Thursday, December 29, 2005

The Nativity: Next Generation

Ok, so I've written about how I set up our Nativity when I was a kid, and my sister has commented on how she did it. I don't know how to do links, so if you want to read those entries you'll just have to scroll through the archives. Now let's see how the next generation made out.

I set up our ceramic set, so Joseph & Mary are crammed in the corner with the baby as usual. And in case you're wondering, no, I'm not a control freak; I offered to let my daughter set it up but she didn't want to. However, her Playmobil advent calendar this year was a Nativity (also an entry you'll have to search for. It's the one about Vikings. Anyone want to teach me how to do links?). The Playmobil set is a little different from the classic scene. For one thing, they have a campfire. And cats. Since she got her pieces one at a time, the scene changed daily. Here's a description of the end result:

Mary and the angel are sitting on a bench in the stable. The campfire is right in front of them, with a wooden tripod and a black cauldron over it. The angel appears to be toasting her wand over the fire (hmmm, a wand and a cauldron...kind of makes you wonder what religion the Playmobil designers are, huh? It should be noted that both cats in the set are black). The shepard is off to the left, also sitting on a bench, toasting his hobo bag over the fire (you know, a hobo bag? The kind you would tie your toys up in on the end of a stick when you were a little kid and would threaten to run away from home? I always thought shepherds carried a staff, but this one has a hobo bag). The baby is in his manger, next to Mary, but not in the stable. I guess shelter's not as important for him. Joseph stands on the other side of the manger, holding a lantern. I find it funny that the shepard gets a bench but Joseph doesn't...he always seems to get the short end of the stick. Scattered around the people are a cow, a goat, a donkey with a saddle, and a sheep with two lambs. Oh, and there's a bright green basket with wood in it. And the cats are on the roof.

At one point a few weeks into this, a friend of mine and her eight-month-old son came over while my daughter was at school. I don't have many toys for babies, so I raided the Playmobil Nativity. The donkey and the cow have sharp points, so we ended up giving Mary and the shepard to the baby to chew on (Joseph hadn't arrived yet). Because I didn't want him to choke on little pieces, though, I took off Mary's scarf and the shepard's cape & headpiece first. When they left, I set the pieces back on the cardboard base without properly arranging them. So when my daughter came home she wanted to know why Mary & the shepard were disrobed, lying on the ground to the side of the stable. But hey, nothing happened, because the angel was chaperoning the whole time. I'm sure she would have used that wand to turn them into frogs if they were misbehaving...

Posted by The Gradual Gardener :: 7:45 AM :: 3 Comments:

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