A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON CHRISTMAS

Have you ever looked at a decorated Christmas tree, from underneath it, through the eyes of a three year old? Me, neither…until last week.

I arrived for my weekly Charley visit at their home near Auburn.  Due to a nasty cold that I did NOT want to pass on to anyone, I had missed the previous week’s visit. This was the first time I had seen their Christmas tree. As Charley & her mom greeted me at the door with hugs, I noticed the tree in the living room.

“Oh, wow!” I exclaimed, “There’s your Christmas tree!!”

“NO…NO…GAGA!!  STOP…NO!” Charley hollered at me holding out her arms to block my entrance into the room.

I immediately stopped, stepped back & said, “Okay, okay. What? What did I do?”

“Mommy, turn on the lights. Turn on the lights!” Charley didn’t want me to see the tree until the lights were on to get the full effect.

Mommy plugged in the lights & I was now free to gush over their beautifully decorated Christmas tree. Charley laid on her back & scooted under the tree which was about 15 inches above the floor. She then commanded me to join her, “Gaga, you do it, too. Lay down here.”

Gaga is usually game for most anything that Charley wants me to do although some things do require a little modification for Gaga’s limited flexibility & age limitations. J  But this was tame compared to some of Charley’s requests so I laid down on the ground & scooted up beside her under the tree.

You know what? It really was pretty cool looking up through the branches with the lights glowing & ornaments reflecting the lights. It was a totally new perspective on viewing a decorated tree that I had never experienced in my 64 years! And, I’ll be darned if my three year old granddaughter didn’t show it to me.

A couple weeks prior to that day I watched Charley at my dad’s house for several hours while her mom hosted a book party for her Barefoot Books business. Charley’s Auntie Masha is taking care of my dad (AKA Pop) & my sister, Karen (AKA Zizi), was coming to visit also. I had put up my dad’s little artificial tree & decorated it the day before but I saved the string of lights to put up around two walls of his house for everyone to help.

Charley helped me pull them from the box & untangle the strings. Auntie Masha was on the ladder draping them over the curtain rods & Zizi was on the back of the couch thumbtacking them to the wall. I looked over & Charley was also on the back of the couch holding the string for Zizi. What a great little helper!

The finished product was actually quite breathtaking. All of the lights & the tree were plugged into an extension cord in the outlet which is controlled by a wall switch. I showed Charley how to turn them all on & off with one flick of the switch…which she did many, many times. Now, it is her job to turn on Pop’s Christmas lights when she comes to visit.

Christmas through the eyes of a three year old is an enlightening experience. It has been more than 25 years since we’ve had a child to help us celebrate & it puts a whole new twist on the holiday. I love it!