I’m the girl that for YEARS decorated for Christmas on Thanksgiving. Family gathered for food and conversation and like a Hallmark movie, decorated the Christmas tree and snacked on leftovers into the evening hours.
Graduating to senior, old woman status changes things.
I had my 2 Christmas trees up and decorated on Saturday — a full 5 days before the Thanksgiving holiday. Hugo is mesmerized by the lights. 🎄
Perry had to cover 3rd shift at his store the night before so he slept through much of the work. Ben grumbled because he had to carry all the decorations down from the storage cubby upstairs. He bitched more when he had to move the emptied boxes back upstairs. When I asked Colette if she wanted to help, she scoffed. And Katie, a permanent fixture at all holiday gatherings is living in Tennessee.
It’s not always a bad thing to break tradition.
While I miss Katie being around (and helping out… baking cookies and persimmon pudding), I’m still decorating in anticipation of the holiday season. Also breaking tradition, Mom is having Thanksgiving at her place this year when I’ve always hosted it in the past. I’m GREAT with that and am looking forward to eating there and spending time with our mini family.
And I found that I’m now decorating for Christmas for ME… not for anyone else.
There’s no ‘chicken little’ moral of the story here that ends with “who will help me eat the bread” (after they didn’t help her do the work required to make it), everyone can enjoy the lights. And it’s even ok if they don’t or don’t care, because I do. Both trees were decorated before yesterday and Colette hadn’t even acknowledged their presence before going to her Mom’s. What a brat, right? 🩷
Be a Nanny at Christmastime!
I remember one year a loooong time ago that Nanny proclaimed she wasn’t going to decorate for Christmas. Pap-pa had already passed away and she lived by herself. I was appalled! I shamed her by saying she should at LEAST hang a lighted wreath in her front picture window. She did. And then she added a small table tree in the dining room… and then she got out other holiday items to sit around in the living room.
The women from church saw her decorations from the highway and told her how pretty her house looked. She told me she was happy she decorated. When putting everything away after the 1st of the year, she claimed she would NOT be decorating the next year… but she did. And she did every year after that until she was no longer able.
Be like Nanny and spread some Christmas cheer! Some of it might rub off on you even if you’re feeling bah-humbug during the holiday season.
Now you know: Most people in the US decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday), with 40-50% of households putting up decorations that weekend, according to surveys like those from the National Christmas Tree Association. Retail trends show Christmas tree sales peak before Thanksgiving, with 25-30 million real trees sold annually.