One Less Holiday Tradition

I took this picture before I took my tree down last year. I vowed that it would be the last year for a real tree in my house. The holidays have arrived and I’m not sure if I can follow through with my decision to purchase an artificial tree this year. The thought of not having a real tree is torturing me.

As I was decorating the tree last year I decided the pros of an artificial tree outweighed the pros of a real tree. I love the smell of a pine tree, but that was the only pro that I could come up with. I hate the mess when taking it down. Clean up is a little easier now that I have hardwood floors, but those needles stick and prick when the tree starts to dry out. I used to think that real trees looked better than the artificial trees, but they have great looking artificial trees on the market now. I have room to store an artificial tree and it would be easier pulling it out of storage than browsing tree farms in the freezing cold looking for a tree, tying it down and lugging it home only to find that a damn branch is keeping it from going into the tree stand or the trunk is too large for the stand that we have. Out the door we go with the tree to trim off the branch or the trunk while arguing like two crazy people on why we don’t buy an artificial tree.

If the pros of an artificial tree outweigh a real tree, why don’t I just switch you ask? After 30 years of having a real tree, I’m having difficulty parting with tradition. Here’s what I will be missing:

  • No more bundling up in layers so I won’t freeze to death searching for a tree.
  • No more arguing with my significant other over the size of the tree.
  • No more 5 mile per hour drives for miles so we don’t loose the tree from the trunk or it won’t go flying off the back of the truck.
  • No more arguing over tree trunks or tree stands.
  • No more watching the tree fall to the floor after its been decorated because it has shifted in the stand or someone didn’t turn the screws tight enough.
  • No more tying the tree to the wall to support it and having to fill in the holes once we take it down.
  • No more cutting off the tip because I can’t get the star on the top.
  • No more arguing over taking the tree to the dump because I missed the only day the garbage man will take it.
  • No more arguing over whose turn it is to crawl underneath the tree so it can be watered.
  • No more arguing over why I surrounded the damn tree with gifts and now nobody can get to the stand to pour water in it.
  • No more streams running down the hardwood floor or soaked tree skirts because somebody poured too much water into the stand.
  • No more pine needles in the fake snow under the tree.
  • No more holes in the tree because the branches hadn’t dropped in the cold so we could see the tree’s true shape.
  • No more turning the tree around and around to find the best side and deciding where you had it originally is where it should be.
  • No more scratched up arms or hands from the needles.
  • No more arguing over my significant other’s left or my left.
  • No more browsing 10 different lots/tree farms and than heading back to the first one for the first tree that I saw.

This has been tradition in my household with a real tree. Who in the hell am I going to argue with now? How much fun is it going to be dragging a cardboard box out of storage rather than dragging the tree across a parking lot or tree farm while praying that I don’t turn into an icicle. I feel like a kid having to give up a security blanket or their favorite toy. I had no idea it would have this kind of affect on me. I have until the week-end to embrace the fact that the tradition of having a live Christmas tree is No More. Pray for me bloggy friends!