As a child, my all time favorite Christmas tradition was decorating our Christmas tree. With 3 sisters and both parents, it was usually mass chaos. While 2 of us would help Dad with the colored lights and garland, the other 2 and Mom would get the ornaments ready.
And, let me tell you- there were lots of ornaments. Of every type. There were the hand-made, really ugly ones that we insisted on being on the tree. There were the fancy figurines, the silly ones, the ones that were put out of reach of whatever animal we had at the moment. And we can't forget the brass ornaments that we each got every year, with our name engraved on it. And Mom let us put them all on, without much of a fight. And every year, we deemed it the prettiest one we had ever decorated.
When Justin and I got married, I decided I wanted a "real" tree. No, not a live one, but one that was decorated by adults, with clear lights and a theme. I bought only red, green and gold ornaments. I did buy some whimsical ornaments that matched my colors, just so it wouldn't be too boring. And it was pretty. Finally, I'm an adult. With an adult tree.
Enter Maddie.
I took her to Target last week to buy some more decorations. When we walked through the Christmas section, she couldn't contain her excitement. If it had colors, she loved it. If it was tacky and gaudy, she loved it. And she wanted them all, including the gasp colored lights. Have you ever tried to explain a tree color scheme to a 3 year old, when Target has every imaginable, fun ornament on their shelves? Just don't.
And then I started thinking. This could easily turn into a power struggle. And since it's Christmas and all, I let her win. I let her get the colored lights. She picked out several really bright, not red or green, ornaments. And our collection began.
Tonight, before bed, we turned off all the lights in the apartment. Then we laid down under the tree, with the lights on. She turned to me and smiled, with pure joy.
"Mommy, I think this is the prettiest tree I've ever seen."
I think she may be right.
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4 comments:
So sweet! My daughter has had a hand in decorating our tree this year, too (she'll be 3 on Friday). As a result, almost all the ornaments are at the bottom of the tree. My husband said, "We'll have to fix that later." And at first I agreed, but I haven't moved them. It's more special this way. After all, Christmas isn't about the look, it's about the feeling.
What a sweet story! Amazing, isn't it, how much more wonderful Christmas is when you've got kids?
Awwww... absolutely.
We were teenagers before mom got her 'grown up' tree. Now we have our 'kids' tree full of hand me down ornaments that are a walk down memory lane every year, and I can wait 15 years or so before I have an adult tree.
What a precious story!
Awww, that brought a tear to my eye. How sweet.
Bless your heart for letting her "decorate" the tree.
BTW - since your theme is shot...Disney store has some adorable ornaments of each princesses. Their dresses are made of ribbon. Really pretty and fun.
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