Decoration Dilemma

Ok. We all know that Christmas doesn't really start until Christmas day, right? I mean, it doesn't start when you see the first Christmas decorations in the store. It isn't the day after Thanksgiving, either. The Twelve Days of Christmas are actually the twelve days from Christmas day to Epiphany on January 6th.

So my dilemma every year is when to put up the tree?

Before we were "practicing" our faith regularly, we got into the tradition of putting the tree up the weekend of Thanksgiving, and decorating the entire house. But as the kids kept coming, and there was always a relatively small child around, it has become harder and harder to deal with the tree and all the trimmings for the entire month of December!

Then, we would take the tree down the weekend of New Year's, and Christmas was officially over.

But, really, the celebration of Christmas is a time to reflect on the birth of our Lord Jesus. The commercialism of this holiday has really gotten out of hand to the point that the day after Halloween, there's already Christmas candy in the grocery stores.

So this year, we compromised. We put up the tree, we put lights on the house, but the stockings will be hung and baby Jesus will go into the nativity scene on Christmas Eve. Maybe that will help us remember that the thing we are really looking forward to is the Gift that we have recieved in Jesus and not on the trappings, so much.

I hope that next year, we can forgo more of the trappings (namely, the tree) until a little closer to Christmas.

It's a struggle for me as a Catholic mom sometimes. I love the Christmas season. I love to shop, I love to decorate, I love to bake. But I want to recognize the holiday for what it is, not just for what it has turned into. And I want my children to understand that, as well. It's becoming harder and harder to hold our faith up in this over commercialized and multi media circus that is America these days.

For now, we'll enjoy the lights and the tree, and each other. Advent is a time of preparation, after all. We can prepare ourselves for His coming, and enjoy the trimmings of the season at the same time.