Everyday Educator - Simplify Advent: Explore Together
00:00:00.000 | (soft music)
00:00:02.420 | - Welcome friends to this episode
00:00:06.240 | of the Everyday Educator podcast.
00:00:09.000 | I'm your host, Lisa Bailey,
00:00:10.660 | and I'm excited to spend some time with you today
00:00:14.160 | as we encourage one another, learn together,
00:00:17.520 | and ponder the delights and challenges
00:00:20.560 | that make homeschooling the adventure of a lifetime.
00:00:23.980 | Whether you're just considering
00:00:26.160 | this homeschooling possibility
00:00:28.360 | or deep into the daily delight of family learning,
00:00:32.560 | I believe you'll enjoy thinking along with us.
00:00:36.640 | But don't forget,
00:00:38.120 | although this online community is awesome,
00:00:41.680 | you'll find even closer support in a local CC community.
00:00:46.680 | So go to classicalconversations.com
00:00:50.840 | and find a community near you today.
00:00:55.080 | Well friends, I'm so excited to be spending
00:00:58.500 | the Christmas season with you.
00:01:00.740 | Or as one of my friends said,
00:01:02.900 | this is really the Advent season
00:01:05.860 | because we are looking at the coming of the Christ child
00:01:10.500 | and Christmas doesn't begin in earnest until the 25th.
00:01:14.600 | And then we have 12 days of Christmas
00:01:17.700 | that go from the 25th to January the 12th.
00:01:20.320 | And so that's just January the 6th.
00:01:22.960 | So that's just an awesome way to look at it.
00:01:25.520 | But I've got a suggestion for your family,
00:01:30.440 | for all our families really, this Christmas.
00:01:33.640 | What if we intentionally spent time together
00:01:38.640 | doing the simplest things?
00:01:42.800 | What if we practiced some simple habits
00:01:46.420 | designed to draw us to one another,
00:01:49.480 | designed to start meaningful conversations,
00:01:53.640 | designed to provoke us to deeper thinking,
00:01:57.000 | and to encourage us to true worship?
00:02:01.020 | What if y'all, in this season of busy, busy, busy,
00:02:04.880 | we celebrated Christmas by praying together,
00:02:09.880 | playing together, reading together,
00:02:13.720 | exploring together, and serving together?
00:02:19.200 | So this Advent season, the everyday educator
00:02:23.200 | wants to practice these habits along with you.
00:02:26.840 | And we're gonna talk to others who want to try this plan too.
00:02:30.600 | So you guys listen in every Tuesday
00:02:33.840 | to ponder the next habit.
00:02:35.840 | And today we're gonna be thinking about exploring together.
00:02:40.840 | And I have one of my favorite friends
00:02:44.400 | to talk about this with, Amy Jones.
00:02:48.320 | Amy, Merry Christmas.
00:02:50.060 | - Oh, Merry Christmas, Lisa.
00:02:52.000 | And what a lovely way to start the season,
00:02:55.240 | to just practice those simple habits like you were saying,
00:03:00.240 | and really be, it's like you can be
00:03:05.720 | keeping things really simple but intentional.
00:03:09.200 | And I think that is, those two things
00:03:12.160 | marry really well together because you are thinking
00:03:18.160 | you're not just flying by the seat of your pants,
00:03:20.840 | which I just thought, but you're actually thinking,
00:03:25.840 | looking for opportunities to intentionally incorporate
00:03:29.260 | those lovely habits.
00:03:31.680 | And it does help you simplify, it helps you slow down.
00:03:35.120 | So that's great.
00:03:36.520 | - And I think simplifying and slowing down
00:03:40.240 | and being intentional really are the best ways
00:03:43.660 | to make good memories with our families.
00:03:46.120 | And that's what we're all after,
00:03:48.640 | not just doing another thing.
00:03:51.360 | You know what, Amy?
00:03:52.320 | I think that those of us, and I'm including myself,
00:03:56.820 | who fall into the busy, busy trap of this season
00:04:01.000 | are doing it to make memories.
00:04:04.580 | So we say yes to the get together,
00:04:07.320 | or yes to the Christmas caroling,
00:04:09.800 | or yes to the neighborhood potluck,
00:04:13.280 | all in search of memories that will delight and last.
00:04:18.280 | But what I have discovered is the more frenzied I become,
00:04:24.580 | the less I make a memory I want to hold onto,
00:04:32.720 | the more I'm just tired and maybe going through the motion.
00:04:36.240 | So I love what you said about simplifying
00:04:39.360 | and being intentional, and I submit to you guys
00:04:43.480 | that those are two things that make the very best memories.
00:04:48.300 | So Amy and I are gonna talk today
00:04:50.280 | about the habit of exploring together
00:04:55.160 | and what might that look like at Christmas.
00:04:58.380 | But I wanna ask you first, Amy,
00:04:59.800 | did you consider yourself a curious child?
00:05:04.680 | Like, were you curious about things?
00:05:07.040 | - Oh, yes, I think I was naturally pretty curious.
00:05:11.160 | I don't know if I would have,
00:05:13.040 | I think some people would have said quirky.
00:05:15.880 | (laughing)
00:05:18.120 | I'm staying curious.
00:05:20.680 | - Yeah, there you go.
00:05:21.880 | - I did just ask a lot of questions,
00:05:26.480 | and I think I lived on a farm,
00:05:30.600 | and so I was given a lot of time to wander around
00:05:33.960 | and just poke and prod at different parts of the world,
00:05:38.960 | and we had animals on our farms.
00:05:42.280 | So there was always something around
00:05:44.400 | that was pretty wonderful to kind of explore.
00:05:49.400 | So I think I naturally did that.
00:05:53.300 | Now, people express their curiosity
00:05:55.460 | in so many different ways.
