Christmas Thoughts from Brianaland

When my girls were little, cars did not come equipped with DVD players as they do now. In fact, DVDs were not quite invented yet—my children watched movies on VHS tape. And so keeping three little girls entertained while they were in the car required a bit of inventiveness.

And I had a brilliant idea—to record the soundtrack of their favorite VHS tapes on cassette tape to keep them engaged as time passed in transit. I recorded things like Beauty and the Beast and 101 Dalmations and The Lion King. But beginning November first up until New Year’s Day, we listened non-stop to Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, A Muppet Christmas Carol, The Grinch, Rudolph and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

My girls memorized every single word.

And today’s blog post is not as much Thoughts from Karenland as much as it is Thoughts from Brianaland—thoughts from my middle daughter. Briana, age 23, downloaded the soundtrack from Christmas Eve on Sesame Street and The Grinch on to her iphone. And she wrote to tell me that yesterday, in listening to the recording of The Grinch, she became emotionally overwhelmed when the Grinch realized that despite his grandiose attempts to halt Christmas, it came—it came just the same. She thought of the family and friends of the deceased in Newton—and how evil can never stop Christmas from coming. No matter what another takes from you, they can never take what is in your heart.

And I am not embarrassed to say that much of what my children learned about the true meaning of Christmas was learned not in CCD class, or Sunday mass but was instead learned from quality children’s programming. Charlie Brown, Oscar, Big Bird, Rudolph, Scrooge and the Grinch, despite inner conflict, all eventually got the message right—as did my sweet daughter Briana: the love we find does not end at Christmas—it is for us to keep all through the year:

Please watch:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd5PEVKuAro