Nativity time...
I was driving along the other day wondering what to write about and I got thinking about how, in all of my books, I'm always going on about angels and stars. And that got me wondering where it all started. After thinking about it for about half a second I realised it had to have come from Christmas time in my primary school days.
This is me aged about 10 at St Mary's and St Peter's Primary School, in Teddington, Middlesex.
What I loved most about the bit before we broke up for Christmas was the fact that we got to miss lots of lessons and do loads of creative stuff instead.
I just lalalalalalalalaurved making those stained glass window things - my heart would literally leap for joy on the day we did them, and I'd spend hours and hours trying to get it right. In my mind's eye I'd create wonderful celestial beings, things of great beauty, fit for adoring church windows all over the world. And I hoped they might look something like this...
In reality though they always ended up looking much more like this...
But I didn't care - I loved them with all my heart and proudly hurried them home to my mum at the end of term.
I also loved making tissue paper stars, a bit like this one...
And I loved all the shiny gold stars and silver stars that seemed to be everywhere.
But the thing I loved most about Christmas time at school was doing the Nativity Play. I was really into drama so I loved everything about it. I used to get really, really, really excited waiting to see what part I got. I never got the part of Mary, and in a way I didn't mind. It always looked like quite a boring part to play, just sitting there with a doll on your lap. I much preferred being a shepherd with a woolly lamb tucked under my arm, and a tea towel on my head...
...or one of the three wise men with a jewel encrusted crown and a beautiful golden box...
...but the part that did it for me most, and got me so excited I literally thought I might wet myself, was playing Angel Gabriel...
I loved standing in the wings, looking out into the audience to see if my mum had arrived. And the shaky feeling in my body and the way my throat went tight and my tummy clenched up with so much excitement and anxiety. It all felt so dramatic and wonderful. Waiting for my grand entrance when I would swoop on stage in my white cotton sheet and itchy tinsel halo and wings made out of coat hangers was the highlight of it all. Would I forget my lines? Or would I stand there with my arms outstretched and say in a crystal clear voice...
"Hail, Mary, do not be afraid for I am the angel of the Lord. And behold you shall bear the son of God and his name shall be Jesus."
Ahhhhh, the sweet memory of it all still sits in me somewhere like a soft warm glow.
And here's my favourite Christmas Carol to get you in the mood...
Tell me what you love or loved best about school days leading up to Christmas...
Comments:
:) XXXXX