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Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Diversifying the Décor

Last year I really wanted to buy a nativity scene after Christmas. I didn’t get myself into the stores in time and so I never found what I wanted. And I am sort of glad it happened that way. After Christmas last year, we didn’t have Holden and now I am more aware of the white world we live in. So recently I have had my eyes peeled for a darker-skinned nativity scene. One that would be more accurate to how I imagine them. I mean, I think that we can safely assume that Jesus and that bunch were not light skinned. I assume that Jesus looked more like Holden than Jeremy. And obviously this is more important to me now, because of Holden and our future children. For some reason, I just want my house to reflect the same diversity that my family is reflecting.
But this weekend I wandered over to Cracker Barrel because I always find cute Christmas things there. And so I have to show you may latest purchase for our tree.
Isn't he cute? And I have to mention the ornament was only $1.50. So if your family looks like mine, go get you one, or two or three. They had a little girl caroler too!
And I still haven’t found the darker-skinned nativity scene. So if you have any ideas for me, please do comment!

9 comments:

The Swifts said...

You're such a good mama! I have the Willow Tree nativity and it's a good mix of colors. None are as pastey as, say matt, but more of my coloring. The wisemen are darker, so it really is full of all shades! Hope you find one.

Molly said...

I was going to suggest Willow tree two. They have black angels that my mom searched high and low for.

Also little people has lots of different races of people and I think they make a nativity that would be great for our kids to play with. I have to check it out and see if I can locate one!

Not that Santa is someone you want to spend lots of money on, but I have seen a few black Santa's out there! It's funny how once you have brown/black babies are you are black you realize that things are better than they used to be, but still a lot of stuff out there is white! Even my family has become aware of it!

My mother-in-law found a website where you can get dolls and all kinds of things that resemble your children... www.dollslikeme.com

Hope this helps and thanks for the great idea about the ornament. We are the same way about books!

Melodie said...

thanks for the ideas ladies. i will have to check out the willow tree. and i already checked out dollslikeme.com and i love it! what a great thing!

Life In Mazes said...

Love the ornament! What a perfect find! The other day, I went back and read some of your past blogs and read the story of how God brought Holden to your family. It brought me to tears with thankfulness for your family :) I am always very aware now about the art, especially religious items, and how they portray my true intentions. I hope you can find the perfect nativity to build up the faith of your beautiful Holden. Enjoy this beautiful Christmas with him!

everyday graces said...

I was going to recommend you check out Willow Tree but looks like someone already did :-)

everyday graces said...

oh and I found this site about books in my google search

http://www.antiracistparent.com/2007/12/24/nativity-stories-without-blonde-hair-and-blue-eyes/

hope that helps

Rebekah said...

I'm completely with you on this one! (In fact, you will often hear me exclaim to Steven in the store "Why are ALL the baby dolls/angels/etc. white??")

My parents saw the ultimate example of cluelessness at the store the other day--blue eyed black baby dolls. All they did was change the skin tone and hair color! How frustrating!

We bought the Little People nativity and love it. Many of the LP products are quite diverse, so we've been buying more of them (mostly second hand, though).

Rebekah said...

Everyday Graces--Thanks for the link! We'll definitely be getting some of those books next year!

Jamila said...

We are a black family, and I bought a pewter/silver natvity @ Dillard's. It looks really nice with our silver ornaments.