During said Christmas Makeover 2013, the Christmas books came out. I love my mother's Christmas book collection. There are some real gems in there (need a suggestion? My favorite Christmas book for teens/adults is Little Red Buckets, for teens and older kids, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, for adults, The Christmas Box trilogy, and for small children my favorite is a book my mom has that is now falling apart called The Smallest Elf).
Kevin made herself at home with the books and soon pulled out a Little Golden Book (you know, the ones with the gold foil on the spine) entitled The Nutcracker. When I noticed that it was my name in the front cover, I claimed it to bring home with us and although my mother resisted at first, I did find it in our "Box of Stuff Rinda Left Here Last Time" when we got home.
Yesterday, Kevin and I settled in our living room to read some Christmas stories by the light of the afternoon sun floating in through our front window and the lights on the Christmas tree, which must always be on while Kevin is awake.
And though she listened only to the first two pages, I finished the book (took two or three sittings--yes, this is a children's book, but I am also a toddler's mother). It brought back memories of attending the ballet with my mother and my friend Jennifer and her mother (and occasionally our little sisters when they could stomach it) throughout the years. The productions we saw varied from the smallest local dance company to a full-blown, professional version done by Ballet West. I love the story. I love the music. I love the ballet. I love the name Clara. I love the pesky little brother who "is ruining everything!" I love all the different characters and cultures that dance before Clara and her prince, and I especially love the very beginning of the ballet where the families dance together, in and around each other.
And as I was reading the story version to my daughter, I realized that the Nutcracker is not just a beautiful Christmas fantasy put to music by Tchaikovsky.
This is a story about growing up.
At the beginning of the party, Clara is still a little girl in a party dress. By the end of the story, she is treated as a queen.
What makes the difference?
Perhaps the fact that her toy nutcracker becomes a living prince. Love can change girls into women.
Perhaps it was caring for her fallen soldier, a toy though he may be. Caretaking can change girls into women.
Perhaps it was having to forgive her little brother for breaking her most prized possession. Forgiving can change girls into women.
Perhaps it was the part where she had to be courageous and fight a hard battle. Being brave can change girls into women.
Perhaps it was the journey she took to a faraway land and the people she met there. Time away from home can change girls into women too.
In the story, Clara doesn't age more than a few hours, but when the story ends, she is much older than she was before. The Nutcracker is her ticket into becoming a woman.
Perhaps Herr Drosellmyer knew that, like Wendy Darling in Peter Pan, Clara is on the verge of no longer being a little girl. Instead of a doll, as all the other little girls get for Christmas, he gives her a soldier. Instead of making the nutcracker instantly better, he gives Clara a charge to watch over him carefully as he mends. Instead of setting things to right with the chime of the clock at midnight, he sends his goddaughter on an adventure, even if it was only in her dreams.
What happens to Clara when she wakes up in the morning? Is she more kind, more noble, more regal? Does she begin to act like the princess-the queen--that the citizens of the Land of Sweets see her as? Is she a little quicker to forgive when she is wronged? Does she realize that she can fight hard battles, overcome evil, and yet show mercy? Does she have a better understanding of her divine nature? Did she grow up, have a family, and tell the story to her daughter by the light of the Christmas tree in the middle of the afternoon?
I hope so. Oh, I hope so.
Oh how I LOVE you!!
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