Laurel's Quill: December 2013

When Dave and I merged our two families some 29 years ago, we bought a two story home with a pool, and large enough for four kids, two adults, a dog, some hamsters, and a cat. We had the modern day version of the Brady bunch, warts and all. We learned quickly that when you combine two families, there are a lot of steeped traditions that somehow have to be merged...and it can be very painful.

As a married adult, my artsy/creative nature pretty much ruled how my home would be decorated for the holidays. Because we didn't have a lot of money growing up, my grown-up aesthetic morphed into a rather glitzy, Pottery World-ish look and that love of "beautiful!" was reflected in my Christmas Trees every year.

Dave was used to the Christmas Tree traditions that he had established with his family - the kids hanging the ornaments, stringing the popcorn and paper garlands, tinsel...the whole works. So imagine their total horror when I announced the first year that I would decorate the tree. We had just bought a new sofa (remember "dusty rose"?) and so nothing but burgundy, rose and gold would do for the family tree.

"It looks like a Macy's tree, Mom."

"Yes, it does," I said smiling and thinking that they intended it as a compliment of sorts.

But to my chagrin, the kids didn't like the massive 10 foot artificial tree bedecked in ribbons and gold. I had a small fortune invested in it, and I must admit as I look at the old photos, it might have been a little garish. After that first Christmas, we reached a compromise: They would decorate the tree one year and then I would get to do it the next year. The funny thing was that as they got older, their attention span on decorating Christmas trees waned, and I would end up finishing the project anyway.

Over the years since they have all grown up and left home, I guess I'm stuck on "over-the-top" trees. I alternate between my shamefully ridiculous supply of ornaments and decorations, so my tree never looks the same. And even though I try to cull my collection every January, the stack of boxes to go back into the garage never seems to get any smaller. Despite my love of Christmas in general, I will admit that the older I get, the more I dread putting it up. It stays up longer too, because the only thing I hate more than putting up the tree is taking it down.

This year, I went with the forest look, opting for berries, branches, snow and only a few beloved ornaments. I added the music ribbon because it goes with my sheet music wreath...and it just makes my heart sing. It may still be over-the-top, but what can I say? I guess I still love a "Macy's" tree!