Christmas is more than a holiday in my house; it's a state of mind. If it were up to me, the Christmas season would start in October and last through January. I love everything about it - the decorations, the smells, the traditions, the gaiety and the anticipation.
Consequently, I have (or, more precisely, had) Christmas down to a science. This changes dramatically with two small people in the house.
Step 1: Pick out a tree. Without a doubt, this is the essence of Christmas. Growing up, Peter and I had little 3 foot trees in our bedrooms. I had a full size Christmas tree in my dorm room each year at Yale. Probably a fire hazard but what was a girl to do? In law school, my heart always won out over my sensibilities, leading to several 8 or 9 foot trees that had to be hacked off when it became apparent that they wouldn't actually fit in the living room. Picking out a tree was once a painstaking and tedious process of balancing height against width, testing needle strength, and finally, the all important smell test. As you might imagine, this often involved several trips to several different nurseries. God bless Billy for putting up with me.
This year, with Jack and Will in tow, we picked out a tree in 10 minutes flat. Why you ask? Jack and his friend Charlie commandeered the wagon used by the tree helpers and were careening around the lot. If we had waited any longer, they would have brought down several 10 footers...Step 2: Decorate the house. I have four huge boxes with various snowmen, santas and other Christmas paraphernalia. Each item has its own place. Unfortunately, as soon as I had decked the house, 4 little hands undecked it.
Step 3: Decorate the tree. Over the years, the act of tree trimming had evolved into quite an event. I have been collecting ornaments ever since I was a little girl and had a real Christmas tree in my room. I am up to 7 ginormous boxes of ornaments. Tree trimming night used to be a slightly formal affair beginning at cocktail hour and ending before a late dinner. Sometimes we invited others to join us but most of the time we did it ourselves because I am particular about where my ornaments go on the tree. I play specific Christmas songs (Bing is always a must) because they conjure such specific memories for me. All this makes me sound beyond obsessive compulsive and I totally accept that.
This year, however, the tree trimming took us three nights, with Billy and I finally finishing it ourselves at 10:00 on a Monday. The boys were understandably more interested in taking the ornaments out and playing with them (or, in Will's case, eating them). Between that and the constant snack/train playing breaks, I think the first night we hung fewer than twenty ornaments total. Jack picked out all his favorites and hung them all on one branch. ONE branch. For the next several weeks, I secretly went behind him and tried to redistribute the ornaments properly. Each following morning, Jack would come downstairs and instantly realize that something was amiss and I'd have to put them all back. He finally wore me down and I gave up.
So yes, this year required a little ... tweaking to my preparations. My decorations are all at least 4 feet off the ground and the tree, having been decorated twice, is definitely bottom heavy. But I wouldn't trade it for the world.
'Tis the season!
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