Real or Fake?
I grew up having a real Christmas tree. I loved to go to the tree lots and spend almost an hour trying to pick out the perfect tree. Yet, I hated setting it up. Since I grew up without a father in the home and I was the oldest, many of the “manly” chores fell on me. So I hated helping my mom set up the tree making sure it was standing straight in the tree stand.
Yet, after it was decorated with lots and lots of tinsel our tree was magnificent, even though most often it resembled Charlie Brown’s tree. My favorite part was turning out all the lights and watching the colors from the tree lights flicker on the ceiling.
For the first 12 years of our marriage we had a real tree. And every year we put it up I tended to get stressed out. Just the thought of lugging the real tree through the door and helping my husband to set it up put me in a bad mood. And then there was the fact that we could never agree on a tree. He usually ended up getting a big, full tree when I longed for those Charlie Brown trees with lots of tinsel. And the trees he chose always scratched me and hurt when I tried to set it up and hang the ornaments. Many years I had sent him out to get the tree by himself and there was no longer any thrill in decorating it. That is until we switched to fake trees.
Even before we got our first fake tree Joey was excited. I had gotten the ornaments down from the attic right after Thanksgiving because he kept bugging me about trimming the tree. The only problem was there wasn’t a tree yet and the thought of another real tree with all the hassles stressed me out. But the thought of a fake tree also bummed me out. How could we celebrate Christmas without a REAL tree? I had told myself over the years that fake trees were less Christmasy. Yet here I was faced with a dilemma. Do I get a real tree and stress out or get the fake one (which I found at Home Depot for only $40 and it looked pretty good to me at 7 ft. tall.)
Ultimately fake won out. I figured what good is a real tree if I’m all stressed out and yelling at my family when I should be enjoying the moment?
Setting up the fake tree wasn’t as quick as I had expected, but it was easy. I could do it myself and the branches didn’t’ scratch me. Joey was ecstatic and couldn’t wait for the daddy to get home so he could trim the tree so I let him put on a few ornaments. Then that evening the boys had a great time decorating it. I had a pretty good time too, (except for a couple of times when I got upset over the boys clumping some of the ornaments together and putting my favorite ones on the back… Yeah, yeah, I know I need to lighten up… I’m learning.)
I guess what I’m trying to say is Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy, not stress. I know what triggers my stress, like the thought of setting up a real tree. So instead of going with my childhood tradition, I decided to give it up in hopes of enjoying the process this year. And over all I did. We’ve even started some new traditions.
I still haven’t given up the idea of a real tree. In fact in the past I have envisioned my family going out to the tree farm and cutting down our own tree. (I know it would make a great album page.) But I’ve put off that dream at least for a few years until the kids are older. I know I can live with a fake tree especially if it means I’ll get to enjoy trimming the tree with my family.After the kids set up that first tree, I caught Joey and Timmy just starring at the tree, admiring their handy work. They were so proud of their fake tree.
“You guys did such a good job,” I said.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” And I meant it. Even if the Snowman ornament is too close to Rudolph!!
Post from the Past… 2003