00:05:57.200 | Some people are curious about words,
00:05:59.160 | or some people are curious about nature,
00:06:02.080 | and we usually associate it with nature.
00:06:04.640 | But some people are curious about how you make a better meal
00:06:08.920 | or how you create a story.
00:06:13.040 | So I think children, to help recognize
00:06:17.480 | that children have natural curiosities
00:06:21.260 | that are individualized to them,
00:06:23.000 | and just to kind of recognize it instead of thinking,
00:06:25.720 | oh, they just like to play ball.
00:06:27.280 | Well, there's a curiosity there
00:06:29.660 | that they're exploring naturally.
00:06:31.220 | So I think sometimes we relegate exploring
00:06:34.920 | to like nature or that sort of thing,
00:06:37.840 | whereas really, God has given us natural curiosities
00:06:42.840 | about so many different things.
00:06:45.040 | And I think recognizing those in your children
00:06:48.060 | instead of calling them quirky, maybe.
00:06:49.960 | - Yes, yes.
00:06:50.800 | - Just be curious about things like rocks and bugs.
00:06:54.840 | - Yeah, yeah, that was such a good insight, Amy.
00:06:58.440 | That was a really good insight.
00:06:59.640 | I was, I grew up as a city child.
00:07:02.560 | So I lived in the city when I was little.
00:07:05.100 | And so my curiosity did tend to be about words.
00:07:08.980 | I loved to read from an early age.
00:07:11.380 | But I was also curious about how things worked.
00:07:15.200 | And I can remember, 'cause I did play outside a lot.
00:07:19.500 | I still was from that generation where mom said,
00:07:21.880 | okay, time to go outside.
00:07:23.180 | And you just went out and you played.
00:07:25.520 | And so I remember, even as a little, little person
00:07:29.560 | trying to explain the world to myself,
00:07:32.120 | I was curious about how things worked.
00:07:35.720 | And I can remember being outside in the summertime
00:07:40.440 | and knowing that a storm was about to come up.
00:07:43.840 | You know, the sky would get really purpley dark
00:07:46.480 | and you would hear the rumbles maybe of thunder
00:07:49.260 | in the distance, and the wind would pick up.
00:07:51.720 | And always, and I noticed,
00:07:53.820 | this is before I was in kindergarten,
00:07:56.080 | I noticed that the leaves always turned,
00:08:00.200 | the backs of the leaves.
00:08:01.680 | And I didn't know, that was really weird to me.
00:08:04.960 | And they looked a different color,
00:08:06.360 | but I could tell it was just 'cause I was seeing the back.
00:08:08.420 | And I called them, for some reason, cheese trees.
00:08:12.560 | And so my little self, it's like, okay,
00:08:15.960 | so it's getting ready to be a storm
00:08:17.640 | because they're cheese trees.
00:08:19.320 | And I think I said that to my mom one time.
00:08:21.800 | And she was like, now what, what is there, what, there, what?
00:08:25.460 | And I was sort of embarrassed, but it was because,
00:08:28.340 | and I, so I was real sensitive to my children
00:08:31.200 | when they came up with these phrases,
00:08:33.280 | because it was a way that I had explained the world
00:08:37.760 | to my little four-year-old mind.
00:08:40.760 | And that's what, I was exploring the world.
00:08:44.000 | Did you have explorer kids, Amy,
00:08:46.980 | did you have kids who liked to explore?
00:08:49.080 | - Yes, and that was one of the benefits of homeschooling.
00:08:51.840 | I got to watch them explore.
00:08:54.560 | You know, I was part of that, you know,
00:08:58.440 | they're exploring and kind of offering opportunities
00:09:01.800 | for them to explore in their way.
00:09:03.480 | My oldest was a constant outdoors person.
00:09:08.480 | He had a stick in his hand since he was one.
00:09:12.200 | He was always poking and prodding.
00:09:14.240 | And he was a wanderer.
00:09:19.320 | You know, he just, he looked very much,
00:09:22.900 | he's a very internal processor,
00:09:25.160 | that's what I would say now.
00:09:26.560 | But he would just, I would look at him
00:09:30.580 | and it would look like he was just spacing out, you know?
00:09:33.140 | - He's just thinking about things.
00:09:35.120 | - And thinking and looking and turning over things.
00:09:39.620 | And then just, he was much more of that kind of person.
00:09:44.080 | And my daughter was more like you.
00:09:46.920 | She was a real words and relationship person.
00:09:50.260 | So she was always trying to make sense of interactions
00:09:54.400 | and how do we encourage people.
00:09:56.280 | I mean, I had to recently cleaned out the number of notes
00:10:01.280 | that she wrote me almost every day.
00:10:05.160 | I had stacks and stacks of hearts and I love yous.
00:10:10.160 | And so she was always exploring in those terms,
00:10:13.840 | like how relationships work and how she could use her words.
00:10:18.260 | And she loved reading.
00:10:19.640 | So there were those and then my other sons
00:10:22.480 | are sports boys, you know, active.
00:10:26.080 | So they were always like trying things
00:10:28.800 | with mechanical things or make them go faster
00:10:32.340 | or hit harder or destroy more.
00:10:36.320 | - Yes, yes, yes.
00:10:37.480 | How many ways can I break this?
00:10:39.200 | - Yes, yes, yes.
00:10:41.340 | Can I turn, set something on fire?
00:10:44.280 | I was like, no, you can't.
00:10:46.080 | - Yes, you cannot.
00:10:47.380 | - I can remember coming home one time to discover
00:10:50.240 | that my husband had taught the girls
00:10:53.040 | and they were not old, okay?
00:10:54.780 | So they were like, you know, seven and five,
00:10:57.480 | had taught them how to burn a leaf
00:11:00.960 | using a magnifying glass in the sun.
00:11:04.560 | And I was like, you know, I'm not really sure
00:11:06.600 | that that's a good skill to pass on to them at five and seven.
