In A Down Economy Does The Real Life Christmas Tree Still Thrive Or Does The Fake One Come Out Of The Basement?
After my parents got divorced, my mom, my sister and myself started the tradition of buying our family Christmas tree on Christmas eve. I quickly realized that we started this tradition because folks were practically giving away Xmas trees at that time and my mom was struggling as a single parent raising two kids. Don't get me wrong, it was an awesome tradition, one time we got this gigantic tree for ten bucks!
Now that my sister and I are grown folks, my mama, who could get arrested for impersonating Martha Stewart, busts out the fake Xmas trees with quickness starting December 1st. That's right I said trees...she has three...of varying sizes and shapes! All decorated with a different theme that matches the room the tree is placed in. Not mention, the Christmas lights, the snowman, the reindeer, the Christmas wreath, the ribbons, etc...... All this and more topped off with the Nat King Cole Christmas CD.
I'm not complaining. Broke as hell, Christmas is always a rich experience at my mom's house. Ain't gonna be a lot of gifts, but an awful lot of good food and good times. Yet, our Christmas comes from a long standing collection of doodads and bobbles, so I wonder for budget-minded and financially strapped families that don't have all this Xmas stuff hidden in their attic or garage, does the hunt for the live Christmas tree bite the dust? Has the era of dropping $40 bucks and up on a live Xmas tree gone the way of Christmas past?
P.S. - The above photo is of my own fake Xmas tree currently on display in my loft. A Charlie Brown Christmas tree from Walgreens - $9.99. It's awesome baby!
8 comments:
Girl, please tell me that's not really your Christmas twig. And if you paid $10 for it, I'm double mad!!
;-p
lol-love your tree pt!
your mom has made it through and is living her life celebrating Christmas the way she really loves to! that is wonderful.
i used to buy live trees, but i had a house dog that thought he was a human-dashound-his name was pablo. i loved pablo!
so he would basically attack the tree! and i alsohave baseboard heat in my house and it would dry that thing out in one night--i was always ading water to it-=
all that time i still tried to maintain a live tree.
then i had my daughter and when she became a walking 9 month old and wanted to 'hug' the tree....well, that ended the live tree life for us.
i have also bought an evergreen that was potted. i liked that--but something happened and it died...lol
so we use an artificial one. with lights already attatched! life saver!!
my gma did not like live trees i came to learn because of the needles falling. clean freak.
and she had a silver tree-fashion awareness. growing up i thought that was the norm for a while! lolololo
but my mom would rotate between live and artificial.
and as far as the large amount of gifts that we have bought for our girls. that has ended adn we are not going to suffer--it is a learning and teaching time in humbleness and growth.
and thankfulness that we have HAD in the past Christmas times.
we are giving away bags of their old toys to a local church program.
and their old shoes and clothing.
not old as in undesireable-but gently and med worn.
shoot, the way these girls are growing--there is no time to wear anything out--they outgrow it first!
lol
LOL girl you're crazy!
No, no Xmas tree. I did but a small potted evergreen but I don't think it will make it. Having 3 grown daughters and
10 and 16 year old I don't have to waste money. I explained our circumstances, they will give back to those less fortunate and their holiday will be scaled back. And that's ok. We know what really matters.
My mother has had the same fake tree for about 30 years now I think. When I buy one again I want a fresh tree.
@Elle -
It's my tree and I got it as a gift! I love it!
My mother and I never had a real one and I was content. I've been near those real ones and they are a mess to clean up after.
It might be nice to get a real tree one time, but after that its all fake for me.
Wow, I thought my $2o Walmart tree was a "Charlie Brown" tree. LOL You have the real deal, Professor Tracey. I would love to have that on my desk at work. Too cute.
I have scaled back on my tree and will be scaling back on gifts this year.
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