`Creating`Christmas then and Now

When the children were small, there was an urgency within our parental hearts to create Christmas memories.  This included going out during the day (or at least in the early evening - so as not to interrupt bed time) to the bush (tree farm) and tramping through the forest (lines of trees) and selecting the perfect tree to chop down (my husband's job) and bring home (set on top of the vehicle with ropes or tie downs or both).  

Then we would hurry home and make a great ceremony of bringing the tree in (after its trunk had been trimmed to the perfect length) (my husband's job) and setting it up (usually more than once because we got a cheap stand and it didn't have the strength to hold up the weight of the tree), and setting out hot chocolate (my job) and cookies (decorated by the children and me).

  

Decorations would be unpacked and the children would put on the least dangerous ones - usually all on the first three branches - and then when they went to bed, the rest of the tree would be decorated with the 'nice ornaments' - put high enough that neither children nor cats could reach them easily.(my job)  The 'putting on of the angel' was a highly coveted job, usually ending in some sort of fight between the kids as to who put it on last year.

I couldn't help but think of this sequence this year when we went out to get our tree, with our now taller-than-either-of-us children.  They all fit in the back of the truck.  Barely.  It was the first time in many months that we had all been together in one vehicle because they each have their own now, and more often then not, we are all going in separate directions.

Instead of trudging into the bush, we sped up the hill to the local grocery store where there was a plethora of trees to choose from.  Not that we could tell what they were really like, because they were all wrapped up in rope.  My husband disappeared shortly after arrival, becoming distracted by his extreme cravings for sausage, crackers and cheese which were in the store.  MY #1 son heard his name being called over the intercom (although it was a different person with the same name as he, who was being paged) and wandered in through the doors shortly after my husband.  

My daughter, #2 son and I quickly decided on the right tree, marked it with an extra loop and then joined the other two, who were in the bulk candy section.  We got goodies for snacks, and candies to decorate the gingerbread house, and then piled back into the vehicle and drove home.  My daughter single-handedly held onto the tree all the way home, through the sun roof.  No ropes. Total time for the tree-trip was 12.75 minutes.

When we arrived home, everyone scattered to the four winds.  My #2 son was asked to cut the trunk.  He asked his dad to help him find a saw, which was done and then an hour later, when we didn't hear from him, my husband went out to find him struggling to cut the trunk with the saw which only had one sharp tooth.  My husband rescued him by snapping off the trunk and then he resumed watching the soccer game.

I brought out all the ornaments.  When I had put on all I wanted, the kids chose which ones they wanted to see on the tree, and that was done.  The angel didn't go on until the next day.  My daughter and #2 son spent the rest of the evening putting together the gingerbread house, totally ignoring any progress on the tree, and stopping only for an occasional snack.  My #1 son disappeared upstairs as soon as we got home, and began research on some project he wanted to study on the internet.

My husband watched the entire soccer game while this was going on, barely aware that we were decorating the tree at all.  

I guess we have entered a new era.  The funny thing is, that this morning, when we talked about how we set up the tree - there was still a family story attached - and I guess that's the stuff that memories are made of.