“Waiting throughout the year
For Christmas morning to be here
And counting how many days…” Lyrics by Raffi
Thirty-two years ago, when we lived in Paris, I went on a hunt for a Christmas tree— which was trying to find a needle in a haystack. After much searching, I finally found one and dragged it home because I couldn’t imagine taking the metro with it. I was quite the sight, dragging a Christmas tree with my nine-months-pregnant belly.
I brought that tree home from the Place des Vosges, past the Bastille, down Voltaire, and up three flights of stairs. By the time I got there, all I had was a true Charlie Brown Christmas tree— not a single pine needle left. I sat down on the couch and cried. Pregnancy and Charlie Brown Christmas trees have a way of doing that to a person.
The following year, I found a fake Christmas tree at a shop. It felt like a Christmas miracle, except it cost $75—quite a sum at the time, especially for a tree barely my height. Chelsea was one year old and walking by then, I wanted to keep her and the tree safe which was easier than I thought Christmas ornaments were nearly impossible to find, except for purple, gold, blue… tinsel. And no way, was that going on our tree. Instead, I tied a red bow to the top and called it good.
Fast forward 33 years: Chelsea and her family are living with us while their new home is being renovated. Yann went to the garage to retrieve our much-loved, well-worn family Christmas tree. But this time, instead of placing the antique, fragile ornaments I’d collected over the years, I had a new idea. I turned to Gabriel and Olivia (who I sometimes call “little pickles” or should I now say, “elves”) and told them that we would go to the store to buy Christmas ornaments for our tree. They jumped up and down with excitement.
Before heading to the shop, I laid out some ground rules: no crying, no throwing fits, no running. Each of them could choose 10 ornaments, but they couldn’t be larger than my hand. I held out my five fingers to indicate the size in case there was any doubt.
I knew an I knew a shop that only carries non-fragile options, which made things easier.
Barely, had we passed through the door when Gabriel spotted an enormous white polar bear. He ran over to it, struggling to pick it up, and exclaimed, “I want this for our Christmas tree!” I held up my hand and asked, “Is it smaller than my hand?”
Gabriel collapsed to the floor as though the world had ended and cried, “I never can get what I want!” I told him that the polar bear was beautiful and that I could see why he wanted it, but there were plenty more options to explore. I asked again, “Is the polar bear smaller than my hand?”
He stood up, remembered the rules, and said, “Oh, that’s right.” After that, the trip went smoothly. The two of them chose different ornaments, which made for a varied selection. Gabriel found a red glittery star and declared that it would be perfect for the top of the tree.
Even though it was slightly larger than my hand, I had to agree, so we bought the star and a pack of red and green balls to add to the mix.
When we got home, Sacha strung the Christmas lights while I gave Gabriel and Olivia little scissors to cut off all the tags from their new ornaments. They decorated the tree giggling, rearranging and admiring each other’s decorations until it was just the way they liked it.
I might never put my fragile antique ornaments back on the tree again. Watching those little hands work so happily, creating their own Christmas magic- isn’t that what it is about? Christmas joy.
“On Christmas morning
I’ll wake up bright and early
Be the first one out of bed
With the mistletoe above my head
On Christmas morning
We can sing and celebrate
And make the feeling stay
All through the day.” Lyrics by Raffi
Raffi is my favorite composer and singer of children’s Christmas songs.
A blog reader friend, Marty, who came and stayed in our place; sent this handmade lovely heart garland.
Maybe I’ll hear the sound of sleigh bells ringing this year.
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