00:11:11.600 | But they loved it, you know?
00:11:15.000 | What can the sun do and what can this magnifying glass do
00:11:18.060 | and what could it turn into?
00:11:20.400 | I think that kids are natural explorers
00:11:23.560 | and I really, I love what you said,
00:11:26.820 | your admonition to us to look for ways
00:11:30.580 | in which our children are exploring
00:11:32.580 | because they don't all look the same.
00:11:34.760 | It's not just the kids that want to turn over rocks
00:11:39.500 | that are explorers.
00:11:41.040 | It's all, I think all of our kids are natural explorers
00:11:44.080 | and sometimes parents, and I'm saying this
00:11:47.880 | because I think I fell into this trap,
00:11:51.160 | sometimes we numb the explorer out of our children
00:11:57.060 | by giving them too much information
00:12:00.720 | before they've asked for more information,
00:12:03.140 | when they are just out exploring,
00:12:06.200 | when they're just trying things out.
00:12:08.080 | And I think it's out of a good heart.
00:12:11.160 | I know that I was so excited to see my girls explore things
00:12:15.060 | that I think I probably drowned them in extraneous facts
00:12:19.200 | and interesting tidbits when they were still just kind of,
00:12:23.680 | like you said, poking around
00:12:26.480 | to seeing if it was interesting to them.
00:12:29.820 | So that's another, I guess, admonition for all of us.
00:12:33.260 | What is so great?
00:12:37.600 | What do you think is the greatest thing
00:12:39.360 | about exploring with your kids?
00:12:41.760 | And how did you encourage them to keep doing it?
00:12:45.220 | - Oh, that's such a good question.
00:12:47.680 | I think the best thing is what you just alluded to,
00:12:51.760 | is that you give them time and space to explore.
00:12:56.760 | And if we think about when we're first curious
00:13:03.120 | about something, nice to have space to kind of go
00:13:08.900 | in all the rabbit trails and ask all kinds of questions
00:13:13.320 | that I may think you have these questions,
00:13:16.520 | but actually like you have a cheese tree.
00:13:19.560 | I would have never imagined a cheese tree,
00:13:21.980 | but I would be curious about you,
00:13:24.980 | that time and focus that you had.
00:13:28.100 | You made a definition of something
00:13:32.300 | that was really creative based on a lot
00:13:35.200 | of observation and thought.
00:13:39.340 | So you came to a conclusion,
00:13:42.040 | but it was the time and space that you needed to do that.
00:13:46.700 | I think for parents, we're tempted to sort of shape it.
00:13:51.260 | We think we'll lead to,
00:13:54.740 | oh, this would be a good science lesson,
00:13:56.640 | or this would be, let me tell you even more,
00:13:59.220 | that sometimes we don't mean to, but I have done this,
00:14:03.000 | kind of steal away the creativity
00:14:06.620 | that God has put in their mind that we don't.
00:14:09.620 | I think I forget that children are looking at things
00:14:14.620 | from such a different perspective.
00:14:16.860 | We're rhetoricians, we've seen a tree a thousand times,
00:14:20.860 | but our children, our little children,
00:14:23.840 | they may have experienced this only one or two times
00:14:26.800 | in their life, for Christmas.
00:14:30.100 | They may, if they're four, they've only had
00:14:33.140 | maybe one Christmas they remember.
00:14:35.520 | So everything from their perspective really is new.
00:14:40.520 | And I think entering into that with them
00:14:43.980 | and allowing them really listening,
00:14:47.080 | what are they asking?
00:14:48.620 | What are they asking?
00:14:50.060 | And what are they observing?
00:14:51.380 | And just asking questions and being still with them.
00:14:55.380 | I think, like you were saying, frenzy,
00:14:57.980 | to me frenzy is usually that meant
00:15:00.620 | I was completely distracted.
00:15:02.420 | I was not present in the moment.
00:15:04.660 | - Always on the way to the next thing.
00:15:06.660 | - Yes, I was like looking at the calendar
00:15:08.860 | and going, well, when can we get through the play
00:15:10.700 | so we can go to the after play?
00:15:13.620 | Instead of going, at this moment,
00:15:15.740 | I'm gonna be present with where I am, where they are,
00:15:20.140 | and give them kind of space and really listen and hone in.
00:15:23.180 | I think that is the most beautiful picture
00:15:26.740 | we have of Christ.
00:15:27.780 | He was always asking, come join me.
00:15:31.460 | But he was alongside.
00:15:33.660 | He was with people and really present with people.
00:15:37.420 | So I didn't get the feeling that Jesus was thinking,
00:15:40.020 | oh, hurry up and finish your conversation.
00:15:42.480 | He was really at peace and allowed for a lot of connection
00:15:48.820 | with where people were.
00:15:50.580 | And I think for me, I failed at that.
00:15:53.840 | As a parent, I was always pushing the next thing
00:15:58.760 | to check off the list.
00:15:59.760 | So I think as a grandparent, I see the wisdom of moments
00:16:04.760 | of just being with your child and recognizing
00:16:08.240 | where they are and giving them space and time.
00:16:11.160 | - Yes, that is so true.
00:16:13.400 | I know that sometimes as parents,
00:16:15.760 | we are tempted to explore with our children,
00:16:19.360 | but we have a goal in mind.
00:16:22.580 | We have a thing, we have the answer.
00:16:25.020 | What your exploration is gonna show you
00:16:28.140 | is fill in the blank.
00:16:30.060 | And so we're not open-ended in the explorations.
00:16:35.060 | And that robs our children, I think.
00:16:38.620 | - Yeah, it does.
00:16:39.780 | It robs us.
00:16:43.700 | Think of it, if you were invited to a nice meal
00:16:46.580 | and the host just kept asking you,
00:16:49.060 | well, did you notice this?
