A bat in the manger

On Christmas Eve, Juniper had her first public performance as one of the friendly beasts in the UUCA Christmas pageant. Was she a donkey, a sheep, an ox? No, of course not.




That's right. It's the traditional Christmas bat.



She first said that she wanted to be Batman in the pageant, but quickly agreed to be a bat instead.



During the rehearsal, she was upset when another kid told her that she couldn't be a bat, because bats aren't friendly. I comforted her by pointing out that bats eat mosquitoes, which is a very friendly thing to do. When the music director called for all the friendly beasts to come down, Juniper loudly proclaimed, "I'm friendly! I'm friendly! I'm friendly!"



We are pleased to report that the pageant was a success. Juniper stayed with the other friendly beasts and moved in and out of the "stables" when she was supposed to. Baby Jesus was not bitten by any mosquitoes. And there were no proclamations of friendliness during the actual performance. She had a great time, and her parents were probably more touched and proud than is justified by such a simple performance.