If the temperature dropped about twenty degrees we’d be having a white Christmas here in Maryland – a very, very white Christmas.  Instead I’m staring out the window of my office wondering if I have enough spare lumber to build an ark.

It doesn’t matter because I’ve got three kids – an oddly enthusiastic 17 year old, an 8 year old who probably doesn’t believe in Santa but loves pretend too much to give it up, and an almost-6 year old who can’t wait for the bearded guy to come down the chimney – or in the case of the farm house, through the front door.  He discovered last year that the old chimneys were boarded up, so we had to improvise on the folktale a bit.

The farm house still has the $20 Walmart tree from a few years back, merrily covered with ornaments the kids have made over the years, and ones we’ve been gifted, but at Mommy’s Playhouse (yes, that’s what the kids call my house/office) I’ve taken the brick rambler theme to the extreme and bought a vintage 60’s aluminum tree.  This one is covered with some retro ornaments and the ones my Grandfather made back when I was a kid.  Yes, I even bought the color wheel to go behind it.

We never had the aluminum tree when I was a kid, instead trudging out to chop down a live one each year.  I remember the one time my mom sent out Dad and Uncle Ron to buy a tree. They came home with one that someone had chopped the top third off of- a weird trapezoid of a tree. Their solution? Dad broke off a limb from the bottom and wired it to the top. My mom is a bit of the Better Homes and Gardens type, so you can imagine her dismay, but those are the memories we carry through the decades and laugh about later.

For me, that’s what this season is all about.  It doesn’t matter what holiday you’re celebrating this month (if any), it’s the time to hold those you love close to your heart and make memories you’ll cherish for a lifetime.

Even if it’s a really ugly trapezoid-shaped  tree with a branch wired to the top.

Merry Christmas!