I am THROWING OUT THE CHRISTMAS TREE!

12/24/05 | eeevil conservative

[eeevil conservative]

I am sure I grew up with many of the same memories as many of you. Christmas was magical. The music and lights of the season made my heart leap with love, excitement, and anticipation. We remember the food, relatives, and traditions. I can still feel the hope I felt as a child. You know, that swell in your soul that made you want to do cartwheels for no reason other than utter joy of the season.

I recall those mornings when one of us awoke and ran through the house, “Wake up! Santa came! Santa came!” The whole family trotted to the tree in their slippers and robes. Once the whole family had gathered, Dad would put on the Santa hat and start passing out the gifts. We always started with our stockings. They were filled with mostly candy, jacks, chapstick, and PEZ!

I would never trade my childhood memories of Christmas, but there is ONE thing I would like to change. Next year I am THROWING OUT THE TREE!

There are plenty of stories available on the internet about how the tradition of the Christmas Tree started. I don’t care which one of them is correct, or if ANY of them are correct. The tree is the place we come to find our gifts. We even place a star on top, or an angel- symbolizing the North Star, or the angels that looked over the precious gift to the world, JESUS!

Next year I am going to place our gifts in a MANGER. YES! Next year, we will have a nativity scene in our living room with a manger. I want my children to remember (as they gather for their gifts) the REAL reason we are celebrating. We are celebrating GOD’s GIFT to US, to the WORLD. That gift is JESUS. A manger is perfect for this day, after all- a manger is where God delivered HIS gift.

[Sociopathocracy]

Well, at least you're not going as far as Frank Constanza.

[HairOfTheDog]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllrightythen.

[going hot]

This is what my parents, mostly mother, arranged for every christmas, usually in the fire place during our childhood years.

[oh8eleven]

I just so want to bring the Santa out of Christmas ... I just want to do all I can to NOT give MY children THAT same experience as mine.
YOU have kids? What other JOYS of childhood are you going to DENY them? I'll BET they're going to LOVE you as they get older.

[eeevil conservative]

LOL!!! Great hatchet job on my actual post.... LOL!! deleting pieces, etc....

You are doing some great training for working for the MSM!!

LOL!!

Not to mention that bringing CHRIST to my children is far better than anything else I could bring to their lives...

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU!!!

[ccwoman]

My husband of 20 years and myself had decided that we would also place our gifts around our nativity. Once children started to arrived we were still placing our presents there but friends and relatives got upset about it. Twice people showed up at our house with christmas trees thinking we just couldnt afford one!! couple other times people brought small tabletop trees saying, "The kids NEED a tree".
Sorry to say we bowed to the pressure and now we have a tree each year but we absolutly will not put it up until just a few days before Christmas.

[eeevil conservative]

WOW! Thanks for sharing that....

amazing how the original message of Christmas seems to not only evade some people, but offend them when put into actual practice...

BLESS YOU! and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

nothing wrong with a tree at all... I just choose to put the focus back onto the manger... in my own way... not for everyone, I realize! LOL!

[oh8eleven]

I'll say a prayer for your kids at Midnight Mass. I'll also request HE bless you with a dose of reality and common sense.

[eeevil conservative]

Well thank you for your prayers!

Sincerely, thank you very much!

[najida]

One of the few fond memories of childhood was putting up the Christmas tree on my birthday the week before Christmas. We'd go out and cut down one of our goofy looking South Georgia pines. You haven't lived until you've tried to put ornaments on slick pine needles. ;)

And we put on those HUGE, multicolored lights with the thick cords that needed to be clipped to branches. There were nails in the walls on either side of the tree because we always needed to run thread through it to keep it from falling down. The tree skirt was literally the skirt from one of my Mom's red dresses.

We had a nativity scene too. Each year we'd buy or make, or find, another piece to add to it. So we had donkeys bigger than the stable, a John Deere hay-baler (there was a reason for that ;)), a shoebox stable that I painted in first grade, porcelain Wise Men, a Paper Mache' Mary & Joseph and a baby Jesus that was an old plastic baby doll. I think it's in that closet-that-hasn't-opened-in-10-years at my Grumpy Bachelor Brother's house. Maybe I'll go over now and yank on that door one more time.

I have my own Christmas traditions now...ornaments I buy each year that I can trace back to my leaving home and starting my own Christmas. A time and way I put out the nativity scene. My advent wreath goes in the middle of the dining room table AFTER I find candles. Sometimes they're the wrong colors and sizes, but hey...it's out!

I have specific music that I put on to play while I decorate, sometimes I make cider or hot chocolate. This year I actually put out lights and garlands on my house...the first time in my adult life! AND---This year, for my new niece, I'm buying her a dated ornament of her own, and I will each year until the day I die.

I have my own nativity scene that I bought many, many years ago. This is the first year I actually got to put it somewhere that I can see it easily. It's perfect....White, porcelain and serene. But I miss the donkey, the plastic baby Jesus and the John Deere hay-baler.

But I'm not ashamed to say that the tree is what triggers the sweetest memories.

[Larry Lucido]

We always had a house large enough to accommodate a tree and a manger.

[Larry Lucido]

I am THROWING OUT THE CHRISTMAS TREE!

By the way, so am I. In February, as usual.

[solitas]

[ccwoman]

I find that to be in terribly bad taste!!!

[Texas Eagle]

Next year I am going to place our gifts in a MANGER.

Good for you. We did that for the first time this year. We've already decided that is the way we'll do it from now on.

Merry Christmas.

[Fester Chugabrew]

Wrap your presents in the lowliest of paper, too. The New York Times.

[nuclady]

Hey now.... I did that once (not the NYT tho'). Wrapped all the presents in newspaper and used lots of red ribbon and huge bows. Looked very pretty!!! (Gosh, you know you've been in FR land too long when you want to spell "huge" hugh!!!)

[scrabblehack]

I did the politically correct thing and got a Christmas tree I could plant -- will plant it tomorrow morning before it loses too many more needles. Where can you get a manger?

[eeevil conservative]

My Dad bought the kind you replant for us every year. Every year we would go out and re=plant them in the front yard, the side yard, etc...

EVERYTIME I go to my Dad's house I see those trees and how much they have grown. THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL AND HOLD SO MANY MEMORIES! I LOVE SEEING THEM!

[eeevil conservative]

WOW! Thank you so much for sharing that with us! What an great picture and personality you painted for us.

You treated us to a beautiful trip into your life, one well worth hearing about and sharing with others.....

BLESS YOU AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!