00:16:50.260 | Did you see this?
00:16:51.140 | Do you know what this is made of?
00:16:52.400 | Can you eat faster?
00:16:53.680 | (laughs)
00:16:55.240 | I think you would feel very, yeah, very hemmed in.
00:16:59.180 | (laughs)
00:17:00.900 | And I think I've done that because I feel like
00:17:03.500 | we think of ourselves, we take the responsibility
00:17:06.240 | of educating our children very seriously.
00:17:08.520 | And I think we also wanna respond to that at times
00:17:13.520 | by just like we think throwing information at people
00:17:18.080 | is part of education.
00:17:19.360 | I think that's my old education mindset
00:17:22.660 | instead of really what we wanna do is engage
00:17:27.660 | and relate, be in relationship with a person.
00:17:32.260 | That's, you're never teaching the thing,
00:17:35.280 | whatever your science, you're teaching the person.
00:17:40.100 | That's really the difference.
00:17:41.800 | And so focusing on the person,
00:17:44.900 | the little person that's sitting in front of you.
00:17:47.260 | And like you said, giving them opportunity to say things
00:17:51.640 | that maybe sound silly to you as an adult,
00:17:54.040 | but kind of pressing in and understanding
00:17:57.500 | what they're getting at,
00:17:58.860 | which is pretty creative most of the time.
00:18:01.300 | - Yes, yes.
00:18:03.060 | Oh, that's so lovely.
00:18:04.560 | I could just talk to you forever about this.
00:18:06.720 | But I wanna ask you,
00:18:07.760 | are y'all big Christmas people at your house?
00:18:10.560 | Do you decorate and bake and sing and give presents
00:18:13.560 | and keep secrets and worship and read and all the things?
00:18:16.980 | Do you, are y'all big Christmas celebrators?
00:18:19.560 | - I have to attribute that to my husband.
00:18:21.940 | He is just, he loves celebrating Christmas.
00:18:26.040 | He loves the whole package
00:18:30.080 | because he just feels like it's one of the best holidays
00:18:34.520 | of Christ coming to earth.
00:18:37.040 | You know, what in the world, you know,
00:18:39.760 | that he was willing to come.
00:18:41.640 | And he's always said, he's a literature person.
00:18:44.560 | He always says that the story is just so lovely.
00:18:49.560 | And who would have ever put those things together?
00:18:53.840 | Babies and mangers and angels and shepherds and wise men.
00:18:57.620 | And, you know, who would have created that beautiful story
00:19:01.280 | except for the Lord?
00:19:02.680 | I mean, and he just glories in it.
00:19:04.840 | So yes, we do Christmas trees and presents
00:19:08.580 | and food and gatherings.
00:19:11.220 | And yes, it's a flurry.
00:19:13.820 | And our house has many, many of those annoying toys
00:19:18.380 | that make lots of noise.
00:19:19.660 | (laughing)
00:19:21.000 | - Yes, hang around from year to year.
00:19:25.020 | So what is one family tradition
00:19:27.940 | that is especially important to your family
00:19:31.240 | and how did it get started?
00:19:33.320 | - Oh yeah, that is such a good, another good question.
00:19:36.240 | It made me think.
00:19:38.080 | I think one of the things that we really enjoyed
00:19:43.120 | was the idea of just, of doing a Jesse tree.
00:19:48.120 | We, it's, we do, it's just really simple
00:19:53.020 | and it traces the prophecies of Christ through,
00:19:57.460 | you know, starts the Old Testament and goes through
00:19:59.980 | and it's just little stories of just the history
00:20:03.940 | and how Christ, the prophecies of Christ
00:20:07.040 | and Christ shows up from the beginning.
00:20:09.660 | And it's, and you just hang a little ornament on a tree
00:20:13.520 | every day, it's very plain,
00:20:17.320 | but it's just a mark of the end of the day.
00:20:20.320 | We used to do it with the children
00:20:22.960 | when the children were home as our devotional in the morning
00:20:26.280 | and each person every day got to hang an ornament
00:20:29.940 | on the tree, you know, we just took her.
00:20:32.180 | So we did have arguments about who would hang baby Jesus
00:20:35.820 | at the end. - Yes, the favorite ornaments,
00:20:37.640 | yep. (laughing)
00:20:39.460 | - And so that was, I had to keep a record,
00:20:41.580 | I actually found it the other day.
00:20:43.060 | - Oh my gosh, Amy, that's so funny, yes.
00:20:46.020 | - But like, you know, like, and what I'm saying there is,
00:20:49.460 | it wasn't this perfect Norman Rockwell moment.
00:20:52.700 | We had fights about where to hang baby Jesus.
00:20:55.540 | - Right, and you just think, really, we're gonna fight,
00:20:57.820 | I can remember telling the girls,
00:20:59.060 | really, we're gonna fight about baby Jesus.
00:21:01.980 | Do you hear how crazy this is?
00:21:03.860 | - Yes, but it was, but our children loved it.
00:21:08.540 | You know, they just loved the routine
00:21:11.000 | and sometimes they normally, they got a little bit
00:21:14.060 | of a candy or a hot chocolate, you know,
00:21:17.540 | something like that, so it made it an extra sweet time.
00:21:21.780 | But yeah, those kind of things that we tried
00:21:24.100 | to just incorporate that.
00:21:26.000 | - That's really cool.
00:21:27.320 | Well, in an effort to lead us all to simplify Advent,
00:21:32.320 | Everyday Educator has been looking at
00:21:36.980 | how to take the simple verbs
00:21:39.500 | from the Scribblers at Home resource,
00:21:42.780 | pray, play, read, explore, and serve,
00:21:47.140 | and use those verbs to guide our Christmas celebrations.
00:21:51.880 | So I wanna talk to you more specifically
00:21:55.480 | about how we can celebrate together this year by exploring.
