{"id":4057,"date":"2014-12-24T09:28:09","date_gmt":"2014-12-24T16:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newstayathomemom.com\/?p=4057"},"modified":"2014-12-24T09:28:09","modified_gmt":"2014-12-24T16:28:09","slug":"stop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newstayathomemom.com\/?p=4057","title":{"rendered":"STOP!"},"content":{"rendered":"

When my daughter was three, one of her favorite things to do at Christmastime was drape a dishtowel on her head, wrap <\/span>Tuna Fish Binky Baby<\/span><\/a> in a pastel plaid blanket and put on the Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas dvd.\u00a0\u00a0She would nod her head tenderly towards proxy-Baby Jesus in time to \u201cSilent Night\u201d whilst the Aussie kids on-screen performed a Nativity Play.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, when the dishtowel slipped one too many times and her peaceful re-enactment of the coming of the Christ Child was in danger of becoming\u2026er\u2026slightly less peaceful, we would pile in the car (Geesh, <\/span>I love that car<\/span><\/a>!\u00a0 Still waiting for your call, Honda\u2026) and drive around looking at Christmas lights while she spied with her little eye every.\u00a0 single.\u00a0 one.\u00a0 of the few-and-far-between manger scenes we could find.<\/span><\/p>\n

On those drives, Sissy was in it to win it.\u00a0 So even if they were half buried in snow and faded by the weather, whenever we came upon one, the little call from the back seat would go up, \u201cSTOP!\u00a0 There\u2019s a <\/span>MANGER<\/span><\/em>!!!\u201d And we would have to gaze at it in wonder and awe for many, many minutes while waving at the cars behind us to <\/span>Go Around!<\/span><\/em>\u00a0 There in the night, the snow piled high on the manger roof, the softly shining light enclosed the little family in their own world.\u00a0 We would look our fill at them while the Happy Couple and Newborn looked lovingly at each other.\u00a0 If there were donkeys or cows involved, that was a bonus.\u00a0 Double points for sheep.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

[As a side note, spellcheck wants to keep changing \u2018manger\u2019 to \u2018manager\u2019.\u00a0 Which is weird because that\u2019s exactly what I yell when I\u2019m looking for a job, \u201cSTOP!\u00a0 There\u2019s a MANAGER!!!\u201d\u00a0 Whereupon Hubby dutifully stops the car so I can gaze at the manager.\u00a0 After a while the manager hustles off down the street while darting worried glances over his shoulder.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think this job search technique is working.]<\/span><\/p>\n

But on the manger front, all these years later, the call still goes up from the back seat (albeit in an ironic tween sort of way), \u201cSTOP!\u00a0 There\u2019s a <\/span>MANGER<\/span><\/em>!!!\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And even though\u00a0the kids\u00a0may not\u00a0realize how, in that call, they are invoking everything of importance about the season, the\u00a0call still goes up.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0sentiment remains the same: Jesus is born again into the world.\u00a0 It\u2019s our joy to witness and welcome Him as if it were the very first time.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, if there\u2019s one wish I had for you this season, it would be for you to rediscover your\u00a0child-like\u00a0wonder and awe as you remember to STOP!\u00a0 There\u2019s a <\/span>MANGER<\/span><\/em>!!!\u00a0 Dishtowel optional.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(Well, and if you\u2019re looking for a job, I also wish you a manager.\u00a0 But please don\u2019t be all creepy and stalkerish about it; that\u2019s not gonna work.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Merry Christmas To All and To All a Good Night!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When my daughter was three, one of her favorite things to do at Christmastime was drape a dishtowel on her head, wrap Tuna Fish Binky Baby in a pastel plaid blanket and put on the Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas dvd.\u00a0\u00a0She would nod her head tenderly towards proxy-Baby Jesus in time to \u201cSilent Night\u201d whilst the Aussie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newstayathomemom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4057"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newstayathomemom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newstayathomemom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstayathomemom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstayathomemom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4057"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/newstayathomemom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4069,"href":"https:\/\/newstayathomemom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4057\/revisions\/4069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newstayathomemom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstayathomemom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstayathomemom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}