December Naptime Notes

Reading books out of our league, winter bouquets, and albums for the last few days of your Advent listening

For the past two years, I’ve paused most of our homeschool work to take a delightful Christmas School break. We still keep our rhythms and routines, but spend time reading Christmas books, listening to carols, baking cookies, drinking hot chocolate, and being creative with a variety of Christmas crafts. And we’re all the better for it.

I love Read Aloud Revival’s Christmas School, but when I saw that the main book this year was A Little Christmas Carol, I was hesitant. Sure, the illustrations that reimagined the characters as forest animals were beautiful. And I knew the text was edited with a very light hand to preserve the rich vocabulary that I loved from the story. But could my five year old and two three-year-olds really understand and enjoy Dickens? It seemed a little out of our league.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

It turns out, A Little Christmas Carol totally enchanted every one of my children and although we finished it this week, they still pull it off our bookshelf and ask for their favorite sections to be read aloud again and again.

I should note that the main reason I think this was possible was because of something that happened three years ago.

Every year, we host a Christmas Poems and Short Stories around the Fire party at our home. It’s exactly what it sounds like: A roaring fire, some Aldi charcuterie, a bottle of red wine, and friends from our poetry club reading their favorite stories and poems out loud to each other. Everyone in our family looks forward to it each year.

Three years ago, a friend read a selection from A Christmas Carol out loud to us, the part where Scrooge reflects on the lessons the three spirits have taught him and resolves to be a better man. While our friend read, his five year old daughter snuggled up next to him and he was so aware of her while reading. He stopped to explain words he knew she wouldn’t know. Every once in a while, he summarized the story for her and clued her in to what had happened in the book before the part he was reading aloud.

It was magical. I wanted to read outloud like that to my children (who were tiny littles at the time). We recounted that read-aloud at this year’s party and many friends remember that moment vividly.

So while there was a hesitancy in reading A Little Christmas Carol in its entirety to my kids, there was also excitement in knowing that it was my turn now. My turn to share rich vocabulary words, summarize 19th century cultural realities, and watch my children jump as Jacob Marley’s ghost comes clanking up the stairs.

The story of Scrooge (who will be known as a once-grumpy rabbit to my children for years to come) reminded us of the beauty of this Advent and Christmas season — of the mystery of a little baby, born into our messiness, who desires to make us whole. And that was a true gift.

I hope you have a peaceful rest of your Advent season! Most nights, we’ve gathered around our little Advent wreath to listen to Joseph read from this lovely collection of reflections from G.K. Chesterton. Although “listening” might be too generous of a term. Usually I attempt to listen through the din of toddler chatter and the kids spend the entire time attempting to blow out the Advent candles from their places around the dinner table.

Read on for a beautiful Christmas tree poem by a poet who is becoming a dear favorite of mine, the Christmas books my kids have asked me to re-read more times than I can count, and a few albums for your holiday listening.

Songs I’m listening to on repeat…

The books I’ve loved this past month…

The Pearl by John Steinbeck. I’m doing a little pre-reading for my January book club and I enjoyed this short story so much. My first encounter with John Steinbeck was East of Eden, which I listened to on audiobook with Joseph a few years ago. I loved it—the characters, the complexity, the beautiful descriptions of Salinas valley that made me want to visit. This book is much shorter (less than 100 pages!) and such a good reflection on fatherhood, wealth, and loving right things in the right order.

p.s. My book club read for December was ‘My God and My All’, a book by Elizabeth Goudge on the life of St. Francis of Assisi. I didn’t read anything past the second page because I’ve read Elizabeth Goudge before (looking at you, ‘Green Dolphin Street’) and couldn’t stand it. She has beautiful story ideas but was in desperate need of an editor to cut down repetitive adjectives (the luminous light! The feathery gossamer!) and excessive descriptions of character’s clothing. IF you read it this month and loved it, I’m so glad that was your experience! But if you need any encouragement to simply move a book to an ‘abandoned’ pile because it isn’t working out for you, consider this your invitation.

Hannah’s Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth by Catherine Ruth Pakaluk. I’ve gifted friends copies of this book, but hadn’t gotten the chance to sit down and read it until now. It’s a fascinating look at the 5% of American women who choose to bear five or more children. The author is a social scientist and a mother of eight herself. This was such a great read, both as the oldest of eight and as a mother myself. Certain sections surprised me and it was such a delight to get to read about both the practical how-tos of having a big family as well as the reasons behind why families decide to have more than the average amount of kids.

Books beside A Little Christmas Carol voted “most likely to be re-read” by my kids…

The Christmas Star by Beatrix Potter. We love Peter Rabbit around here—especially the tiny versions of the books that are just the right size for little kids to hold. This board book is one of Ada’s favorites this year!

Little One, We Knew You’d Come by Sally Lloyd-Jones. This is the author of our current favorite children’s Bible, and this story (with these illustrations!) is a beautiful Christmas read.

