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New House, New Tree, New Traditions - Patricia

When we moved into our new house and offered to host Christmas (well, with all the different beliefs in our family, we call it Christmakkahwali) I envisioned a family trip to a tree farm where we'd drink cider and sit on bales of hay as we toured the farm to pick out our perfect tree. After the drive home, I imagined playing holiday music and the four of us wearing awful Christmas sweaters, while baking cookies and decorating the tree. In reality, it turns out that most tree farms are 45 minutes away and since we are short on time on weekends, I took the kids to a local farmer's market on Wednesday, dished out some serious cash for a pine needle-dropping tree and had to wait until after the kids were asleep to get it off the van roof with my husband. Thursday, with nary a CD player* working in the house, I had to look up holiday mixes on youtube and keep reminding Munchkin to turn away from the screen so we could decorate. 


Let me tell you, there is a big difference between having a 36-inch tree in an apartment and an eight foot tree in a house. Despite my Target run a month ago, we did not have enough ornaments or  tinsel to properly decorate a tree. As of now, most of the ornaments (currently generic colored balls) are at Munchkin- and Monkey-height and mostly on one side. Nonetheless, the kids' excitement was palpable as they first saw the tree once it "escaped" from it's netting and they were in awe when they saw it lit up for the first time. 

I, however, sighed internally when I saw the (un)finished tree and the way it did not line up with the image in my head. I feel as if I didn't quite get it right, especially since last year's homemade ornaments are still lacking strings to hang them with. However, home ownership and hosting Christmas is new to us and the truth is that we're starting new traditions that will evolve as the children age and as my husband and I get a handle or where and when to purchase holiday decor. Maybe we'll always run to the farmer's market because they have the best trees. Maybe playing youtube mixes will be what we do on the days we decorate. Surely, as the kids grow, they will bring home enough ornaments that we'll run out of space on the tree to hang them. There will be multiple popcorn-stringing and construction paper-chain-linking parties in our future too. 

Even though I'm planning a weekend shopping trip for more decor, the true lesson in this is that the holidays are a fun and messy endeavor. There is no such thing as perfect trees or perfect holiday gatherings. There will always be a missing ornament or a lopsided tree; colored lights with unlit bulbs and pine needles on the floor. The important thing is that my large, loud and loving family will gather around out and, after they not-so-delicately point out the tree's flaws, they will all proclaim what fun we had and that we should do it again next year. 

*Yes I am too lame to have loaded holiday music on iTunes, but that's another story. 
What new traditions are you starting this year? What do you wish you had done, but haven't?
To read more of Patricia's writing, check out GoodMomvsBadMom.com or follow her on Twitter and Facebook at GoodMomvsBadMom

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