Oh, Christmas Tree

I don't know if it's the recession or perhaps the friendly neighborhood Grinch, but several busy working mothers I've talked to recently have all told me the same thing about their Christmas trees. They're up and the lights are on, or somewhat on in the case of my sad pre-lit tree, but the decorations are missing.

My husband hauled our tree in from the garage Sunday night and found the other tree stashed in the attic. We got them both of the boxes and strung the lights (clear on my tree, colored on his and our son's), but it's now Thursday night and I glance at the tree in the living room. The lights are on. The star rests peacefully at the top, and a black cat snores underneath the tree. But only a handful of decorations have made a home on the tree, thanks to my 7-year-old son.


In past years, I would have freaked out by this point in December if my tree and interior decorations weren't up and just absolutely perfect. I've yelled at my husband in past years for the decorating ordeal taking three nights and lasting well into the first week of December. I've been on the verge of a panic attack before, all for a Christmas tree.

But this year, eh.

And I don't think I'm alone, either.

"Oh, I'm just fluffing," explained one woman for her excuse as to why the tree has sat undecorated for several days. "You know, the branches just need to fall out after they've been a box for a year."

"I got the outside lights and decorations done," another woman said. "But I haven't even started thinking about the tree or the inside. If I don't put all the ornaments on this year, I'm going to put them back up."

Perhaps after all the years that we've all worked ourselves up into a Martha Stewart-like tizzy to make sure that our homes look perfect inside and out, we're settling down and realizing that we don't have to hold ourselves up to an imperfectly perfect standard. In the midst of the recession, many of us are circling the wagons toward our home and family and not caring as much about the outside appearance.

What matters is our happiness, and if that means that the tree isn't decorated just perfectly by December 5th, so what. The decorations will make it to the tree eventually, even if they go on with just days (or hours) to spare until my company arrives. Until then, I'll enjoy the lights and spend time with my husband and son on the nights when John and I aren't working and Jack doesn't have basketball practice or other activities. After all, it's about making memories, not having the Martha Stewart standard of perfection. The Christmas season is about family and celebrating the birth of Christ, not about perfectly decorated trees.