My holiday history and the hassle

When I was a little girl I always looked forward to going to my grandparent's house to help decorate the Christmas tree. My grandma was one who decorated every thing in the house. She had holiday dish towels, those little cling things that you put on the refrigerator, oven, and dishwasher, and she even had holiday shower curtains and commode covers in the bathroom. She went all out!

As the years went by, the big Christmas trees got smaller and smaller until one year it was only a fiber optic table top tree. Of course I was disappointed. I remember offering to put the "big" tree up but it just seemed to be too much for them.

So where am I going with this story...........



Lets fast forward a bit to my married life. When we first got married we got real pine Christmas trees. A few years later (we now had two dogs), the real tree seemed to be too much of a hassle (plus pine needles are not good for dog paws), so we bought a huge artificial pre-lit tree at Lowes.

We used this tree for several years. In the coming years I would always be too anxious to put the tree up and would want to do it when I wanted to do it.  I didn't want to have to wait for anyone to help me get it down from the attic and set it up. It became such a hassle.

 SO..... Instead of putting up one large tree, I decided to put up two smaller trees ( in two different rooms of the house of course).  These are easily manageable for me. I store them in the basement and I can put them up and take then down whenever I want. The best part is that they don't take up as much room as the large tree.  I've been using these two trees for several years now and this year I finally wonder if I really need two?

I also have 2 large totes full of Christmas decor I put out every year and 2 Disney Villages. This year, I only put a few snowman item out (because they were my grandmothers).

I am slowly realizing that even though I like Christmas, I don't like to disrupt my home for 30 days.  I've realized that the more I get out to decorate, the more I have to clean up at the end of the season, and who has time for that..lol.   I now understand how my grandparents may have felt about all the decorations over the years or maybe I'm just in a decorating slump!

Oh, and about my grandparents. My grandma passed away a few years ago.  Later that year during the Christmas season I surprised my Pappy and bought him a 6 foot artificial Christmas tree. I called my dad up and we decorated it before my Pap came home ( I don't remember where he was).  I didn't know if he would appreciate the gesture or not, but it turns out it was a big hit.  I notice that the same tree goes up every year and each year it has more and more ornaments on it!

Tell me a Christmas tree ( or decoration) story of your own. -M