Finding joy at Christmas
Nisha Daniel
“Yaah….aah….”
Clint looked on in amazement at his two little cousins yelling and chasing each other. Christmas at Grandma’s was a new experience. It was truly a madhouse!
He surveyed the Christmas tree he had decorated. ‘Nice. But how will I protect it from these brats?’ he wondered, just as Vinola came and caught hold of his leg.
“Clint, help me!” she panted as Pinky landed against her, almost pushing Clint over. He maintained his balance and grabbed the tree as it wobbled dangerously.
In a minute, the girls were away, shouting to each other. He shook his head as he checked if the tree was standing steadily.
‘Oh, no,’ he thought as he spied Sushil bouncing a ball in the room. As the ball bounced towards the tree, Clint quickly picked it up before it could do any harm.
“Hey, shall we play ‘Passing the parcel?’” he asked, hoping it would keep the kids away from his carefully decorated tree.
“Boring!” Sushil made a face, bouncing his ball towards the garden. Clint guarded the tree all day. The next morning, he was still worried about the tree and rushed to check it out. Pinky was tapping a golden bell. He was about to go to stop her from knocking it off, when he spotted Grandpa.
Clint watched as Grandpa helped Pinky pull the bell off the tree and shake it, listening to its tinkle in fascination. Grandpa had hung some sweets on the tree. He gave one to Vinola. Sushil was hanging a card which read, “Jesus brings joy and love…”
The words struck Clint and he sighed. After all, Christmas was a season of love and joy. Grandpa seemed to have understood this, while he had been just concerned about keeping his Christmas tree intact! He joined the other kids as they shrieked with laughter at a joke told by Grandpa.
“Tell me also,” Clint begged him, eager to share the joy of Christmas.
Teacher’s Corner
Add a dash of humour to your classroom and you could soon be the most popular teacher in school.
Pick up a book of tricks and teasers. Start every alternate class with one. You don’t need to spend more than five minutes on it, but it will pep up the kids for the rest of the class.
You can retain the attention of distracted students by a light comment (but not one that would hurt or insult).
Be willing to laugh with the class when someone makes a humorous remark.
“Laughter’s the shortest distance between two people.” Victor Borge
