As I flipped the through magazines and scroll through photo after photo on Pinterest I was in awe of the beautiful Christmas trees in homes around the world. They looked simple. So simple that even a child could help decorate. I could do this, and so I set out to put my tree up. Mind you, my husband and oldest 3 boys were away on a hunting trip so it was just me, a 6 year old and a 4 year old. That’s okay, I thought, because this is so simple even a child could do it. Our tree is going to look like one in the pictures and I’m going to be proud to show it off.
We have one of those artificial trees that already has the branches in place. They fold up for easy storage (or so they say-I don’t find it very easy), and when you stand the tree the branches fold out and the tree is in place. Sounds great, right?
I go to the basement, locate the tree and with the help of my 6 year old (he insisted on helping), we drag the tree to the bottom of the steps (he’s quite strong for a 6 year old). I drag the tree by it’s base up the stairs and am out of breath by the time I get to the top. That’s okay though because it’s worth it and I’m going to have a picture perfect tree, just like everyone else’s trees.
I stand the tree up, shape the branches and stand back as I watch my youngest two children happily decorate the tree.
And then I laugh.
My tree is lopsided. The branches on one side hang all the way to the floor and the ones on the other side are too high. (Hard to tell from the photo because we used Christmas lights to hold up some of the branches. Look closely- see it now?) My tree is pathetic. I have no idea when my tree broke, but it did.
It’s then that I realize that it’s not that simple to get a beautiful tree.
Everyone else stands their tree, decorates it with love and they look beautiful.
I drag my tree up the stairs, wrestle with it, fight with it and it still looks like the Ugly Duckling.
And so we will be purchasing a new Christmas tree this year…after Christmas (we have to wait for those sales!)
I want to know what YOUR Christmas tree looks like this year. Leave a comment below.
More to Come on Raising My 5 Sons…
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