00:22:00.480 | So we have already well established
00:22:05.620 | that kids love exploring.
00:22:08.300 | So it seems like it would be easy to entice them
00:22:12.780 | to look at Christmas and the message of Christmas
00:22:16.420 | through an explorer's eyes.
00:22:19.580 | So what can you imagine exploring with the family
00:22:24.580 | that could help us see Christmas in fresh ways?
00:22:31.020 | - Ooh, that's, yeah, that's nice.
00:22:34.700 | I think, first of all, one thing that has always helped me
00:22:39.700 | is recognizing just what's immediately around me,
00:22:44.060 | not something I have to go purchase or order online.
00:22:47.260 | What's there that I can sort of help people notice, really?
00:22:52.260 | And I was thinking, Christmas is so full of sight,
00:22:57.500 | new sights and new sounds and new smells. (laughs)
00:23:02.820 | And so I think if they're like Christmas lights,
00:23:07.060 | just looking, stringing up a string of lights
00:23:10.700 | in an unusual place and turning out the lights
00:23:13.500 | and looking at them, talking about that,
00:23:15.860 | or lighting a candle.
00:23:17.660 | Kids love candles, light a candle and just talk about it.
00:23:22.660 | Or how would you describe it for your words person?
00:23:26.780 | What does it look like?
00:23:27.660 | What does it feel like?
00:23:29.020 | What do you think a candle does?
00:23:30.980 | Even eating by candlelight, turning off all the lights,
00:23:34.260 | seeing what that's like.
00:23:36.780 | I think exploring, even with your senses,
00:23:38.660 | I was thinking in our backyard, just the evergreens.
00:23:43.540 | If you have evergreens in your yard,
00:23:45.220 | like holly or pivot hedge, (laughs)
00:23:49.100 | we have a lot of weeds in our back field.
00:23:52.140 | Or even the seed pods that are there.
00:23:57.340 | Or just going for an evergreen walk.
00:24:01.820 | What do you see that is still green,
00:24:04.620 | that smells good like pine, squish it up and smell it?
00:24:09.020 | Get them to recognize what's around them
00:24:13.420 | and what does this season bring?
00:24:15.700 | And you can move that conversation of evergreen things
00:24:20.020 | to how God has given these ideas in nature
00:24:24.180 | about how his everpresence and how there's ever life
00:24:28.460 | through Christ.
00:24:29.540 | There are just some simple ways like just recognizing
00:24:33.420 | what you have in your home that you can just gather
00:24:37.820 | and say let's just sit around and think about
00:24:40.100 | how does this relate to Christmas?
00:24:41.580 | What do you think?
00:24:42.540 | And also smells are big because you have spices
00:24:47.540 | and you don't have to be a cook.
00:24:49.860 | You can just sprinkle things around under your water.
00:24:53.980 | Sprinkle some cinnamon and water, cut up an orange.
00:24:57.260 | One of the things that you can do is slice oranges
00:25:01.420 | and dry 'em in your oven and get it, it smells yummy.
00:25:05.580 | Or make a cup of cider if you have some apple juice.
00:25:09.540 | It doesn't have to be fancy but just helping them
00:25:12.780 | recognize the sights and the sounds and the smells.
00:25:16.980 | Just exploring to me is so much about experiencing
00:25:21.380 | and remembering that all of this, I just love it.
00:25:26.380 | You get to introduce it to your kids.
00:25:30.980 | You get to be that doorkeeper, what do I need to experience?
00:25:35.460 | And so if you have a little cook,
00:25:37.820 | buy some pre-made sugar cookie dough.
00:25:40.180 | I mean, I think sometimes we get the illusion
00:25:42.740 | we have to (mumbles)
00:25:45.180 | but just buy it and have 'em roll it out
00:25:47.260 | and get all sticky and gooey and taste it
00:25:49.500 | and make those really misshapen cookies.
00:25:54.500 | (laughs)
00:25:57.820 | And just get them to think about things,
00:26:01.180 | just helping them recognize what's in front of them
00:26:03.700 | and pointing that out.
00:26:05.860 | I think it brings wonder to me as well.
00:26:09.820 | I think it makes it more delightful for me
00:26:14.820 | as we enter in.
00:26:17.660 | And also, if you're a musical family,
00:26:20.780 | we were not as much musical,
00:26:22.540 | but having just different music in the background
00:26:27.540 | and recognizing it or listening to parts of,
00:26:31.860 | I know one thing Whit and I used to do
00:26:33.820 | is listen to parts of the Messiah
00:26:35.740 | and thinking about the scripture that goes with it.
00:26:39.260 | That's a wonderful devotional.
00:26:41.020 | I just listen to a little two-minute section
00:26:43.780 | and then discuss it, it's really lovely.
00:26:46.740 | So I think all those things,
00:26:50.020 | of course you can do all the Christmas tree,
00:26:53.020 | go out and look at Christmas lights
00:26:55.300 | and go to different events.
00:26:57.820 | Those are things that are exciting too.
00:26:59.540 | But I think in your home,
00:27:00.700 | just realizing the things that you have.
00:27:03.660 | And also honestly, sometimes we put things up
00:27:06.500 | and our kids don't even know why.
00:27:09.180 | - Yes, oh my goodness.
00:27:12.020 | Explaining your Christmas decorations and tell the story.
00:27:17.020 | I know that, I remember when our older daughter got married,
00:27:22.460 | maybe they were just engaged,
00:27:25.340 | but her guy was coming to,
00:27:29.660 | he was gonna decorate the Christmas tree with us.
00:27:31.980 | And I mean, he said to her, "Well, how long could that take?"
00:27:35.580 | And she looked at him a little funny.
00:27:37.420 | And then he came to the house and I mean, it takes us.
00:27:42.060 | Hours, multiple hours.
00:27:44.220 | It takes us a good two hours.
