to think someone should have got Mary a chair and some toast?

Brilliant funny times at that age. Lovely memories 😍

Probably helped speed things up a little though

🤣🤣🤣🤣

The nativity is a deeply misogynistic story in which a young girl is forced to have a baby and forced by other men to give birth in a stable and then visited by other pointless men.

It sets the narrative for the patriarchal thrust of Christianity and its role in controlling women.

So no, that poor woman is not getting a cuppa.

The three kings could have brought something a bit more useful for a baby!

Well it took 2 years for the Kings to get there, so I'd imagine she sat down in that time. They were also in a house rather than the stable.

I was imagining the conversation between one of the Kings (Casper) and his page as I drove home. It went something along the lines of:

Page: Are we nearly there yet?
Casper: I think so... at least...
Page: You said that when we went to Herod's palace. And you were wrong. Why should I believe anything you say?
Casper: This time... look there's Melchior... and Balthazar. We can't all three be wrong, surely?
Page: Weren't they at Herod's palace too? I think you're getting old. You're forgetting everything. I'm even having to carry your present because you nearly forgot it at the palace.
Casper: No, I'm sure we're right this time. It's been a nice walk anyway hasn't it?
Page: A nice walk? We've been walking for two years. Do you remember what you said? A nice quick stroll down to see the new King and come home again. I didn't sign up for this. I didn't even want to do my DofE because of the walking, but Mum persuaded me to do this for volunteering
Casper: Never mind. We're here now. And when we've seen the King we can go home.
Page: Great... hang on. Go home! Do you realise it's going to take two years to walk home again. It's so unfair. Can't we get an uber camel this time?

That's fascinating!

@divineinspirations

@Stopsnowing Stopsnowing · Today 05:08
“How silently how silently the wondrous gift is given” so an easy labour.
Oh wow, I’ve sung that so many times without ever relating it to childbirth!

It doesn't relate to the labour. It relates to the blessing of God entering your heart and the silent coming of Christ into your meek soul! This is the full context:

How silently, how silently,
the wondrous gift is giv'n!
So God imparts to human hearts
the blessings of His heav'n.
No ear may hear His coming,
but in this world of sin,
where meek souls will receive Him still,
the dear Christ enters in.

🤣🤣🤣 Oh, that's taking the whole miracle thing a LITTLE too far!

She did say frankincense was fine but could you please keep the gold and myrr at your house for when baby Jesus visits as the stable is packed to the gunnels already.

Don't all babies come out like that/
😂

I believe Catholic doctrine is just this - that Mary did not suffer labour pains and there was no mess, that he just slipped out like a ray of light.

I suppose before there were birthing balls or motorbikes, a bumpy donkey ride was probably just the thing to get it all going. 🤣

What did they do with the placenta? Offer it back as a gift to the 3 wise men?

First century Israel? 🤔

Perhaps the bumps helped to kick-start Mary's labour.
At least Joseph's parents didn't turn up along with the shepherds and kings, otherwise Mary would've been straight on MN with 'AIBU to expect ILs to leave us alone post-birth? The baby isn't even DH's child!'

And there’s always the old joke, it should have been 3 wise women. They’d have brought sensible gifts and a casserole, changed Mary’s bedsheets and swept the stable floor before leaving.

Apologies for the bodily fluids stories but it's a daily fact of life in Early Years.

Another year, while lining up to go in the Hall, one of the angels vomited all over the two in front. There was a bit of a delay while the poorly one's Mum was found in the audience and some sort of angel costumes were hastily cobbled together for the other two.

One year Reception Mary wet herself but with admirable stage presence didn't give any indication this was happening and it was only discovered later. Very embarrassing for the poor child.

Got to love a a nativity preformed by nursery/ reception children i remember " Joseph" yawning and picking his nose 🤣

At my daughter’s nursery nativity a couple of years ago Baby Jesus got stuck under Mary’s jumper and one of the TAs had to crawl on and fish him out. The teacher who narrated the story commented that they’d called in the midwife and it was a breech birth. One of my favourite memories from her nursery days.

You obviously didn't have a bumpy ride on a donkey to help it out! When I was younger if a woman was overdue there was as twisty, bumpy, steep road that was recommended for a few drives up and down, I recall one man offering to take his wife on his motorbike!

Some years ago (more than 10 because I've been retired that long) there was, apparently, a TV programme before Christmas describing how childbirth would have been dealt with in Biblical times. I didn't see it but a girl in KS1 did and started telling everyone about it in Assembly. She had just described a rope to hold on to and something to bite on when I managed to move things on.

They didn't arrive until a couple of weeks later, around Jan 6th, so she had her little family bubble, very MN!