Christmas Teamwork

When it comes to my home, things don't really "bother" me. It doesn't bother me that I've been using the same towels and sheets for 14 years. (I get very overwhelmed by having too much stuff. If I had a bunch of sheets and towels, it would drive me crazy if they didn't all get the same amount of usage time. But that's for another post entitled "I am bothered by weird things.") It doesn't bother me that the kids' rooms aren't perfectly clean and organized. It doesn't bother me to leave dirty dishes in the sink overnight (although my husband would never allow that to happen.) Hand-me-down furniture doesn't bother me (well, I am getting a little annoyed with that.) I don't care if my carpets aren't perfectly white. (So sad that they're white at all.)

The same is true for me when it comes to the holidays. I don't need special fingertip towels for every holiday. I love having my kids' homemade ornaments on my tree. My tree is not color coordinated. I don't have to have certain dishes at the meal or else it's "just not Christmas". (Two years ago I had surgery and our Christmas dinner was a Mexican lasagna that some sweet person from church had brought to us a few days before. It was wonderful.)I don't care if guests bring food or help wash the dishes. Sometimes I feel embarrassed about this stuff. I feel like maybe I should pretend to care. Like I'm somehow less of a mom or wife if I don't set a fancy table and spend a week cooking Christmas dinner. The way I figure, the holidays are about food, friends, and family. Maybe I'm just lazy and apathetic. But then I think to myself, "No, there are lots of things that you care about and that bother you, they just don't happen to involve decorating, cooking, or folding fitted sheets correctly."

*sigh*

But seriously, even I'm bothered by our Christmas tree this year. It's driving me CRAZY! You see, my wonderful husband had a great idea, which he shared with the children when I wasn't around. When we were getting ready to put up our Christmas decorations last weekend, he told the kids that he thought that this year, they should work together as a team to decorate the Christmas tree. Alone. By themselves, without any input from their parents.

They were so excited. They worked so hard for so long. They worked together without fighting, even once. Their idea? To put make the tree a "Tree of Families". See families below:


The Red Family.


The Gold Family.


The Green Family


The Purple Family.


The Snowflake Family.


The Snowman Family.


The Santa Family


The Flower Family.


The Bell Family.


The Blue Family.


The Silver Family.


The Star Family


The Angel Family.


The finished product.





Free to good home.

Just had to throw that in.



The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.

So, just in case you might come to our house this holiday season, you'll know why our Christmas tree looks a little weird.