think everyone thought I was joking when I said Jasper helped with the gifts, but he loved it.
I ordered The Star on Amazon Prime and was so impressed that Jasper watched it and seemed to understand it. I made the mistake of telling him it was about the baby, which, as we know, arrives very late in the Christmas story. Every (not exaggerating) minute, he would ask “Baby?” I told him the baby was in his mama’s belly and babies have to wait a long time to grow big enough to get out!
The Star is an animated movie of Christmas told from the perspective of the animals. It’s really wholesome but still funny so I enjoy watching it with him.
We “normally” (what is normal these days?!) would have went to Christmas Eve service but are still avoiding sitting in crowds with Jasper. So we had a simple supper and headed to Spencer’s family right at bedtime.
I put the star (that I mentioned in the Advent post) in my pocket and brought his Little People nativity set. When I got there I passed the star off to Spencer to hide and Jasper was so amazed that his star magically appeared at the farm.
He set up his Little People set close to the tree. We told him that the baby was coming when he went to sleep and asked if he thought the star would help the wise men find the baby.
Jasper is the only grandchild on that side of the family and loved being the center of attention. We all got a kick out of him dancing to his favorite songs from Polar Express. He loved passing out his envelopes with the magnets in. It was nice to see him enjoying giving gifts too.
The next morning when we…
woke up Jasper was so happy to see that the baby arrived and that the star found the “baby’s house.” (We’ll work out that detail next year.) He brought his wise men to find the baby too.
This set was a gift from a blog reader and he LOVES it. He randomly carries Jesus around and talks to me about him. (Blah blah blah BABY!! Mama! Blah blah Baby? Baby Mama? Baby Daddy?) The pieces go perfectly with The Star movie. Mom knew I wanted one and shared it with me. I’m not sure who to write a card to, so thank you!
Jasper’s “Santa” gifts were wrapped in a snowman shape. He didn’t seem to understand they were gifts at first, which was nice because it made him very patient. (Ha!)
When I was little we got three gifts like Jesus so I tried similarly. Jasper got a headlamp in the top, socks and underwear in the middle, and a Magnadoodle and puzzle in the bottom.
It was great to see him excited for gifts but I liked seeing him enjoying other people too.
His grandma put some implement catalogs in the box with some beautiful framed prints for his bedroom, and we all laughed because they were his favorite thing from the day.
We enjoyed a great meal and played a board game in the afternoon. It was a great day. I was nervous about what to expect from a [almost] two-year-old, but was pleasantly surprised.
I’m happy with how our Santa/Christian balance worked out and I’m excited for him to understand more of the Christmas story next year. I think next year he’ll be old enough to more actively pick gifts for others, which will be a lot of fun.
what fun to read about a really young one’s Christmas experiences. Children and grandchildren are older now. Each year is a new adventure and just as lovely as the previous one. Learning about choosing gifts for others will be fun for such a sensitive little guy. You are doing a great thing with him. God bless you and your family. Thanks for giving your mother a break.
Looks like you had an awesome Christmas. Love the Nativity set. It’s always so wonderful when little ones are able to share the special gift of Jesus.
Merry Christmas – one I’m sure you’ll cherish always.
Oh what fun. Teaching a little one the joy of giving as well as receiving. He did help you by being good and he learned a lot from you even if it doesn’t seem like it. So glad you had a lovely Christmas. The nativity set is a great idea thank you too whomever had the idea to send it to you.i have some littles myself who might like it.
Jasper looks like he truly enjoyed the nativity set & especially baby Jesus. ⭐ Looks like the catalog went over well with him too. :-) Neat snowman! ☃️ May God continue to bless your entire family.
Oh what a lovely post, thank you Kayla.
You have chosen the right profession, being a teacher, I’m sure your school loves having teach for them. You are a great mom (you had a good teacher ;-).
You should be writing books for adults, to teach them how to parent, really.
We’ve given Little People Nativity sets to each of our married grandchildren for their children. 2 years ago I had a hard time finding it but eventually I got one. I add a storage box for it too so it stays together.
So fun to hear about Jasper’s Christmas. What a smart idea of three gifts – your parents did a great job rearing their family. You are so good incorporating Jasper in making the gifts or doing other things – just fun to hear about. Keeping your mom in my prayers.
Thank you for sharing. Praying for your Mom and a good result with the medication.
I love this age for discovering the baby Jesus! I gave my older 5 yo niece her first nativity at 2 and she patiently listed s I told the story to her using the figure. This year myounger two year old niece I found a neat nativity in a box that unfolded and had wooden figures. She also listened patiently. My sister said she often found her playing with it early in the morning talking to the baby.
I love how you are doing Christmas! I feel like we get too caught up in the commercialism of it all. Thanks for sharing!
Jasper is so sweet! Happy New a year!
That nativity set is so good for little ones. Thanks for sharing your Christmas and helping your mom at the same time. Prayers continue.
I’m the blog reader who sent the Nativity set that Jasper loves. Jo sent a very nice thank you and told me that you had taken the set for Jasper. I’m so glad he enjoys it. Your post about his gifts was a very nice thank you from you. Thank you for sharing his joy!
Thank you for sharing your family’s Christmas with us. You are teaching lessons and making memories that will last a lifetime. We also told the Christmas story to our children with a nativity set. One year a wise man and his camel went missing, never to be seen again. Perhaps he followed the wrong star, but I think he may still be in the wall void behind the pocket doors in our first house! Blessings to you and your family and prayers for a healthy New Year for all.
What a sweet little guy Jasper is! So wonderful to teach him about the baby Jesus! I know being the only grandchild is very special…I have always felt that the more people to love a child the better! (We are step-grandparents and one of the “real” grandparents was jealous of us.) So glad to see that you aren’t buying Jasper everything advertised on TV, too. Kids get so many gifts that they are overloaded and don’t appreciate any of them! Thanks for posting about your special Christmas with Jasper!