Ha! Talking with you tonight reminded me of the few Christmas' since we've had kids when I didn't have it in me to buy a tree. Truly. The first was when we were going to Boston with Finn and an infant Liam and our finances were so tight that it seemed superfluous to spend a dime on a dying tree. So we bought a tinny Target one that was maybe 18 inches high (which is currently at a friend's house because they too are heading to their inlaws this Christmas). It was drab and desperate and melancholy.
The second Christmas with no tree was when I was pregnant with Andrew Kieran, living out in Gloucester, on the shores of the Atlantic. I couldn't drum up the energy to buy and decorate a tree. What a sad sap I was, missing home and because of it having a hard time setting up a home. My roommate and friends from college, Drea & Bryan, remedied that. They took Finn and Liam for a Saturday while we house hunted and when we returned they had bought a small, live tree, and decorated it with homemade ornaments they made with the boys, (which still are on our current tree now--I can't bear to throw them out). They made and decorated Christmas cookies with our boys, and indulged them in some hard core Star Wars watching and stick ball hallway playing in their Brookline apartment. It bought tears to my eyes and cheer to my grinch-filled heart that definitely grew three sizes that day.
Some days, even some years, we need those friends to pick us up, I only wished Drea and Bryan had saved me from the tinny tree year. So go plant that beautiful little evergreen in your yard and decorate it! Plant it far away from your house so it doesn't give too much shade to your sunny home, and close enough to see it from your windows lit! Wish I were there to break ground and throw the first full shovel of dirt away.
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