'Tis the Season

The tree is up, the snow is here, and the thermometer is struggling to get above freezing which all means it’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Actually every year I struggle during the Christmas season and feel bit like Charlie Brown. This holiday season has gone way too commercial. It is so hard to keep the true meaning of the season in perspective. There is the side of me that wants to have the perfectly coordinated tree and home decorations, fabulous holiday parties, and perfectly picked out and wrapped presents because that is what is advertised everywhere as Christmas. Then there is the side that actually lives my life and realizes that perfection is never going to be possible with my three little ones.

Decorating the tree is a perfect example of expectations falling flat in the face of reality. I have the vision of a perfect family outing where we all select the perfect tree in the middle of a snow filled tree farm. Then, we bring the tree home and have hot chocolate while stringing lights and singing carols. Isn’t this in some Hallmark Christmas special, because where else would an idea like this come from? In reality this year, we picked out our tree from the Boy Scout lot between Panera and Caribou Coffee in the five minutes we had before a breakfast with family. In all fairness, there was some snow on the ground and the tree are real, but most of the snow had been shoveled off the concrete patio to make room for the trees. After breakfast, we hurried home to put the tree in water before we had to head to another activity. Later in the afternoon, the lights and a few ornaments went on the tree between sessions sledding with friends and laundry. The remaining ornaments were placed on the tree over the next 24 hours whenever anyone had a free moment or two. I am pretty sure Norman Rockwell would never have captured our family in his idyllic drawings for the Saturday Evening Post.

But the thing of it is, even though the moment (or several moments as it turned out) wasn’t perfect for Hallmark or Norman, it was still ours. We all still reminisced about where the ornaments came from and who had given them, even if all five of us weren’t around the tree at the same time. We remembered Christmas long ago (at least three years ago or more for the kids) and the Christmas we just celebrated last year. The kids laugh with each other as they take some ornaments out of the box because of the memories those ornaments bring back. And, I know our tree would never be featured in Better Homes and Gardens but it is still so very much ours. Every time I look at the tree I smile because of the memories and because most of the ornaments are placed on the lower half of the tree right in front!

Happy Holidays Everyone! I hope you have a very imperfect but unique to you Christmas season this year.