12/30/2009: First Christmas

Well. Christmas came and Christmas went.

So before we start, let me tell you about all the people who came bounding up to me to ask "what is special???"
Uh... special? What do you mean?
You know... so special, having JJ here... to celebrate Christmas...

Truthfully? There are Christmas People and there are "christmas people". I am a "christmas people" and Joseph is a Christmas People. So for me, other than not having to travel for the holidays, it was just another Christmas or another holiday to deal with. It is never that special for me. Joseph makes it special because we have a tree with lights. And it is small and round, just like Joseph and me. And that is it.

Was it "special?" Actually, no. It was more "different" than anything else.

And does this one day have special meaning? Ummm... I'm going to take the liberty to disappoint everyone and say, it was not The Most Special Day of the Year for me. Sorry.

I think if we could communicate with JJ, explain to him the symbolism and magic of the day, and what it means, it might have been more special at least for me anyway. But JJ had a great time opening gifts and playing with all his new toys! And THAT was fun to see.

So, someone asked what JJ thought about Christmas. I'm a little flummoxed by this question. Hmmm. Well... Not sure. He doesn't speak English! How do I know what he thought? I don't think he thought anything. Nothing at all. Just another day with a tree in the house. I don't think he really understands presents either. He has no religion, doesn't know about Jesus, and we already know that I ruined Santa Make Believe for him. He doesn't know what a church is and has never been inside one.

What I do know, direct from his mouth to me through Chinese Nanny is that he has only heard something "little" about Christmas but he has never seen nor experienced it. Not surprising. And when I told a few people that last week, their excited faces fell and they seemed disappointed. Uhhhh.... Ok. Is it just me? Or does it seem like people have weird expectations about a boy from China, who didn't have religion, or celebrate Christmas, or any other American / Christian holiday for that matter?? So, Uh... No. He doesn't know what it is, and he probably doesn't care. Or even that he SHOULD care. And I personally think that is NORMAL!

Oh, and JJ doesn't know about Baby Jesus, either, so don't ask me if he knows it's Jesus's birthday (which really isn't his birthday but was picked as The Day for whatever reason that escapes me right now). And we're not going to tell him until he is older. He barely knew about Santa - from what I could see it was mostly from the kids at school. I did tell him that Santa was make believe and that he is Magic. Whether he understands that or not, he can't accuse of me lying later. Hah!

In my broken Chinese, I tried to tell him that "Santa knows ALL! And he is Magic. And he appears once a year if you are good." And that is why he got stuff in his stocking. Now, THIS is a story I can build on! It will be interesting to see later if he wondered about all the kids in China who Santa never came to. Yup. Flaws in the story everywhere!

Since we can't communicate, I'm not sure what JJ thought about the day specifically. He said he liked it and he was happy. But being happy is a continual state of being for him. He wakes up happy and goes to bed happy. And what's not to like when people shower you with Pez candy, spiderman stuff, motorized remote control helicopters and Ferarri's (courtesy of his "big brother" Peng Cheng who was Joseph's Chinese language partner and is now here going to UMass - a story for another day). Of course he got books and flash cards, too.

From what I could tell, I think he thinks it's just a day to get stuff. And it's a special day somehow because this time, Mama and Baba also got stuff and there was all that business with the stocking. He had a good time handing us our presents, too. He was concerned when we didn't have enough to take turns opening. LOL. We told him it was fine!

I also think that he was told about school vacation and he probably enjoyed not having to go to School. LOL. But I'm not really sure because he usually is happy to go to school. Anyway, imagine his surprise yesterday when the nanny came and he found out he had to study! Hah!!

I do know one thing without a doubt. He loves the Santa hat. Good grief! He wears it everywhere. He loves it. What's not to love? It's red (his favorite color), it's warm, it's soft, and it's pretty. I think he thinks it's "just a hat" albeit a different sort of hat. He will be disappointed when Baba puts it away tomorrow until next Christmas. Baba did mention that it is Baba's hat, not JJ's. LOL. We'll have to get JJ his own next year. But for now, we enjoy watching him enjoy the hat.

Ok. That's it for First Christmas. Next up...First American New Year (yes, there is a Chinese one, too, which Koreans also celebrate only we call it New Year).