My family has a fake Christmas Tree. I am not a fan. It doesn’t smell good, it is prickly to touch, and each branch has to be fluffed and primped and twisted to make it look like a real tree. And then when it is time to pack it up in January, each branch has to be smoothed down and folded up, and there are like 500 of them. But our fake tree has its pluses too: it cost us barely nothing as we got it at an after Christmas sale 3 years ago, it can be put up whenever we want, it fits into a box that is easy to store, and it doesn’t shed.
Our kids’ pediatrician made us get it because she says it is safer for the little ones, and I appreciate that, but I still miss going out to get our tree.
I remember a season when we went Christmas Tree shopping, and spent hours looking for the perfect tree. The tree we always ended up with was nothing to write home about, but once we adorned it with lights, ornaments, and candy canes, it immediately became a part of our home, a part of our Christmas celebrations. It was perfect because it was the one we chose, even if it was bare on one side and had a family of squirrels living in it.
For now, our fake tree is the perfect tree for our family. Christmas Tree shopping is a tradition I will share with my kids when they are older. But today, I will send my husband the free Christmas ecard “Perfect Tree” as a little reminder of the tradition we used to share. What are your Christmas Tree traditions?