Mariah, Charlotte and Emil were sitting on the daybed, watching the recording of the Thanksgiving Day parade, which they had missed on Thanksgiving morning, a few days ago. They enjoyed seeing all the floats, balloons and marching bands playing Christmas music.
The girls missed watching it live, because they had been out playing when it was on. It was supposed to snow later that day, and they had wanted to spend some time outside before the storm arrived. When it started to snow and they came home, the parade was over.
Emil had been reading his book when the parade started. He had reached a very exciting part and didn't want the distraction of the TV until he finished the chapter, so he told Billy to go ahead without him. He had to see what happened in his book!
The parade was nice recorded. It was just finishing when Charlotte had an idea and said so. "Let's do something special for the others," she suggested, "now that it's Christmas season!"
"What did you have in mind?" Mariah asked. Emil wanted to know, too.
"I've been thinking," Charlotte replied. "Santa belongs to all of us, regardless of what we believe or where we go to worship."
Mariah knew this. She and Billy had visited Santa. They had pretended they couldn't talk or move, but Santa knew. He could hear them talking to each other in their heads. They had their photo taken with Santa. He listened to what they wanted for Christmas.
"For us, Christmas is about giving and getting presents," Mariah said. "For the others, though," she continued, "Christmas is also about the birth of the baby Jesus." Charlotte and Emil agreed.
"Charlotte and I recognize Jesus as a historical figure," Emil said, "a great teacher, and we all try to live by what he taught people."
"Yes," Mariah agreed. "We do, too. In fact," she added, "in our holy book, the Qur'an (kur-AHN), Mary, the mother of Jesus, is actually talked about more even than in the Bible."
"Yes," Charlotte said, "but for us, Christmas isn't so much about his birth. I think it would be nice if we did something to show the others that we appreciate their celebrations and their beliefs, even though they are different from ours in some ways."
"The same way my beliefs are different from yours and Emil's," Mariah agreed.
"Everyone helps me celebrate Ramadan," she pointed out. "Everyone understands why I don't pretend to eat or drink during the daytime during our month of fasting. I would like to help them celebrate Christmas their way."
Emil picked up on what Mariah was saying. "Everyone in the family gathers around when we light the menorah," he agreed. "I think that's nice. It would be nice to show how much we appreciate their traditions, too."
All three dolls thought about that.
"I wonder what we could do," Mariah mused, thinking. All three dolls thought about that.
"I have an idea!" Charlotte said suddenly. "Let's learn one of their Christmas carols! I can play it on the violin."
"I can sing it," Mariah agreed.
"I can hum along," Emil said, because his mouth is always closed, so all he can do is hum. "Thanks to my special glasses," he added, "I can hear the music; I can hear what I'm humming. I can hear the violin. I really enjoy making music."
The Writer sings in the choir at church, so she has a hymnal (HIM-nul) at home. That's a book full of songs they sing at church. The dolls got the hymnal down from the bookcase. It's a heavy book, so Mariah and Emil worked together to get it out.
The three dolls sat on the floor and looked for a Christmas hymn that was about the birth of the baby Jesus. All the Christmas hymns were together in the same place in the book. The dolls found that section and looked at the hymns.
Charlotte reads music very well now, so she hummed the tune of each one, and all three dolls could read the words. Some of the Christmas hymns were familiar. Finally they decided on the one they wanted.
They got the hymnal up onto the work table. They practiced the song it until they could sing it (or hum it) and Charlotte could play it on the violin. They kept practicing it until they knew it by heart. That meant they didn't have to carry the heavy hymnal with them. They had it memorized. They all knew the tune, and Charlotte and Mariah knew the words. (Actually, Emil knew the words by then, and sang them in his head as he hummed.)
Then that night, they quietly put on their warm coats.
They snuck out through the dog door, helping Charlotte with the door, so she could get her violin through.
They climbed up onto the front porch of the house they all lived in.
Emil climbed up onto the porch furniture and rang the doorbell.
Someone (Mandy, actually) opened the door. She seemed surprised to see dolls from her family on the porch. They never rang the doorbell. They knew they could just come in.
As soon as the door opened, the three musicians started to sing or hum and Charlotte started playing her violin, "Away in a manger...."
All the other dolls came from wherever they were in the house and crowded around the front door. They all started humming along (because Mariah and Charlotte are the only ones who can open their mouths). They invited the carolers into the house, just the way real people sometimes do with real carolers.
Once inside, the musicians began to sing or hum "Jingle Bells," while Emil used sign language for the words, because he knows the signs for all the words in that song.
In a couple of weeks it will be Hanukkah, and all the dolls will celebrate that together, too!
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia
"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.
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Copyright © 2022 by Peggy Stuart
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