There I was at the Tree Lighting ceremony- “A Christmas Carol” being shown on the side of the church, voices of the chorus singing Christmas carols, and kids sliding down the hill, covered in shaving cream.
No joke. Ok, maybe it wasn’t shaving cream, as there was no smell of Old Spice to it, but it was a similar foam-like concoction, made to mimic snow. At first, my gut reaction was ‘Oh boy, the kids are going to get disgustingly dirty,’ but then I saw the sheer joy in the faces of the other children who had already been there a bit, covered in it, sliding down the hill, laughing and enjoying the “snow.” For some, this is the only snow they will ever see. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t real. Whatever it was, the kids were covered in it, sliding down the hill, throwing it at each other, wet, cold, and loving life.
The kids’ first reaction was right along with mine. “Mom,” my daughter says, coming to me, as she’d accidentally fallen and now had it slathered on her, “I’m covered!”
She had this look of horror on her face. She didn’t know what to do. “G’head honey, go for it!” I replied, smiling, encouraging her to go back into the fun-filled mess.
She smiled ear to ear. And she got dirty. And a little cold. Giggles were heard from everywhere. Nay-saying parents who defied their kids to get into it smirked at us. We did not care, the kids did their thing – being kids. And they reveled in it. And got very, very dirty. (Did I say that already?) But oh, so much fun was had by all. Lights all around, balloon animals being made, Santa somewhere amongst the crowd. It was magical.
And I didn’t have a camera. *sigh*
Despite the enormous amount of laundry I did because of it, to include shoes, it was just what I needed.
Shaving cream-type stuff gave me my Christmas mojo back. Nonetheless, Christmas spirit has made a late appearance, but has arrived finally.
And it is good.