Home for the Holidays: When is the right time to deck the halls? It's hard to say
Home for the Holidays Series: This year, local reporters and editors are using Thanksgiving week to share our favorite holiday traditions and recipes with you, our readers.
In the seven years since I moved out of my parents' house, the evening of Oct. 31 or the early hours of Nov. 1 saw me, tinsel-striken, decorating any one of the three Christmas trees I've owned in my adult life.
It never seemed too early to deck the halls for me — which is odd, considering I write horror fiction in my free time and lived for Halloween in my teen years.
But there's something about the holidays that brightens an otherwise stressful adult life. At the very least, I can walk into my living room knowing the photos on the wall are covered in wrapping papers and ribbons, like my dad used to do, and the tree is glimmering and — sometimes, if I'm lucky — the snow is falling.
I got my comeuppance this year when I swore off "skipping" Thanksgiving, as so many people have accused me of doing. Try as I might to explain that, in Michigan, Thanksgiving often feels like a winter holiday, that's been a hard sell. This time around, I left out the pumpkins, I watched Hocus Pocus 2, and I told myself this year, for the first time, we're going to observe Christmas when we're meant to.
I think I convinced myself it would be sweeter that way, especially coming from a husband-and-wife duo that can't seem to keep presents from one another for more than four days. There have been mornings, more often than not, when Austin and I look at each other on Christmas and say, "Welp, I'm all tapped out."
But this year is different. Our son is two-and-a-half and finally old enough to understand the concept of presents and special pajamas and cooking holiday treats. It feels like my first "real" Christmas in a very long time. And so, I'm determined not to speed through it.
Two full weeks into November — that's as far as I got. Then the snow started falling. And, for the entire third week of the month, it's expected to continue. Early deadlines mean I'm writing this early, on Nov. 15, and the snow is falling gracefully outside my window, and has been for three days.
How am I supposed to properly enjoy this with no Christmas tree?
For the first time, our tree can't go in the living room. Our toddler is fully mobile and his toys can no longer be contained to a single playroom. That means we've got a gated off living room with puzzles and a play kitchen and a high chair — and it's simply too dangerous to throw ornaments in the mix.
That left the basement for Christmas morning. Our basement is a pretty cheerful place, and it's often where we spend family time. In a way, it's fitting and I can appreciate it. On the other hand, I can't walk into my living room in the morning and get a full glimpse of a beautiful tree. The fake flower arrangement on my dining room table (painstakingly made from Michael's flowers last year) is just about the only reminder of Christmas on the main floor.
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And serves us right for getting the entire tree out last weekend, only to find it was too tall for the basement. We've gone with an abbreviated tree this year, with the top two portions carefully placed in the too-wide base and a hope and a prayer it stays.
But even with the too-short tree and the lack of upstairs decor, I'm enjoying the falling snow and cuddles with my toddler and the picture of Christmas morning, presents unopened beneath the tree, my favorite cookies on the stove (no-bakes) and roasted almonds in the oven. It's our first year to establish family traditions.
I don't think I'll be speeding this time.
— Contact editor Cassandra Lybrink at clybrink@hollandsentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @CassLybrink.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Home for the Holidays: When is the right time to deck the halls? It's hard to say
