in the manger

A few years ago my Mom passed along to me a Nativity set. It was not my style. The pieces are really dark and depressing, but I didn't have one so I took it.



Given it's close proximity to the love seat the girls cannot keep their hands off it. They move the people around and have grand conversations with each other as the people in the Nativity. It doesn't bother me if they want to play with it although it's not exactly child friendly. Joseph suffered the loss of his hand last holiday season and as time goes by the set gets chipped away at little bit by little bit.

And cue Granny......

I knew Little People made a nativity set, but had never actually seen it in store. Either had Granny, but that didn't stop her from ordering one straight from Fisher Price. And since she was, she picked up the wisemen, the inn at Bethlehem and a stable with the little drummer boy. With all the prime decorating spots taken this late in the season we set it up under the tree, which has made post Christmas gift storage a pain in the arse, but you can't just shove the nativity to one side because you don't have anywhere to stick season 7 of Seinfeld on dvd.



So the girls have pretty much abandoned the dark drab original nativity set for the more child friendly set in front of the tree. Abby was concerned by the fact that we had four camels when there were only three wisemen. Luckily I managed to convince her that the fourth camel belonged to the inn keeper and his wife. As for Maya her main interest is the inn, specifically the ladder that allows the little people access to the second floor of the inn. It's an inn that, I feel I must point out, has remained without guests this holiday season despite the inn keeper telling Mary and Joseph there was no room for them. Very suspicious. Perhaps I should rustle up the zoo keeper, farmer, princess and pilot from the toy room to fill the beds. You know, just for authenticity.