O Christmas Tree

For me and my family, it doesn't feel like Christmas until we get our Christmas Tree up in our living room.  The Christmas tree is one of those Christmas traditions we hold dear to our hearts and have even developed a set of rules for...

This year Thanksgiving fell late into the month of November and rather than my kids asking if we could put up our Christmas Tree, they were getting upset with how early other people were decorating for Christmas.  That was when I realized, without even trying, that my family had a set of rules or traditions when it comes to our Christmas Tree:

The first rule of the Christmas Tree is that it doesn't go up til after Thanksgiving.  This is a non-compromise rule.  And to tell you the truth, we usually don't put up our tree til after Advent has started and sometime not til the first or second weekend in December.  We just got our tree up and decorated yesterday and we'll keep it up through the 12 Days of Christmas.

The second rule of the Christmas Tree is that it must be real.  Lucky for us, we have a couple Christmas Tree Farms in less than 10 miles from our house.  We traditionally get our tree from one and get or even make real wreathes from the other.

Our family picking out our Christmas Tree this year

Now when it comes to picking out your real Christmas Tree there are a couple things you need to make sure the farm you go to supplies or that you get.  First, while it might seem nostalgic, leave the hand saw at home and use a chainsaw to cut your tree.  It makes things so much easier when you have everyone waiting in the cold for it to come down.  Next, grab a tree bag.  Place your tree's trunk through the removal bag and then hide the bag under your tree's skirt.  After Christmas, you just pull the bag up over the tree for easy removal.  Lastly, I recommend getting a tree stand that is metal and can hold at least a gallon of water.  Christmas trees need lots of water, especially after they are first cut.  Make it a habit of checking your tree's water daily.  And if you're wondering, we have become fans of White Pine trees.  They have long, soft needles and tend not to shed too bad.

After you get the tree home it is time to decorate!  There is no real rhyme or reason to our tree and in fact, I leave it all up to the kids to decorate.  If I decorate with the kids I get too frustrated and stressed over how it can take them five times to get an ornament to stay on the tree, or how they cluster 10 ornaments in one spot and then have a hole with none.  So, I let them do it all while listening to them talk and laugh with each other from the kitchen, usually making a pot of soup or a batch of Christmas Cookies.

I have no preference when it comes to Christmas lights but have grown to love the classic white, since we have such a variety of ornaments on our tree.  I have never understood Christmas trees that have a theme or color scheme.  At our house, we have a hodge podge of ornaments collected from vacations, school crafts and gifts.

Our last rule of the Christmas Tree is to enjoy it!  We have a tradition of putting on our new Christmas pajamas the night we put up the tree and listen to Christmas music or watch a Christmas movie under the lights.  Our kids usually request at least one night of sleeping under the Christmas tree too.

Do you have any Christmas Tree rules or traditions?