We start distributing stuff around the house.
The blue and yellow dishes gets switched for Michael's mom's Waechtersbach Christmas stoneware in the cupboard's in the kitchen. Ornaments hanging in frames replace the blue glass bottles and Pillsbury Dough Boy on the plate rail above the breakfast table.
There are cute dessert plates that are displayed in the hutch in the dining room. And some Christmas tablecloths.
The living room mantel has all manner of holly and bubble lights, with Christmas cards marching across it all in ever-growing numbers as the season wears on.
There are Christmas games and a picture of Michael on Santa's lap.
Upstairs there's more garland hanging off things, wreaths on every door, and Michael's first Christmas stocking, and, well, we usually do Christmas as recommended by the doctor:
Trim up the tree with Christmas stuff
Like bingle balls and Whofoo fluff...
Trim every blessed window
And every blessed door
Hang up whoboohoo bricks
Then run out and get some more!
Dr. Seuss, "How The Grinch Stole Christmas"
But this year we went more Grinch than Who Down in Whoville.
Michael brought it up the subject of decorating for Christmas and voted for not decorating at all.
These were his objections:
-We won't be home much. (True)
-We have some big projects sucking up all of our focus and energy. (True)
-It takes forever to get it all out and put it up around the house. (Oh-so-true)
-It takes forever to take it all down and put it back away. (Ugh. Yes. Also true.)
-We won't even be in town until long after we'd normally put it away. (If our other projects and plans pan out. Fingers crossed.)
All valid points. Still, I countered his idea of not putting out anything at all with the suggestion that we put every single thing in the entire Universe up...just like usual.
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But then I felt bad. I realized this was not a very good plan since I was sick and had no energy for putting any of it up at all. So what I was saying was that I expected Michael to do everything.
We finally worked out that Michael would put up most of the outside lights, but not all that we usually do. Then we got the tree out of the attic together, and we put about half of the normal decorations on the tree.
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And that's it.
It took about 2 hours one day, and an hour and a half the next.
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We've both been really glad we got some things up. It's so cool when you're driving home at night to come around the corner and see the lights on.
And we are both irrationally entertained by sitting around in the living room staring at the tree. (Even though we didn't get out our traditional Magic Tree Viewing Glasses!)
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| This is our house...but not this year. It's pretty much the same this year except there's no garland on the bottom railing..., and it was 65 degrees out today, and we don't have those rose bushes anymore.... But you get the idea. |
One evening as we sat staring at the tree over a scotch/glass of wine I told Michael about the first time my parents told me they weren't going to put up the Christmas tree. They were probably younger then, than I am now, but my first thought was: They've given up. Their lives are over. My second thought: How depressing!!!
Michael told me he remembered a similar year with his mom, where he felt pretty much the same.
So, I think the best reason for putting up at least some decorations is so the kids won't worry about our mental health and happiness.
But I do see my parent's point of view a lot better than I did way back then.
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