I know it might seem like Jak must be my favorite because he is the only one that has a special feature named after him. I also know as a parent, I shouldn't have any favorites. My parents always said that they never had any favorites, that they loved each of us the same. I knew it was a lie back then, and I believe it even more now. As a parent, of course I have a favorite child. It's Lucy. Hands down, she is my favorite. It's not even close. So why is Jak the only one with his own feature? Jak just seems to be the one with the most wisdom to share right now. Experiencing the world through Jak's eyes, even for just a moment is a special treat that we experience every day, and I want to share that with all of you.
This particular Jak-ism is a Christmas related experience. On Monday this week, we decided to go downtown to see the lights at Temple Square. Let me share a little secret with all of you out there. IF you are in the Salt Lake area, and you think the Monday before Christmas is a good time to visit Temple Square, you're wrong. This is apparently the worst time to visit because there are so many people there, making the last ditch effort to visit the lights for Family Home Evening before Christmas. I mean, really, people, why would you think it is ok for so many of you to have the same idea I had. Most of the issue comes form the fact that I am a master procrastinator, and put a lot of things off to the last minute (which would also explain why I am writing this post at a quarter to eleven at night). I do this because I do my best work under pressure, or so I tell myself. I am learning as a parent that procrastinating may have been good enough to get me through school, but it is not a great skill to have as a parent. Planning ahead is much better, and not waiting until the last minute is far superior to putting things off. In any case, because of this awesome skill, we all found ourselves at Temple Square with like a million of our closest friends. Close in proximity, not really relationship wise. I didn't even know these people.
We try to make this trip downtown with the kids every year as part of our efforts to make Christmas more about the Savior, Jesus Christ, and less about Santa Claus and presents. Don't feel bad for Santa, he gets plenty of run at our house, we just hope to somehow help our kids realize that Jesus is the real reason we celebrate Christmas. We do this through Family Home Evening lessons, incorporating movies and music and stories. We do this every year, and every year when Christmas rolls around, we fail like failures. Why? Because if you ask our kids what the most important thing is about Christmas, most of the time they say presents. They don't just say it like that, it's more like this: PRESENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hear it, and in my head I do a mental face palm, and just think: FAIL! That is how I feel most of the time, but every once in a while my kids give me a moment. Usually it is quick, short and sweet, and it is usually just one moment, but in that moment, they let us know that they have been paying attention. This post is about one of those moments.
As part of our efforts this year, we have shown our kids the latest Christmas video from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (The Mormons). It is called "He is the Gift," and it focuses on how Jesus Christ is the first gift of Christmas, and really the only gift. The one that means the most. For your reference, here is the video:
I love this video. To me it really brings home the whole meaning of Christmas, and puts it all in perspective. Apparently, we have played this quite a bit at our house this holiday season. Probably too much. I kind of thought the kids were sick of it and didn't want to see it again. I kind of expected them to kind of roll their eyes if I started it up again, but Jak found a moment on Monday to let me know that wasn't the case, at least not for him.
We were at the North Visitors' Center, and we had just gone up to see the Christus Statue. We came down to the lobby, which was packed full of people, and Johnny wanted to go over and see the model of Jerusalem they have there. He is fascinated by that kind of stuff. Erica took Johnny over to the model, and Eliza followed her over there. I was standing off to the side with the two little girls in our massive stroller (to anyone we may have run over with this beast, I'm sorry) and Jak. Jak saw that they were playing this video in the lobby and they had some seats facing it. He walked toward the front, and next thing I knew, I found him like this:
The video is less than 3 minutes long, so it's pretty short, but that is an eternity for Jak to sit still and watch something. He wasn't just sitting still, but he was glued to it. When he first got to his little bench, it was ending, and then there was a 30 second countdown, and it started again. Jak just sat and waited the 30 seconds for it to begin, and then watched it through from the beginning. As it was coming near the end, I wen over and knelt beside him and asked him what he was watching. His response made me laugh. He said, "It's your favorite movie." I smiled, and asked him if he liked it too. He said, "Yeah, but I need to watch it again so you can read all the words. I don't know the words." So I had him scoot over and I sat next to him, and we watched it again, together this time, with me reading the words:
As we got to the part where they are describing the first gift, and they started showing the images of the Savior, Jak blurts out, "It's Baby Jesus, the gift is Baby Jesus." And he had the biggest grin on his face. In that small, quick little moment, I knew we hadn't totally failed as parents. Something was sinking in. It had been a challenging weekend with Jak, at different Christmas parties, at Church, at home, just kind of a rough time. That little moment changed everything for me. He was getting it. Sometimes it seems like our kids have no idea what we said or what we're talking about, and then they let us know they have been listening all along. This was my Christmas moment. Whatever happens on Thursday or tomorrow night, nothing will top this for me. My kids get it. They get why Christmas is so important. Despite their parents' shortcomings, something has sunk in, and that was the best present I could have asked for this year.
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