trimming the little, old tree.

a few years ago i wised/wisened/wisered up. i stopped decorating the tree with my hallmark keepsake ornaments and started purchasing simple and tasteful ornaments in sets of four. one for each child. initials and the date are written on the back of each ornament and now when we decorate the tree, i divide each child's ornaments into a pile, mw puts hooks on them as we go, and the kids get to decorate until all of their ornaments are strategically lumped on the tree. i have cried and yelled less since changing this tradition. i also switched from glass bulbs to plastic ones. they are a little less wonderful, but not noticably so from across the room. i am glad we still do the old school christmas-tree-farm thing. it would be infinitely easier to buy a big, beautiful, prelit, plastic costco christmas tree. but i would miss the smell. and the diversity from year to year. i don't know that i'd miss the clean up or the rash that i always get on my hands and wrists from carrying the tree into the house. but at this point, the blessings of a fresh tree still outweigh the tidiness and perfect shape of one you put together. even if the one you pick at the farm looks three feet shorter in your living room and your tool-impaired husband takes off an extra foot in the garage.