was she round or were they gathered a-round?

I'm planning to take the children Christmas caroling this week. We're baking up several batches of cookies and will bring them to a few of our senior friends in the neighborhood.

Everyone will be dressed up in their most festive Christmas attire and I'll stick a Santa hat on their heads and hope that whomever we serenade will be so distracted by the adorable factor (and cookies), they won't pay much attention to the lyrics that we are attempting to sing.

Last night during dinner, I was practicing for our neighborhood debut. They've got "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" down pat. As well as "Away In A Manger." But when we were working on "Silent Night" I was bombarded with questions. This is how our rehearsal went...

"Silent Night, Holy Night..."

"Mom? MOM? What is 'HOLY'?"

"Well, Holy means that ... uh ... God is really really present and it is very special because God is there and people could feel God's presence. Let's start from the top? Silent Night, Holy Night ... All is calm..."

"Mom? MOM? What is 'CALM'?"

"Calm means quiet. Like when I tell you to CALM down? That means I want you to relax and be quiet. So this song is about a quiet, peaceful night where God is really present. Let's try it again? Silent Night, Holy Night ... All is calm all is bright..."

"Mom? MOM? What is 'BRIGHT'?"

"Bright means that something is shiny and light. Like when you look at the flame on a candle, it is bright. The stars in the dark sky are bright. That's what we are singing about. On the night of baby Jesus' birth, everything was quiet and peaceful, God was present and the stars were brightly shining. Doesn't that sound beautiful?"

The children all nod yes so I start singing from the beginning. "Silent Night, Holy Night. All is calm, all is bright. Round yon ..."

"Mom? MOM? What is 'ROUND YON'?"

I had to hesitate here for a moment because I wasn't really sure. So drawing upon what I thought was the correct answer I said, "Round means Mary was round because she was expecting a baby and yon means she was young."

Charlie, the great linguist that he his scoffed and said, "That's not what it means! It means that everyone was gathering 'round the young woman who was carrying the infant Christ!"

"ALRIGHT. What. Ever. Can I finish my song. PLEASE?"

This time I tried to speed up the tempo to hopefully deter any more interruptions. "SilentNightHolyNightalliscalmallisbright. Roundyonvirginmotherandchild..."

My little audience was paying close attention.

"Mom? MOM? What's a 'BIRGIN'?"

I shot my husband a look before answering, "Alright kids, we're going to save this song until you grow a little older. Now everyone sing with me...

... We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!"