I put up my Christmas tree up early. Before Thanksgiving.
There it sits in the corner right now, warm white lights wrapped around its green limbs. I’m so happy I could rock around the Christmas tree.
I’ll be honest with you. For the life of me, I can’t understand why people think it’s so important not to put up your Christmas tree until after Thanksgiving. Why?
When something brings you so much joy, like my Christmas tree brings to me, life is too short to put off any opportunity for joy.
I shared my tree and have it saved to my IG Highlights here. It was super cheap and I’m obsessed with it.
Why I Put My Christmas Tree Up Early
Memories of my childhood Christmases flood my spirit this time of year. It isn’t the toys I remember, although the year I got a pair of boots I wanted is burned into the wrinkles of my brain. If you saw those boots you’d know why my 9-year-old self felt like a rockstar when I wore them.
But no, I don’t look back and feel excited when I think of unwrapping years of gifts. Instead, I look back and I remember the spirit of Christmas permeating the very air in my grandparent’s home. I can feel it even now.
My parents were divorced, and my home life was nutso. I cried a lot. But MawMaw Rosie and PawPaw C.J. always made sure good memories were made and traditions were honored, no matter what else was happening. They were the keepers of Christmas for me and my brother.
Our tree was always cedar, always too big, and always cut down from their property by PawPaw. It smelled so good each year. To be honest, those cedar trees were ugly as homemade sin, though it didn’t matter to us. It had always been a cedar tree that stood by the fireplace and we wouldn’t have dared to imagine bringing in a pine imposter to replace it.
Too close to the fireplace, I might add. Those cedar trees needed to be watered a lot, and I don’t know how diligent we were. It’s a wonder we never lost a single tree (or worse) due to fire.
Our ornaments were ugly, too. But like the devotion to our cedar trees, we sincerely cherished each and every bauble.
There was the glass Santa with the chip in his chubby belly. I have no idea how our fingers weren’t shredded to bits each year trying to hang that thing. Throw our Santa out? We’d sooner have thrown out Grandpa’s pipe.
All that I knew was that once the tree was up, every day up until Christmas was going to be made just a little bit better because it was there. It signaled the start of a season that filled me with hope.
Maybe this would be the year everything would be alright. Maybe everyone would feel so happy about Christmas that they’d change their ways. It never happened when I was young. I never stopped hoping.
There are too few times in life that adults get to feel true childlike wonderment again. When I put up my Christmas tree, I feel it all the way to my bones. Every morning when I see it, I get a little happy tickle in my spirit. I smile for no reason.
At night, before bed, when I turn the lights off, I somehow feel safer. That confused me for a long time. And then I remembered.
I felt so safe in my grandparent’s house. It was cozy and warm and I think that having my Christmas tree up in my own home takes me right back there. They’ve been gone for so many years now, my MawMaw and PawPaw. But, they still comfort me. My “too-early” tree puts me back in that space where I was so truly loved, and where everything was absolutely going to be okay.
So please don’t hate on my tree …. or my Christmas spirit.
If you are offended at seeing my tree in early November, I invite you to take a deep breath and look away. Because it makes me happy.
It makes me so, so happy.
What about you? When do you put up your tree? Do you take heat from friends or relatives for putting it up “too early?” Tell me about it.
Sher Bailey is a writer in the Midwest who believes the power of humor, Mod Podge, and grandkids can fix most problems in life. You can find her at SherBailey.com.
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