00:27:45.980 | And I mean, we have a 10 foot tree,
00:27:47.660 | but still it's not just putting the ornaments on the tree.
00:27:52.660 | We rehearsed the story because our family had a tradition
00:27:57.420 | that everybody got a new ornament every year.
00:28:00.460 | And so you remember the year that you got this ornament.
00:28:04.020 | I got this ornament when we went to Disney
00:28:06.220 | for the first time.
00:28:07.140 | And so Sleeping Beauty's slipper is there
00:28:11.100 | for one of my daughters.
00:28:12.580 | And the year that the other daughter
00:28:15.660 | was really into photography, she got a camera ornament.
00:28:20.100 | And so we rehearsed them.
00:28:22.820 | And there are ornaments on our tree now
00:28:26.380 | that were mine when I was a little girl.
00:28:29.180 | And so when I put them up,
00:28:30.980 | I explain why these two ornaments
00:28:34.380 | have to hang next to each other.
00:28:36.140 | Because when I was little,
00:28:38.580 | the mouse and the fruit basket had to hang near each other
00:28:41.660 | because the mouse ate the fruit at night.
00:28:44.700 | And so I think Gabe was shocked.
00:28:47.580 | It's like, okay, wow, I can see why it takes your family
00:28:50.420 | so long to do this.
00:28:52.100 | But that is part of our shared heritage.
00:28:55.900 | And that's how we keep the memories alive.
00:28:58.380 | And it was bittersweet when the girls got married
00:29:02.780 | because I boxed their ornaments up
00:29:06.380 | and they took them with them to their new family.
00:29:11.020 | And so I love that.
00:29:13.740 | Talking about the decorations,
00:29:15.380 | why do we always put the manger here?
00:29:19.420 | Why is that nativity special to us?
00:29:24.700 | - And that's a good point.
00:29:27.500 | - Yeah, when did grandma make that kissing ball
00:29:29.860 | and what in the world is that?
00:29:31.420 | - Yes, exactly.
00:29:33.420 | It's really a time to, like you were saying,
00:29:35.420 | reflect on your heritage and your stories.
00:29:37.500 | We had a mouse on our tree, it was Mary Claire,
00:29:41.420 | she's taking it now.
00:29:42.660 | But the boys always had an owl that had talons
00:29:45.900 | and they would always place it over the mouse.
00:29:47.660 | So it was a little bit different than yours.
00:29:49.580 | And so Mary Claire sends every year a photograph
00:29:52.780 | of her mouse being very safely taken care of by their--
00:29:55.580 | - Yes, exactly.
00:29:57.020 | Finally, her mouse does not live with her brothers
00:29:59.620 | and he can spend the holidays in relative peace.
00:30:03.060 | - And I think even, I would just really encourage moms
00:30:06.100 | to have a crush that is completely available to you.
00:30:11.100 | Nothing that, I mean, you can have the lovely crush
00:30:14.740 | on the mantle, but I think anything at eye level
00:30:18.700 | really should be able to be explored.
00:30:21.700 | And so get an inexpensive crush that, or a plastic one,
00:30:26.580 | or that kids can just act out that story.
00:30:30.460 | Sometimes Whit would move, when we get to the Magi,
00:30:34.180 | he would take the, they'll move around the room
00:30:38.100 | so the kids would have to find them in the morning.
00:30:40.460 | - Oh, that's so fun.
00:30:42.660 | - Yes, so it's that, it's simple,
00:30:45.060 | but it's a little bit intentional of thinking about it
00:30:48.580 | and doing it and not making it rushed for yourself.
00:30:52.420 | And don't overburden yourself
00:30:54.220 | with a thousand different new things.
00:30:55.660 | - Yes, it doesn't have to be scripted.
00:30:57.780 | You don't have to know all of the answers.
00:31:00.700 | I can remember reading just the Christmas story
00:31:05.700 | to the girls out of very simple Bible storybooks.
00:31:10.700 | And they had a bajillion questions.
00:31:13.460 | How far was it that they had to go on the donkey?
00:31:18.300 | And so then, of course, we had to go get a map
00:31:21.460 | 'cause their daddy loves maps, so we had plenty of maps.
00:31:24.420 | And so we plotted how far is it that Mary and Joseph went
00:31:29.420 | to get to Bethlehem, so they had a donkey.
00:31:34.420 | Well, what does a donkey eat?
00:31:35.860 | So all these questions, it's just ways for little people
00:31:39.540 | to explore the Christmas story.
00:31:41.220 | Now, when we think about the Christmas story,
00:31:44.300 | as a grownup, I never think about what did the donkey eat.
00:31:47.300 | I mean, I just never think about that.
00:31:49.780 | But if your child does, then chase that rabbit.
00:31:53.820 | And how far is it to Bethlehem?
00:31:57.700 | Why were the sheep out in the pasture?
00:32:03.860 | Why were the shepherd and the sheep out there,
00:32:05.660 | and what would it have looked like?
00:32:07.580 | I had one daughter who asked, did they have tents?
00:32:10.860 | Well, I mean, not like the tent you have in your backyard.
00:32:14.460 | Not like the one we take camping.
00:32:16.380 | So how did they get food, and why were they awake,
00:32:20.180 | and just all kinds of things.
00:32:22.140 | And you can measure things.
00:32:24.740 | You can find pictures of a manger,
00:32:27.460 | because they put maybe Jesus in a manger.
00:32:31.180 | Like the manger that we have in our house is really small.
00:32:34.300 | Even a brand new baby would not fit in that thing.
00:32:36.620 | So what did it look like?
00:32:38.980 | If you tell the story slowly and allow your children
00:32:43.980 | to ask all of the questions that occur to them,
00:32:47.860 | you will find a bajillion things to explore.
00:32:52.140 | - Yes, and it's because it's a real story.
