不過聖誕大餐不是重點，最讓我覺得最有趣的，是Mark的姊姊在說今天他們花了多少精力讓他們三歲大的兒子開始對聖誕節有概念或開始感到興奮：感恩節過後他們開始了Elf on the shelf（架上的小精靈？總之我沒有查到對應的中文翻譯。他是聖誕老公公的小幫手，每天觀察小朋友的一言一行，然後晚上大家睡覺時回去向聖誕老公公報告。大人們的工作就是每天變換小精靈不同的擺設姿勢）；以及跟他說聖誕老公公的故事等等。
"小朋友也需要經過學習階段才能理解聖誕節與聖誕老公公"這件事，從來沒出現在我腦海裡，對於他們花了這麼多氣力讓小朋友對聖誕節期待與興奮，當下第一反應是感到不可思議。一直以為小朋友自然而然就是喜歡聖誕節與聖誕老公公，但仔細想想，成長過程中小朋友對於各種事情的反應與處理，都是學習來的，所以學著去理解什麼是聖誕老公公，也只不過是這樣的過程之一。想了想我們的新年與紅包，這學習過程對於大人與小孩，似乎都簡單多了。
不過在三歲時被迫認識聖誕老公公，到了八歲這樣的美夢就要被打碎，呃，我只能說，還真是有趣的過程啊。
最後附上一張Mark覺得長得有點令人毛骨悚然的小精靈照片。網路上搜尋，可以看到許多關於小精靈姿勢的點子，和兒童不宜的版本，各位看倌若有興趣就自個兒去找吧。
聖誕快樂！
This year was my first time celebrating Christmas with Mark's family. In fact, we didn't celebrate on the Christmas day, but on the Saturday before Christmas. We went to Cheesecake Factory for lunch and then went to Mark's sister's place for gift exchange. So if you ask me about the traditional American Christmas dinner, I really don't have a clue.
But the dinner is not the point. What makes me feel interesting, is Mark's sister talking about how much effort they spent to get their three-year-old son excited about Christmas and Santa Claus. They started Elf on the Shelf after thanksgiving, and also told stories about Santa Claus.
I never realized that you need to do so much to get a small kid learning what Santa and Christmas is, and to get them excited about this. I always thought that kids just naturally love Christmas. But as I think more, it is really true that we learn how to react/respond to and deal with things in our life. So Santa and Christmas are just one of these learning processes. Comparing with these, however, the learning process of Chinese New Year and the precious red envelops seems to be a lot easier.
And my learning here, is that kids were taught to be excited about Santa at the age of three, and then they will learn the nonexistence of Santa at the age of eight. Hmmmm, what a wonderful 5 years.
Anyway, Mark always thinks that Elf on the shelf is creepy, but we both enjoy the funny picture attached below. Hope you enjoy it too!
Merry Christmas!
照片來源：Pockets of Pennies。
From Pockets of Pennies.
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