Mouth of babes: Norfolk preschool puts on Nativity

NORFOLK

For 15 years, Betty Casey has led the children of Ghent United Methodist Preschool in telling the Christmas story.

And it came to pass that on Wednesday, it was time again for 70 children ages 1 through 4 to dress up as animals, shepherds and angels and perform for their families.

The cow slipped on a black-and-white spotted hoodie and matching pants with a perky tail sticking out the back. The sheep – with boots still on, no less – climbed into a one-piece fleece and then had to take it off again because the zipper needed to be in front. The donkey had Joseph’s staff and then the teacher had it.

“Are you all ready?” Casey asked, and the children answered, “Yea, verily,” or words to that effect.

“This is my absolute favorite day of the whole year,” Casey told the crowd of camera-laden parents and grandparents. “Today you will see God’s grace, because if this happens, it’s only by God’s grace.”

And so it was that the 3-year-olds put on their animal hats, which were white painter’s caps with cotton-ball wool and felt horns, and made the “stable” ready for the coming of Mary and Joseph. The rams pretended to scrub with sponges and the sheep swept with little brooms and the goats had feather dusters.

“Good job, goats,” Casey said, when it was time for them to sit down. But one goat kept dusting and dusting, and Casey finally said, “You’re really doing a good job,” and the animals were gently rounded up.

A toddler, either sore afraid or wanting its mommy, started to cry. A teacher bounced the little girl on her lap.

Who could be coming? Casey asked, continuing the narration.

“I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you! It’s Mary and Joseph!” a goat shouted, to great applause.

The 4-year-olds vanished into an adjacent room so they could make a grand entrance through a back door and up the center aisle.

Seconds later, one of their teachers reappeared, with the dove trotting behind her, trailing feather boas. They vanished into the restroom.

Mary walked down the aisle and climbed onto the stage, accompanied by angels. And an angel said – shouted, actually – unto her, “Mary! I come to you from God!”

Casey continued the narration: “Mary ran and told Joseph the news and they were both just so excited,” and they weren’t the only ones.

Mary briefly forgot a syllable: “But I cannot walk all the way to Bethle–” and she paused for a long few seconds “–hem!” she shouted triumphantly, and the crowd applauded again.

Joseph and the donkey (letter perfect with the line “I am a donkey, all shaggy and brown”) had a little side conversation, while Casey explained the problem with overcrowding at the inn. The cow waved to its parents. The dove, refreshed, flew in. The donkey took off his ears.

And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them and she was wearing bright red patent leather shoes.

“Whose turn is it?” a shepherd asked.

At the conclusion of the Nativity scene, the cast lined up to sing “Silent Night,” and one child got on hands and knees to scavenge white dove feathers from the floor. “Jingle Bells” was next, accompanied by someone small sobbing down front with a sound like a little damp train going through the mountains.

“All right, everybody take a – what?” Casey said to the children. “A bow.”

She turned to the audience again and said, “And this is our Christmas gift to you.”

A shepherd high-fived a teacher on his way out.

Diane Tennant, (757) 446-2478, diane.tennant@pilotonline.com