00:32:55.700 | It really happened.
00:32:58.100 | And I think that those questions imply that.
00:33:01.660 | Like, how far did they have to walk?
00:33:04.220 | If this was a pretend story,
00:33:05.940 | I don't know that that would matter, but it's a real story.
00:33:08.820 | And I think that's the best Christmas pageant ever.
00:33:15.940 | It gives you that kind of idea of people
00:33:18.420 | who have never heard the story,
00:33:20.500 | and take it by faith that it's true.
00:33:23.220 | Then they do ask those kind of questions.
00:33:25.060 | Like, why would the magi give them
00:33:26.500 | this gold frankincense and myrrh?
00:33:28.420 | How about a hand?
00:33:29.260 | - Right, right.
00:33:31.100 | And why would that be a good thing?
00:33:32.780 | 'Cause that seems like a bogus present for a baby today.
00:33:36.100 | - Yes, exactly.
00:33:37.940 | - And our kids will just ask these bald questions.
00:33:40.660 | And that's what I meant about,
00:33:41.980 | don't feel like you have to know everything.
00:33:45.540 | - I think a lot of times, young moms,
00:33:47.620 | I know I was more intimidated for my children
00:33:50.540 | to ask questions when I was a really young mom,
00:33:53.380 | because I thought if they had a question,
00:33:55.460 | I was supposed to have an answer.
00:33:57.460 | There was always a one-to-one correspondence there.
00:34:00.580 | And then, and partly they started asking harder questions
00:34:04.700 | as they got older, and so I had fewer
00:34:06.540 | and fewer ready-made answers.
00:34:08.940 | But the real beauty of family exploration
00:34:13.520 | is that you look for the answers together.
00:34:16.380 | And that makes the conversation,
00:34:20.180 | and that is actually what makes the memory.
00:34:23.300 | - Yes, yes, yes.
00:34:25.060 | And I think being excited with your child,
00:34:27.420 | like, hey, that was a good question.
00:34:30.420 | I don't know the answer to that.
00:34:32.160 | Let's see if we can figure it out.
00:34:33.700 | I think, like you were saying earlier,
00:34:36.060 | affirming their curiosity instead of going,
00:34:38.980 | oh, let's, I don't know.
00:34:40.980 | I can see my eyes getting impatient
00:34:43.480 | instead of just pausing and listening
00:34:48.040 | and giving and recognizing,
00:34:49.900 | hey, that's a pretty good question.
00:34:52.160 | Let's see if we can figure out the answer to it.
00:34:55.240 | Or I just don't, mommy doesn't know right now.
00:34:58.040 | Maybe we can look later.
00:34:59.480 | You know, I think that's just your modeling for them.
00:35:03.200 | - Yes, and so often, as adults,
00:35:06.160 | we are totally invested in answers.
00:35:10.200 | But children are totally invested in exploring
00:35:15.200 | but also in relationships.
00:35:18.700 | They just want to be with you.
00:35:21.420 | And like you said, Amy, so beautifully,
00:35:24.280 | they will, it resonates with them when you say,
00:35:27.680 | that was a really good question.
00:35:29.500 | Or that is so interesting.
00:35:30.920 | Or I always wondered about that too.
00:35:33.520 | Or I never thought of that.
00:35:35.580 | And you have built a bridge with your child.
00:35:39.500 | There's so many things you can explore.
00:35:41.920 | So what did the nighttime sky look like
00:35:44.920 | at the time that Jesus was born?
00:35:47.220 | Was there a star?
00:35:49.620 | And lots of us have planetariums, at least sort of close by.
00:35:54.340 | And we can go, and many planetariums have
00:35:57.900 | Star of Bethlehem programs
00:35:59.820 | or the Night Sky of Bethlehem kind of programs.
00:36:03.100 | But you can look up things.
00:36:05.820 | Now there is the internet, which there was not
00:36:08.700 | when my kids were really, really little.
00:36:10.720 | But you can find answers to all kinds of questions.
00:36:15.460 | But the fun might be in bundling up
00:36:19.500 | and taking your blanket outside at night
00:36:23.580 | and doing something that your children would think
00:36:26.700 | you would never do.
00:36:28.280 | I can remember doing bizarre things with my kids
00:36:32.620 | and them looking at me and saying,
00:36:34.700 | you're gonna let us do that?
00:36:37.380 | - Yes. - And it was so exciting
00:36:39.900 | that they were doing this clandestine thing.
00:36:42.840 | But that we were doing it together is the kind of memory
00:36:47.140 | that sticks with our children forever.
00:36:50.020 | Well, this has been so awesome.
00:36:53.820 | I wanna ask you, 'cause we've talked about
00:36:56.020 | a lot of ways of exploring and why it's so good
00:36:59.180 | to explore with our children.
00:37:02.740 | How, Amy, can exploring the Christmas story together
00:37:07.660 | bring our hearts together at Christmas time as a family?
00:37:12.440 | - Well, we have a common savior.
00:37:16.220 | And on some level, we're all,
00:37:21.820 | before God, we are all the same in that sense.
00:37:26.100 | So sharing the Christmas story, we all share in that joy.
00:37:29.940 | This is not a fairy tale.
00:37:32.660 | That I'm telling you to give you this new story
00:37:36.500 | to put in your library of your mind.
00:37:39.500 | But this is a real story.
00:37:41.420 | And this story continues on, it will continue for eternity.
00:37:46.420 | We will be reminiscing about this story for eternity.
00:37:51.820 | This is an eternal word.
00:37:54.160 | And so I think, I keep thinking of the verse in Hebrews
00:37:59.160 | as living and active.
00:38:01.980 | So I think for us, as we sit before the word of God,
00:38:05.520 | and we read the story, and we think about the story,
00:38:09.180 | and allow it, allow the Lord to really minister to us
00:38:14.180 | to think of how redemptive the story is,
00:38:18.620 | what it speaks about the nature of God and Christ.
