We haven’t done a whole lot as far as decorating for Christmas, but we did let our boys (ages 2 and 4) decorate our tree (while wearing Santa hats, of course). One of my favorite traditions as a kid was decorating our Christmas tree as a family. We stopped doing it as I got older, but it’s something that I always want my boys to feel like they are a part of. They were so excited about it. Someday (probably this year during post-holiday sales) I’d love to get a “grown-up” tree to decorate too, but for now we have a very small-but-cute tree that we’ve had since we got married. It was the perfect size for our tiny townhome, but I feel like we have outgrown it. The boys love it though, and that’s what matters most, so we are enjoying it. I’m thinking next year we will have a kid tree and a grown-up tree.
Most of the ornaments were my husband’s when he was a child, and my boys each get to pick out a new ornament every year too. This year, they both chose Batman.
It’s funny, when we were decorating the tree it was a little bit of a disaster. The top strands of lights on our pre-lit tree decided to stop working, and the boys had hung almost every single ornament at the very bottom of the tree. It looked so funny. I kept complaining mentioning how I’d love a grown-up tree for another room of the house, and my husband basically said that this one is fine (meaning I need to just suck it up and get over it) because “Southern Living is not going to come photograph our tree.” Screeeeech……goes the record player. Say what now? Well, I never! The nerve! Um, you do not say that to a blogger. Oh no. The fact is, we have made it our job to pretend that Southern Living is coming to photograph every little teensy project that we do, room that we decorate, dresser that we paint, Christmas tree that we adorn, and so on. Humor us. In our minds, it’s happening. Ok, so we know it’s probably not really happening (except for a select few), but it’s still fun to pretend.
But then I stopped pouting and I saw the joy on my little boys’ faces when they stepped back to admire the tree they had just decorated. In that moment, our little half-lit, bottom-heavy tree was more beautiful to me than anything I’ll ever see on the pages of Southern Living.
So eat your heart out, Southern Living Magazine. Our tree has Batman and Spiderman, and a basketball-playing Santa Claus from 1994. And, for the record, we did get a new strand of lights for the top and I moved some of the breakable ornaments up higher so it’s a little more balanced now.
Most importantly, my boys love it and their little faces light up every morning when they come downstairs and see it. Maybe next year I’ll have my grown-up tree, but for now this one suits us just fine.
By the way, stay tuned for an easy Christmas craft coming soon!
Do you decorate your tree as a family, or do you prefer to take charge of it yourself? Do you pretend Southern Living is coming to photograph your tree? Is Southern Living coming to photograph your tree?? If so, I wanna hear all about it!
