The Christmas Tree Decorating Night

Merry Holidays! From the Tree Decorating Committee.

The children want to create this tradition where we put up the tree right after Thanksgiving, but that's too soon for me! The beauty of Christmas is in the anticipation, the decorating, the baking, the singing, the lights, the cold, the food... all leading up to two events: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Anticipation is exciting only for so long, before it turns a little sour and you just want it over already. I never want to feel that way about Christmas.

It's bad enough that every year the season starts sooner and sooner as people continuously forget about the point of Christmas and go on mad shopping sprees to celebrate the time of giving and sharing - to the sad and eventual demise of Thanksgiving.  Save the Turkey Day! I say.

Soon, Christmas will overtake Halloween, and children will no longer dress up as monsters, Disney princesses, robots and zombies, and will instead all dress up as little cheerful elves, trick or treating for Candy Canes and grumbling at the healthy, yet insulting, bags of Roasted Chestnuts that occasionally get handed out.

That's the case I make when the kids pressure me. "I'm doing it for you, for the sake of your happiness," I tell them. "You know not yet what it is you will lose if you start Christmas in September..."

This weekend was Tree Weekend, though. The kids dragged the non-flammable, won't-burn-the-house-down-if-you-don't-water-it Christmas tree upstairs. I opened the bag of carefully selected Gingerbread Men and Sugar Cookies while Drama Girl put on the lights (I was helping, but she determined my help was unnecessary, and in fact, not helpful, and requested I leave it to her - she's a bit of a Christmas tyrant, that Drama Girl) and then, after the  tree was up and lit, the kids took a hot chocolate and cookie break before tossing every ornament we own on the tree haphazardly, while Drama Girl ran around the tree redecorating it, trying to balance the ornament placement on the tree without letting her brothers' know, because, they placed their ornaments with thought and intent, not haphazardly. I shouldn't have even suggested it was haphazard. It was chaos with thoughtful intent.  Husbear stuck the star on top - it's not a lighted star, we no longer attempt lighted toppers. For some reason, figuring out the configuration of a lighted topper, and getting it to stay lit, not crooked and on the tree, for us, is too challenging.

Then, the children placed the Christmas stockings on their feet and slid around on the hardwood floor laughing hysterically. It's not a problem, every other year, I forget where I placed all the Christmas stockings, so we have to buy new ones. Everyone now owns at least three Christmas stockings. 

Now, now we can spend a good week and a half anticipating Christmas, sliding around in red stockings, fully enjoying the moments, and preserving the wonder and magic of Christmas without getting stressed out about it.

Happy Holidays!