00:38:22.360 | And so I think for all of us,
00:38:24.460 | as we're sharing the story with our children,
00:38:27.580 | we all enter into the place before God and His word.
00:38:32.580 | And so I think that's a really powerful place
00:38:35.380 | to allow us to be ministered to by the story,
00:38:38.860 | as well as our children.
00:38:39.780 | We're not just laying information.
00:38:42.820 | We're all sitting before this living word.
00:38:45.820 | And also just remembering what the parts mean.
00:38:50.820 | My grandchildren are memorizing Luke two.
00:38:57.340 | And they've just asked such good questions.
00:38:59.740 | And by slowing that down, just to recognize
00:39:03.160 | what all the little parts of the story
00:39:06.380 | and how the Lord just put it together.
00:39:08.800 | So I think as we retell the story over and over,
00:39:13.660 | act out the story, discuss the story,
00:39:16.540 | poke and prod at the story,
00:39:18.120 | I think together that unifies us as believers.
00:39:23.120 | And it helps us see the heritage
00:39:25.860 | that we have in our Christian faith.
00:39:27.700 | It reinforces that of the other truths,
00:39:32.820 | that as Christ walked on earth,
00:39:35.620 | His crucifixion, His resurrection,
00:39:37.460 | it just is part of that whole story.
00:39:40.300 | And so I think for us,
00:39:42.260 | that is just something lovely about sitting before it
00:39:48.180 | as an agreeing with it
00:39:51.740 | and seeing how it continues to affect our life today.
00:39:56.740 | It's not just something in the past.
00:39:58.660 | It's something that currently works in our hearts and minds.
00:40:02.260 | So I think that's pretty powerful for us.
00:40:04.340 | And then of course,
00:40:05.500 | exploring that with other people in our community,
00:40:08.900 | bringing people into your home.
00:40:10.380 | And just your neighbor,
00:40:13.860 | we went caroling and we sound terrible.
00:40:15.820 | We are not.
00:40:16.660 | - It's a joyful noise, Amy.
00:40:20.540 | - It's a joyful noise.
00:40:22.020 | A five-year-old had a harmonica that he played.
00:40:24.940 | - Oh, wow.
00:40:26.300 | - But it was delightful
00:40:28.500 | because we just have a few neighbors that we know
00:40:31.060 | that live alone.
00:40:32.660 | And that was just really easy.
00:40:35.380 | And I think a way of extending yourself
00:40:38.300 | in simple ways to community,
00:40:40.420 | invite someone over or take them a cup of tea,
00:40:43.700 | have your kids do things that make a gift.
00:40:48.060 | I mean, it's not hard to do that
00:40:51.020 | just to slather a pine cone with some peanut butter
00:40:54.460 | and take it next door.
00:40:56.540 | I think we as believers have such a beautiful gift
00:41:01.060 | and I think we can extend that gift too
00:41:03.820 | in a natural way and helping children recognize
00:41:06.980 | that that's part of the Christmas story too.
00:41:09.580 | Jesus gave all sorts of people.
00:41:11.780 | And so to look for opportunities,
00:41:15.740 | again, to minister and to share that,
00:41:19.420 | what we've come, as we've explored,
00:41:22.940 | to share that joy with other people
00:41:25.020 | is really powerful as well.
00:41:27.660 | - Yes, it is.
00:41:28.740 | That is, that's beautiful.
00:41:30.660 | And such so many good ideas,
00:41:34.220 | families, for exploring together.
00:41:37.060 | Simplifying Advent by exploring
00:41:40.700 | might really lead your family to experience
00:41:44.060 | the Christmas story in a new, a fresh,
00:41:47.100 | a deeper way this season.
00:41:49.540 | And we will be glad to have been part of that.
00:41:52.900 | Amy, thank you so much for talking to me
00:41:55.460 | and sharing some of these great ideas with our families.
00:41:59.900 | Families, if you are looking for things
00:42:02.700 | to do this Christmas, one thing,
00:42:06.900 | one perfect holiday getaway for your whole family
00:42:12.220 | might be a trip to Great Wolf Lodge.
00:42:16.540 | There are locations right all around the country.
00:42:20.020 | They're very family-friendly resorts.
00:42:22.980 | They have suite-style rooms, in-house dining.
00:42:26.260 | There are water parks.
00:42:27.980 | There's all kinds of things
00:42:29.100 | that your family can enjoy there together.
00:42:31.660 | And at this time of the year,
00:42:33.780 | Great Wolf Lodge experience is magical.
00:42:37.500 | But here's the best part.
00:42:39.100 | If you're a Classical Conversations member,
00:42:42.300 | you can get up to a 30% discount off your family's visit.
00:42:47.300 | So if that sounds good to you,
00:42:50.100 | if that's something you might like to explore,
00:42:52.860 | you can find a location near you
00:42:55.780 | and even book your stay
00:42:57.540 | by heading to Great Wolf Lodge's website.
00:43:00.820 | It's just greatwolf.com.
00:43:04.700 | And to claim your CC discount,
00:43:08.900 | use code CLAS432A.
00:43:13.900 | To claim your discount, use code CLAS432A.
00:43:23.420 | A magical Great Wolf Lodge family exploration
00:43:33.340 | might just be in your future.
00:43:36.700 | Well, families, I have enjoyed spending this time
00:43:39.460 | together with you,
00:43:40.300 | and I hope that your advent is getting simpler by the minute
00:43:44.860 | as you pray together, play together, read together,
00:43:49.540 | explore together, and serve together.
00:43:53.380 | See you next time.
00:43:55.260 | Bye-bye.
00:43:56.700 | (gentle music)
00:43:59.300 | you
00:44:01.360 | [BLANK_AUDIO]