The Christmas tree compromise

It’s officially that time. The time of year all of the homemade Christmas decorations that the kids have made over the years get brought out of storage. The tree is covered with macaroni and popsicle stick ornaments. There’s still a hint of glue paste and acrylic paints in the air. Now I think that’s great if that’s what you like. The problem is I don’t, and I no longer pretend it is

Now hear me out. I love my children. They are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Will they probably end up in therapy as an adult because of me? More than likely. However I’m going to bet my paycheck it is for something far better than me not hanging their ornaments on the Christmas tree.

So how do we go about compromising? Well it’s actually quite easy. I have a tree, and they have a tree. I decorate mine and they decorate theirs. Mine is upstairs in the living room, and theirs in downstairs in the family room. My tree has white lights with silver and gold ornaments. Their tree has multi color lights with no less than 100 ornaments. My mom used to work at Hallmark part time. I’m convinced it was only to get a discount on ornaments. My tree screams class and relaxation while there’s flashes “eat at Joes”.

The first year I felt a little guilty but not anymore. My kids are pretty cool and they think I’m cool. My parenting style is about trying to keep them fed and alive, while trying like hell to instill some basic humanity skills. At the end of the day, nobody is perfect, and you don’t have to be either.