Who's Harold?

I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted on here. I think about it several times a week, want to get back started again, and yet I haven't done it. Part of me wonders if what I have to say is important enough, will anyone read it? Then I remember why I started blogging to begin with. I started as a means to capture thoughts and memories for myself. Somewhere along the way I lost that. So here I am again, back at it.

This morning I had one of those moments that I wanted to freeze frame and remember forever. It was an ordinary moment, nothing so special about it, except that I was struck by how quickly my kids are growing up and wanting to hold on to their innocence forever.

Prince is a morning person. He wakes up in a happy mood, often singing about what a great day it is going to be. This annoys Princess to no end. She is not a morning person at all. It reminds me very much of the dynamic between my sister and I growing up. I got on my sister's nerves so badly because I dared speak to her before what she considered a decent hour - 10:00 or so. Anyway, this morning Prince was singing "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and Princess was really ticked off about it. As he sang, I thought I would make a joke. Prince loves jokes. So I asked him, "Who is Harold?" His response was, "I don't know but he has a catchy song." It went right over his head! Before I could explain, he was down the hall continuing his song.

It made me think about traditions and what we pass on to our kids. Generations have sung this song and probably not given much thought as to what the words mean. When we were little, I remember my sister singing this song and instead of singing "with the angelic hosts proclaim," she sang "with the jelly..." Makes me think perhaps it is about more than just passing on the traditions, but also using those teachable moments to make sure our kids understand what they are singing. What do those words mean? No one uses the word "hark" anymore. Perhaps this advent, as we sit around the table for our family devotions we will have some discussion about the songs we sing and the traditions we hold dear.