Christmas Theatrics
Dec. 20th, 2004 10:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qosToday my mother sent an email to my sister and me about what she wants to do for Christmas Eve.
It begins like this: After dinner and before gifts, we are going to "do" the Christmas story using the Nativity scene from Bethlehem.
Dad will read the scriptures. I would like [![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
raptures_shadow] to sing "O' Little Town of Bethlehem"..... [The Child] will put the figures into the scene as they come up. Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem, etc.
[QoS], would you help [The Child] sing "Away in the Manger"? After she brings the baby to the stable?
And etc.
I can not tell you all how much I do not want to do this.
But there is no way in the world I can say as much to my mother. She ended her email with: I feel very certain about doing this this year. I hope you will all be sympathetic.
Arrrgghhh!
Like anyone could say anything to the contrary after that statement without coming across like anything but a completely insensitive clod.
When I stop to concentrate, I think about how much it will probably mean to The Child, as well as to my mother. But I do not want to sing "Away in the Manger" -- and I do not want to sing another hymn/carol by myself later on. (The one amendment I am going to pitch to my mom is that I read a poem or something instead of sing the carol she wants me to sing toward the end.) I do not want to engage in this little ritual-theatrical exercise.
I suppose it may seem strange that a seminary student would not want to do this. But it just feels false and forced to me. But my mother feels very strongly that she wants to do it, and it would be utterly horrible for me to do anything but put the best possible face on my participation.
RS, I'm trusting you not to breathe a word of this to The Parents.
(Actually, I don't imagine that Dad really wants to do it either, but he will -- and be gracious about it -- because Mother wants to. He's very sweet that way. I will try to be as sweet. I'm just going to let out a groan here, in semi-anonymity, and get it out of my system.)
It begins like this: After dinner and before gifts, we are going to "do" the Christmas story using the Nativity scene from Bethlehem.
Dad will read the scriptures. I would like [
raptures_shadow] to sing "O' Little Town of Bethlehem"..... [The Child] will put the figures into the scene as they come up. Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem, etc.[QoS], would you help [The Child] sing "Away in the Manger"? After she brings the baby to the stable?
And etc.
I can not tell you all how much I do not want to do this.
But there is no way in the world I can say as much to my mother. She ended her email with: I feel very certain about doing this this year. I hope you will all be sympathetic.
Arrrgghhh!
Like anyone could say anything to the contrary after that statement without coming across like anything but a completely insensitive clod.
When I stop to concentrate, I think about how much it will probably mean to The Child, as well as to my mother. But I do not want to sing "Away in the Manger" -- and I do not want to sing another hymn/carol by myself later on. (The one amendment I am going to pitch to my mom is that I read a poem or something instead of sing the carol she wants me to sing toward the end.) I do not want to engage in this little ritual-theatrical exercise.
I suppose it may seem strange that a seminary student would not want to do this. But it just feels false and forced to me. But my mother feels very strongly that she wants to do it, and it would be utterly horrible for me to do anything but put the best possible face on my participation.
RS, I'm trusting you not to breathe a word of this to The Parents.
(Actually, I don't imagine that Dad really wants to do it either, but he will -- and be gracious about it -- because Mother wants to. He's very sweet that way. I will try to be as sweet. I'm just going to let out a groan here, in semi-anonymity, and get it out of my system.)
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-21 05:35 pm (UTC)At the moment, I think I'm going to suggest that I participate in a slightly different manner than what she planned. This isn't something I'm so set against that it would involve compromising myself to take part -- but I do need to assert my own needs here.