O' Christmas Tree

I love tradition. Ever since I can remember as a child we always put our Christmas tree up during the first week of December usually around the 5th and always, always before my birthday on the 11th. I am a little early this year, but if you read my post from yesterday you will see that I have a million things to do this year so I didn't really think a couple of days early would break the tradition. Anyway - putting up the tree has always been a major affair. As a child, we always got a live tree, so the day would start with us all going with Dad to pick out the tree. We would all gather in the living room as Dad brought the tree in to put it in the stand with Mom all the while telling him how crooked it was. Once he finally got the tree up, the decorating would begin. We would always start with the lights and the garland then proceed to hang up our favorite ornaments one by one while of course listening to Elvis Christmas records on the "stereo". What a wonderful tradition.


I have tried my best to keep that tradition alive. It worked well when the kids were little, they really got into the idea of picking out the tree and hanging their own ornaments and even listening to the music. But as they've grown older, tree prices have increased and there is less time to get everything done, some things have changed. We now have a pre-lit artificial tree and unfortunately sometimes it seems decorating it is just another chore to be done and usually ends up with Ashley finishing up everything. Well this year we tried something different. Deegan came over and helped us decorate the tree. He was so anxious to get the ornaments out and asked about every one as he meticulously placed each one at eye level (the eye level of a 2 year old that is). He had so much fun and so did we. As I look at our tree and see how beautiful it is, I think I've decided to start a new tradition. A tradition that will continue as more grandchildren are born and hopefully be passed on to their children as well.