That’s As It Should Be

This was previously published on December 10, 2015.

Any mother of boys will attest that boys are quite different from girls.
Their play is different.
Their approach to life is different.
That is by God’s design.

I never saw this more obviously than at Christmas time.
Simple decorations took on new meaning in the hands of my sons.
There was no point in having decorations that added a little whimsy.
What I saw as whimsy, they saw as battle ready.

Take my Nutcrackers for instance.
There they are lined up on the antique chest of drawers in the living room.
Just a small collection with one addition that caused all the problems.
One year, I found and bought the dreaded Mouse King.

The battle was on.
Of course the Mouse King had to battle with Clara’s Nutcracker.
Of course, the mouth had to open and close as it barked orders and commands.
Unbelievably, the Nutcracker and Mouse King still stand.

Then there was the year that I found a three-foot tall Nutcracker.
He stands guard; the living room sentry with a spear in his hand.
He was known to converse with his army of smaller Nutcrackers.
He was definitely the commanding officer as they readied themselves for battle.

The three-foot tall Nutcracker took the most abuse.
His helmet has been glued in my husband’s workshop.
The wood split on the side when the three-foot tall Nutcracker fell down in battle.
My husband repaired that as well.

I sat in the living room the other night and remembered.
The voices of my boys are still in every crevice of that room.
The battles are distant memories.
The living room sentry still stands watch.

I glanced under our Christmas tree and I saw the tin.
The tin is in the shape of a Christmas tree.
It was a present from many years ago.
It was filled with candy.

Whenever you opened the lid, the tin played, O, Tannenbaum.
It played that song in a electronic kind of way.
The tin was more of a conversation piece than anything.
That was until my boys, one son in particular, discovered that the tin played music.

Over an over, I would hear O, Tannenbaum coming from the living room.
I would find myself singing it inside my head.
However, only snippets of the song would play.
The lid would be opened and closed like a mouth.

Oh, Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree…
Oh, Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree…
Oh, Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree…
Over and over until one day I finally had enough.

That tin will remain closed for the rest of the day! I said exasperated.
My boys looked at me with wide eyes.
One had his hand on the back of the three-foot tall Nutcracker, making him talk.
The other had his hand on the lid of the Christmas tree tin.

The battle between the living room sentry and the annoying Christmas tree tin had ended.
To this day, I do not know what the boys were trying to accomplish in their play.
But as I looked at the hardwood floor, the army of Nutcrackers were in position.
They were battle ready; they were prepared.

For the Lord said to me, “Go set a watchman; let him announce what he sees.” (Isaiah 21:6)

Years later, I found another Nutcracker at the sale I go to twice a year.
This Nutcracker was metal and very unique.
I placed it in front of the other Nutcrackers that I put out every year.
It was then I realized that there would be no battle for this one.

No three-foot tall living room sentry would bark orders and commands.
No Mouse King would be on the attack.
No Christmas tree tin would frustrate the enemy with repetitious music.
My boys are grown.

As it should be.
I sat there and remembered the end scene of Mary Poppins.
Mary Poppins’ parrot on the end of her umbrella is talking to her.
She watches a the children go to the park with their father to fly a kite.

That’s gratitude for you, didn’t even say goodbye.
No, they didn’t.
You know they think more of their father than they do of you.
That’s as it should be, as the parrot rambles on.

That will be quite enough of that, thank you, Mary Poppins wisely said.
Yes, that will be quite enough of that.
The living room is quiet; the boys are men.
The girls are women; that’s as it should be.

There will be other battles.
There will be other generations fighting different battles for which they need to be prepared.
One generation must grow up so the next generation can continue.
They must be prepared.

I open the tin and remember.
O, Christmas tree…O, Christmas tree.
I close the lid.
There will be other battles.

That’s as it should be.