Decorations

I had no idea how important decorations were. OK, if I think back to my days as a youngun, I remember getting excited to see the garland wrapped around the banister and the colorful kitchen towels with Santa on them. So, I shouldn't have thought "what a novel idea!" as I realized that Joel loves Christmas decorations and could take over the job of decorating. And maybe I wouldn't have been so reluctant to spread my decorating wings to include more than the mantel and a tree as targets for Christmas cheer.

In the past I have not acquired much in the way of Christmas decorations. They have all fit snuggly into a 1' x 3' box up until last year. There was only one way that everything fit into this box; it was a puzzle remedy for those post-Christmas blues that a 20-something without children could amuse herself with. But with memory not what it used to be and children who make one think, "put it away as quickly as possible, before someone sees it and decides it's a toy until July," I bought a 2' x 3' box. But still, I know Rubbermaid makes several sizes larger, so I call it "medium". This is therapeutic. As long as all of my decorations fit into this manageable box, I can comfortably assign it a space to take up residence in my house for 11 months of a year.

But this year, I'm concerned about all the decorations that might someday soon have to fit into the new 2' x 3' box. In addition to the paper snowflakes, the reindeer puppets, and the wreath made from green hand-prints (thank you, Brynn!!), we have this nice, Mother's Day bookmark (can you see it there on our tree?), a key chain, and lots of silly Christmas toys from an advent calendar.

And I just want to mention how proud I am that I have begun to let go of some of my compulsions and accept the tree being redecorated every day anew. Sometimes the "NOEL" &"JOY" ornaments spell "JOEL" and "NOY". Sometimes it just looks like ornaments have fallen off the tree, when, really, they are just weighing down the bottom branches that would otherwise skim the floor. Our tree has more decorations on the bottom 3 ft than the top. But I'm OK with all that now. There's a spring in Joel's step and a myriad of craft projects at his fingertips. Boredom is rare and we all know how dangerous that word is, enough to relish the season of joy.