Let’s face it. It is not really the picture perfect Christmases we remember. It is a romanticized version of all the things we enjoyed and remember from our childhood memories. Many of us take those wonderful memories and weave them into our own version of a Norman Rockwell Christmas scene.

In retrospect it all seems perfect. This is the nostalgic Christmas that we all want to remember; but it is a general picture–like an impressionist painting.

More specifically are the moments that we remember with crystal-clear recall–those funny and touching moments–the moments that went wrong and the moments absurd.

There are a couple that come to mind that I would like to share.

The one I remember most was when our youngest daughter played the angel in our church’s Christmas Pageant. She had a head full of very curly blond hair that was always a little frizzed and fuzzy. It encircled her head like a golden halo. At three years old everyone thought she was perfect for the part, everyone, that is, except her older sister.

Jamie wanted to be the angel but instead she was chosen to be a shephard. Our little Presbyterian Church was small, and there weren’t enough little boys to play the male characters. So while her sister was getting to be the cute little angel at center stage, Jamie had to put a towel on her head, a boy’s bathrobe over her clothes and play the part of a sheep herder in the wings. She was not a happy camper.

That night our precious Christmas angel stood behind the manger fidgeting around like she often did, oblivious to the requirements of a proper Christmas angel, while Jamie sulked on the sidelines.

Finally, we should have seen it coming. The Christmas angel bumped into the manager dumping its contents across the stage, and Baby Jesus rolled into the audience.

There was a gentle gasp as chairs started sliding across the floor and one little but very loud voice from the shepherds said, “See mama. I told you I’d make a better angel.”

Yes, we their parents were mortified at the time; but it has become our favorite Christmas story. I can’t wait to tell their children some day.

Jamie and her Little Sister Tracy, the Christmas Angel

Another family Christmas story was my mother’s outdoor Christmas decorations, which were known far and wide. Every year our poor dad put up Christmas decorations for days. There was a big Santa and his sleigh with all the reindeer up on the roof, and down nestled under a beautiful old crabapple tree was a manger scene which was bigger than the one on the courthouse square. Mary, Joseph, and all the animals and characters were big plastic figures and could easily be viewed from the road.

A row of giant red and white candy canes stood as sentries lining each side of the driveway. The entire front yard and the house were blanketed in twinkling lights. It was a Christmas wonderland. People in town drove by with their kids to see the display.

One of the last Christmas Eves, before mother got sick and her tradition ended, my baby sister and her family along with their two little girls ages 3 and 6 arrived. The rest of us emptied into mom and dad’s front yard to watch our two youngest members ooh and ah over the decorations.

The two little girls were dressed in their little Christmas dresses and were running from one scene to the next obviously overwhelmed by all the yard art, when the three year old redhead ran to the manger scene and proceeded to run away with baby Jesus. Problem is baby Jesus was a big plastic figure lit from within complete with an extension cord for electricity. Baby Jesus was almost as big as she was.

Just as we realized that she was running away with the blessed infant, she ran out of cord. Down she went in a tumble of satin and crinolines with an unlit plastic baby Jesus on top of her.

My Mother, Sister, Grandmother and my Sister’s Daughters, Including the Little Redhead Who Tried to Run Away With Baby Jesus

My family loves to laugh and share these stories. Both of these moments are unforgettable pictures that we’ll always carry in our hearts. Our fidgety Christmas angel is now 34 years old, and my niece who rolled on my parent’s lawn that Christmas Eve just started high school in September.

If everything this Christmas didn’t go as you had planned, I truly wish for you the ability to turn it into a memory where you can find some small pleasure in the moment.

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!