Dasher by Matt Tavares. It wasn’t always reindeer who pulled St. Nicholas’ sleigh. Once, it was a horse named Silverbell, and she needed some help. This is such a delightful read that Maeve asks for often during reading time.

Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo. Another dear favorite author of ours. This book always leaves my children shouting “GREAT JOY” around the house the entire afternoon after reading.

The Little Fir Tree by Margaret Wise Brown. This was our first time reading this book during the Christmas season and we loved it. We know and love Margaret Wise Brown from Goodnight Moon and this is sure to become a classic Christmas read aloud around here.

Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht. The rhyme scheme here is just delightful. From the picking of the pine tree all the way through its transformation into a CHRISTMAS tree, it makes us so excited to put up our own tree this weekend.

Strega Nona’s Gift by Tomie DePaola. This is one the only picture books I’ve found where the characters celebration of Christmas starts on Christmas and doesn’t end until Epiphany. Plus, we loved seeing the villagers of Calabria celebrating the saint feast days that we celebrate at our home, too!!

Letters to Women episodes that launched this month…

🎤I’ve loved reading Encountering Emmanuel by Heather Khym this Advent with my small group, so it was such a joy to sit down with Heather on this first episode of the Letters to Daughters season to hear about how she wrote the book.

🎤This episode with Dr. Natalie King about caregiving, palliative medicine, and good deaths was a beautiful conversation for Advent. We’re all either caregivers now, we will be in the future, or we will be cared for. So regardless of where you find yourself today, this is a fantastic episode to listen to!

A question for you…

Some years we’ve hung a simple string of white lights on our home. This year, we have our free little library wrapped in twinkling lights and a festive wreath on the door. Oh, and I finally got around to clearing our garden beds up so that the front yard isn’t full of molding tomatoes, so that’s pretty fancy.

But I love when neighbors decorate their homes around us so I can appreciate them from the front window at night. And one of our favorite Christmas traditions is loading up the kids in the car and driving around to all of our favorite light displays on Christmas night. So if you’re into the all-out decoration of the outside of your home, I appreciate all of your hard work!!

An eclectic list of things I’ve loved this month…

Jerry Seinfeld on how ‘sucks’ and ‘great’ really aren’t that different made me laugh // This chicken noodle soup was incredible and I’m loving all the leftover this week // I cannot wait to dive into this podcast that Joseph shared with me // Our crazy golden retriever puppy is now two years old and finally getting some freedom around the house and seeing our kids “walk” him around the main level of the home, sit on him, and pet him is making me like this dog more and more // We’ve been taken out by possibly every stomach/congestion bug known to man this month, but it’s made William so snuggly that I can’t even complain // Before we introduce our kids to great books, perhaps we need to read them a thousand good books // Already know which glasses I want to buy next year // This adorable gift wrap idea is so fun if you’re still wrapping packages // A friend and I put together a floral class for a group of us and it was such a fun night! //

A quote I’m pondering…

It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.

Charles Dickens

A poem to leave you with…

I loved following along with

Emily Stimpson Chapman

this Advent and all of the incredible poems she shared. But my favorite by far was this beautiful reflection on child like wonder and growing in our capacity for joy as we age by T.S. Eliot. Enjoy The Cultivation of Christmas Trees:

There are several attitudes towards Christmas,
Some of which we may disregard:
The social, the torpid, the patently commercial,
The rowdy (the pubs being open till midnight),
And the childish – which is not that of the child
For whom the candle is a star, and the gilded angel
Spreading its wings at the summit of the tree
Is not only a decoration, but an angel.

The child wonders at the Christmas Tree:
Let him continue in the spirit of wonder
At the Feast as an event not accepted as a pretext;
So that the glittering rapture, the amazement
Of the first-remembered Christmas Tree,
So that the surprises, delight in new possessions
(Each one with its peculiar and exciting smell),
The expectation of the goose or turkey
And the expected awe on its appearance,

So that the reverence and the gaiety
May not be forgotten in later experience,
In the bored habituation, the fatigue, the tedium,
The awareness of death, the consciousness of failure,
Or in the piety of the convert
Which may be tainted with a self-conceit
Displeasing to God and disrespectful to children
(And here I remember also with gratitude
St.Lucy, her carol, and her crown of fire):

So that before the end, the eightieth Christmas
(By “eightieth” meaning whichever is last)
The accumulated memories of annual emotion
May be concentrated into a great joy
Which shall be also a great fear, as on the occasion
When fear came upon every soul:
Because the beginning shall remind us of the end
And the first coming of the second coming.

That’s all I have for you this month! Have a beautiful Christmas season (the whole octave of it!) drink some hot chocolate with huge marshmallows floating on top, and spend some time staring into a roaring fireplace with those you love. I’ll see you next year!

In His Sacred Heart,

Chloe