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

[divineinspirations]

Watching my first school nativity I couldn't believe poor Mary had to stand up the whole time and be polite to all the shepherds and wise men that kept turning up.
If there was no room for a bed surely someone could have got her a chair at least? And there must be a Judaean equivalent of postnatal tea and toast?

I've been to Loreto in Italy and been in the house where Jesus was born. It was carried to Italy by angels. Apparently.

The Angel Gabriel is the plum role. The longest and most difficult speech.

Well being men they couldn't ask for directions could they.

I love all the references to the donkey, it isn't in the Bible, but it has become a big bit of the tradition.

@ARealitycheck it can happen, giving birth with an intact hymen. It depends how stretchy you are.

This puts me in mind of MN threads where people go ape about their in-laws announcing their children's births on FB and all the in-laws turn up without waiting to be asked.

AIBU? I have recently given birth. My DH cocked things up so I had to travel for ages at 40 weeks and we had nowhere to stay. I ended up giving birth in some outhouse. My baby's father (not DH - long story) took it upon himself to get his mates to tell a load of randoms about the birth and they all suddenly turned up when all I wanted to do was have some peace and quiet to recover and get some sleep. And I didn't even get a cup of tea. WIBU to go NC with the lot of them?

Three valuable gifts, including gold, would be far more useful than a never-ending row of soft toys.

Well, there were taxes and flights back then were quite expensive, especially when you reserved seats together. Then the cargo load of the donkey and the gifts and you find that the GFM doesn't go as far as it did 1000 years prior.

But, the good news is that tea and toast (and pretzels) were offered on the flight. For an extra fee.

Well, reading all of the verse, on top of the donkey ride and painless birth, got my mind going in a direction no mind should go regarding that song.

Double "meanings" galore. 😳

Mary's belly button untied itself and poof, the baby was born. Joseph retied the belly button, since he was well versed in knots.

I was angel Gabriel and led the angels on at the wrong time. Also, my sister told me Gabriel was a boy so I was very upset.

At my daughter’s nativity it was all about penguins and turning your heating down. We had no clue what was going on.

Can I just say though that women giving birth in those times must have been so scared for their lives, and their babies? I often romanticise about living in more simpler times, but crikey…they were pretty tough back then.

There's also a bit of theology that pain in childbirth comes from Eve's sin, and Mary (being sinless) could open her womb as easily and voluntarily as she might spread her fingers - so it wouldn't be painful.

When my dm gave birth to my older db, the midwives were all catholic nuns and encouraged her to offer up her labour pains as repentance, and to reflect on Eve’s sins. By the time I was born there were lay midwives and the experience was a bit more compassionate.

I thought the search for a place to stay suggested that Joseph’s relatives were pretty sniffy about the marriage and didn’t approve of poor Mary. She can’t have been having a great time in Nazareth either, if bumping along on a donkey seemed like a better option.

Well you can understand that.

Joseph's sister's AIBU

My brother has just married a teenager, my brother is a widower and should know better.

The little strumpet is now pregnant, but she claims to be a virgin. My brother believes this nonsense and is going to bring the child up as his own.

He wants them both to visit us when the census is on.

AIBU to say there is no room because with this census we have 14 people staying already?

@AnnoyedAsAllHeck He was a carpenter, not a sailor. But I reckon he used a staple gun. He probably brought it along because it’s always handy to bring your tools while you are visiting relatives “ Good to see you Joseph, do you mind having a look at this door, it’s sticking a bit, and the tables a bit wobbly too.” and used it to staple up a few sacks over the stable doorway to stop draughts.

Can't remember why but I had frankincense on a flannel during my first labour. Aromatherapy was a big thing then.