When children are very small they do not remember things that happen from year to year too well. Each Christmas is a new experience to them for at least the first four or five years of their lives. I had forgotten this fact until my niece came over to my house at Christmas when she was three-years-old. At the time her mother was a Jehovah's Witness which, as you know, meant my sister did not celebrate Christmas.
When my niece first saw my tree that year she stopped dead in her tracks and just stared at it in wonder. It was seven feet tall and must have seem huge to her. From her point of view it must have been an impressive tree what with all the tinsel, ornaments, and colored lights I had put on it. She stood in front of it with her head tilted back and eyes opened wide. She stayed where she was for a minute and then noticed the nativity scene I had set-up under the tree and squatted down to examine Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, the donkey, the lamb, the shepherd carrying the baby lamb, and the three wise men. Those must have been more interesting than the tree because she studied them all very carefully.
After a bit she turned her head to look up at me and then turned back to the figurines. Without taking her eyes off the small grouping under the tree she slowly got up and started inching backward toward me. When her back pressed against my leg she reached her hand around to grab my pant leg and asked, "Aunt Colleen, can I play with your Jehovah toys?"
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