Mommy Blog

Christmas Carol

in Giggles on November 17, 2022

Here we are counting down the remaining days before Thanksgiving, and I’m going to spend our time together talking about Christmas.

For those of you who actually know me well…y’all understand I have such a fondness for this season—that some might even classify it as an obsession.

Next Thursday, my house will play host to a traditional Southern Thanksgiving Day Dinner. We will have turkeys (yes, plural), honey-baked ham, dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, and a table FULL of desserts that may render the eater into a diabetic food coma! Upwards of twenty-five people will partake in this edible display of thankfulness…but they will be thankful while filling their Christmas plates.

Over here, we have a MERRY Thanksgiving.

I have always loved Christmastime. Most people are nicer, happier, and there always seemed to be a tangible crackle of magic floating on the air.

Some of my most cherished memories take me directly into my grandparents’ living room on Christmas Eve; surrounded by family, a mountain of food, a roaring fireplace, the sliding back door occasionally cracked open when the fire got too hot…and presents under the Christmas tree.

Once I grew up and moved out on my own, I put up my own Christmas tree. There is something completely serene about sitting in front of a lit Christmas tree, having no other lights on, and just gazing into the lights reflecting off of the ornaments. For me, that stillness is the epitome of peace.

My Christmas tree.

My ONE Christmas tree.

Growing up, all of the adults put up the standard ONE Christmas tree. My grandparents, my parents, my aunts, my uncles…ONE tree. That ONE tree held enough magic to keep me looking forward to the day when I, myself, could put up my own ONE Christmas tree.

When I was twenty-three years old, I met Christmas Carol…aka…my mother-in-law.

Her Christmas skill level ranks somewhere above Head Elf at the North Pole. She has been a lover and collector of Hallmark ornaments for more than thirty years. Her compilation of Christmas paraphernalia outstrips most Macy’s and mall Winter-Wonderland displays. There is not a surface in her house that is untouched by something jolly during this festive season.

AND…she put up multiple trees…

I began to take notes.

For the first several years after Jeff and I were married, I was slightly pre-occupied with newborns. It seemed babies was the gift Santa was determined to bring me! However, once the newborns stopped arriving every year, I began to focus my attention on jingling up my jolly.

I started slow—only adding ONE new tree a year…until I had a conversation with my Christmas Carol one evening as we had dinner. She mentioned that I had a couple of “solid places” that Christmas trees would fit…and then walked me around my own house, and together we located alllll of the spots that would support my budding addiction. Jeff simply stood back, watched with a slightly concerned look on his face, shook his head, and finally said, “Go ahead.”

Every year, my Christmas Carol is constantly on the lookout for new items for us both to add to our real-life replicas of Santa’s Village.

This past May, Jeff and I moved into our forever home. Even with twenty years of boxes and furniture stacked in out-of-the-way places until we could figure out where to arrange everything—my mind was on Christmas.

This Christmas.

My first Christmas in my new house.

If I’m being completely transparent, I would have easily forgone the unpacking of regular-everyday-items, and moved STRAIGHT into full blown holiday mode! Jeff said no.

However, on November 1st, all bets were off! I spent the next two weeks assembling Christmas trees…lots of Christmas trees…EIGHT full-size Christmas trees…fourteen, yes, FOURTEEN smaller trees. Now, as I sit here and type this out, my workspace is lit by the glow of one of those trees. I may sit here all day.

During the moving in process, my kiddos would drop little hints and nuggets about their curiosity over how, exactly, I was going to decorate this house. After all, the house we moved from, was the only house they had ever known. The memories surrounding Christmas Eves and Mornings in that house, bring them the same type of joy that my childhood memories do. As they all live in another city, and not here with their father and myself—they were leery about celebrating Christmas somewhere new and unfamiliar.

Well, any hesitation they experienced was laid to rest this past weekend when they all came down for dinner. They were greeted with ALLLL of their favorite childhood decorations, the old and worn out ornaments they each made from elementary school still proudly displayed on the tree in the dining room. My crazy snowman and snow globe collections have found new homes, but somehow look like they’ve been there for always. My Nativity scene collection now has room to spread out. And…now we have a REAL-LIVE-WOOD-BURNING-FIREPLACE to better accommodate Ol’ Saint Nick!

Even Christmas Carol, the Master Christmas Elf, approved of my layout.

So, next week, as we gather ‘round the table to nibble thankfully on our turkey—we will do so with a bit more jingle in our step and jolly in our hearts.

Merry Thanksgiving, everyone!!