Leah and the Jesus set

I've known I was going to buy this Playmobil nativity set since before Leah and Esther were born. My sister Sarah introduced me to it several years ago and I knew that it must be mine someday. So this year, strolling the aisles of Target, I purchased the coveted Playmobil. It sat in my "presents stash" for a couple of months; Friday, after Halloween was well said and done, I noticed the nativity, and got it out. Leah and I spent an hour happily putting the robes and crowns on the wisemen, the regal gear on the camel, and set it up just like it is in the picture. As we were doing this, Leah said the cutest thing I've ever heard: "Mom, this is making me so happy it tickles!" I was tickled with her joy.

We placed the nativity set on the fireplace bench in the Peace Room. I laid down the law: "This toy is very special. It absolutely, positively has to stay here in the Peace Room." She responded, "Okay, mom." (That lasted only a few minutes, since she now somehow weasels taking at least one character with her to bed each night.) Leah was thrilled when Oleanne and Abram came over an hour later. They loved playing Jesus. Leah even figured out how to take the beards off of the wisemen and turned them into "girls." She pulled Mary's braided hair-do off and put it on the wiseman with pink and purple robes. Now she has two girls (Mary is OBVIOUSLY a girl, with or without braid, since she has boobs.) I imagine there was more than one woman there that holy night, so I doubt that Leah's "feminizing" of the story is really off base. The kiddos went out to the trampoline and were playing something totally different; several minutes later, Leah came bursting through the sliding door, not even stopping for a moment when she commanded Arinn, "Shut the door, Arinn." She was gone for a couple of minutes, and when I called to her, "Leah, what are you doing?" she answered, "Just checking on Jesus."