On Christmas Eve I was given the task of reading ’Twas the Night Before Christmas to my
four-year-old grandniece Emily. The plan was that she would fall asleep and I
would then join the adults for the ongoing festivities. So, snuggled beside her
in the bed, I read the beloved story while Emily studied the pictures in the
book to be sure I was on track. As I finally reached the last line, the very
wide-awake Emily took the book from me and advised that she would now “read” it
to me.
In her version things changed slightly. Turns out that as
soon as Santa had his sleigh packed and ready for his round-the-world trip,
several of the Disney Princesses showed up with the intention of baking him a
cake. For anyone not familiar with Disney Princesses, it’s a safe bet that
Cinderella did most of the cooking, since I think she’s the only one who knows
her way around a kitchen.
As I got sleepier, and Emily became more energized, she
moved on to the story of the Baby Jesus, complete with several songs, one of
which was apparently sung by a donkey. I’m also pretty sure there were a couple
of Disney Princesses in the Nativity.
But my luck held out when we heard a tapping on the bedroom
door (No, Emily, it’s not Santa; it’s
your daddy). My nephew took over, and as I gratefully left the room, I
heard him explaining how Santa was probably in New Zealand already and would
soon be on his way west to England. If the rudiments of time zones couldn’t put
that child to sleep, nothing could.
Eventually, much, much later, things turned out as they
should. Emily did fall asleep, and good old St. Nick turned up when he was
supposed to. At least judging by the stocking at the end of her bed.
Here’s hoping everyone had a joyous Christmas, no matter
what time zone they live in, and Santa is back in the North Pole taking a well-deserved
break.
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| Roz's Grandniece Emily (Speaking of Princesses) |
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