The Nativity Thief

I remember when my mom first started collecting Fontanini nativity pieces. She started off with a pretty standard set – Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus in a manger, a rustic looking stable, an angel, wise men, a couple of shepherds, a lanky camel, and a small sheep. Over time she collected a wide assortment of animals, people, and heavenly hosts. She sewed a dark green table runner to serve as the ground. Every year she sets up the pieces carefully on the sofa table behind the couch in the living room.

At 15 months, Caleb is curious about everything above him. He likes bigger kids, the big table, big chairs, big dogs. With his newfound ability to climb, the world above is coming in to his reach.

When we first arrived at my parents’ house, Caleb ignored the twinkly lights on the Christmas tree and headed straight for the Fontanini figurines. It seemed like every time he came around a corner he had a stray shepherd or camel in hand. One day, while we were distracted by a movie, he carefully brought 4 or 5 pieces, one at a time, and set them side by side in the doorway. When a old friend came to visit, Caleb presented her with several wise men and Bethlehem villagers.

The figurines had been spread out over the table runner in careful arrangement, but my mom began pushing them closer to the stable until they were clustered around the manger like teenagers in a mosh pit. Caleb strained onto his tiptoes and kept taking the figures. Eventually, Mom stopped replacing the figures and set them aside in a neat little group that made them look like captured chess pieces.

Then Caleb moved in for the win – he discovered that he could scale the couch and climb over the back to actually get on top of the sofa table. My mom conceded. She brought out the nativity set’s summer home – a large cardboard box and began wrapping the figures in tissue paper.

I guess it can be my mom’s consolation that we’re due to be in Ohio next Christmas!