Two Trees or One?

We haven’t bought our fresh Christmas tree yet. And now, with a beautiful snow falling outside, I think we’ll stay hunkered down and put off going to the tree lot until tomorrow.

A few days ago, Molly and I put up the Kids’ Tree. What started out as an homage to the tiny, magical tree my sister and I had on a table between our twin beds growing up, has turned into a 7 foot high artificial tree covered with the kids’ treasured ornaments.

I know the subject of a “Kids’ Tree” can spark serious and heated debate. I mean, is it to showcase their special things, or is it just a ploy by a control freak mom to keep pipe cleaner and felt creations off of the real, fancy tree? I would say for us, it’s a bit of both.

My mom was a florist and a great home decorator. When we kids finished trimming the tree and wandered off to do other things, Mom would get to work. She wouldn’t undo what we had done, but she would tie it all together. Strands of fake pearls or silver beads, white birds with ribbons in their mouths, tons of gold balls—she would find one way to unify the tree each year and make it the Best Tree Ever. Our kiddie creations were more than welcome there, but our trees always looked classy.

I mimicked her decorating style as an adult, and each year I’d have plenty of gold or silver balls, and as one boyfriend called them, “necklaces” on my trees. I was good at it, remembering to hang ornaments deep within the branches and never to skimp on the white lights.

What I hadn’t counted on was the sheer VOLUME of ornaments my kids would make and receive each year. My mother in law is a prolific supporter of Hallmark, so collectible ornaments abound. Combined with classroom crafts and our church’s Advent ornament workshop, the kids were hauling in about a ten new ornaments each per year. Do the math. My own contributions were personalized ornaments for each. Because I was traumatized as a kid when I couldn’t find anything with the name “Anna” on it (how times have changed!), I just can’t pass a “Molly” or “Jake” ornament up.

So, now we have the Kids’ Tree in the upstairs hallway, and the “Real” tree in the family room. I love how the upstairs tree is right in front of a window. In my book, that gets me off the hook for hanging exterior lights. The downstairs tree is more subdued with a lot of white, silver, and my decorative touches while the one upstairs is a riot of color.

I love the upstairs tree because I don’t try to control or “fix” it. I don’t move ornaments around. I don’t mind if there are New York Yankees ornaments, or Santas in Hawaiian shirts. We love going through the ornaments, remembering where each came from. A clothespin reindeer with one googly eye, a wooden apple from when I was a kid, Tom’s collection of Little Drummer Boys, Molly’s dough stars, and Jake’s golden macaroni picture frame. The tree itself is a little smooshed in the middle, or at least it appears so in this picture.

Some of the kids’ creations are on the tree downstairs, too. The most treasured are the Names of Jesus ornaments each child made in second grade. They are made out of paper, red yarn, and glitter, and they remind us why we are putting up the trees in the first place.

So, while our two trees sprang up out of the need for space for all these ornaments, they also allow me to keep some semblance of control over our home’s décor. This might not seem like a lot, but I feel as if I have so little control over the paper and clutter and dog hair that come into the house. It’s nice to have one tree look the way I’d like, and the kids love having a tree just for them

The staid silver balls and tasteful ribbons help ME enjoy our trees more, but it’s the quirky, one-of-a-kind ornaments that hold the most special memories for ALL of us. Nothing gets left out.

But those two molded plastic Mark McGuire ornaments my MIL got us in the 90’s? Whoopsie. I just couldn’t seem to locate them this year.