Oh, those trees

As the kids and I were out running errands yesterday, I almost ran over someone's Christmas tree. (For the record, we were having a wind storm that blew the tree into the middle of the street. It is safe to use the sidewalks when I'm driving.) The expedient folks that live in our neighborhood are taking down their trees, packing away their ornaments, and starting a fresh, new year. These are the same organized people that get their tree and corresponding decorations up during Thanksgiving weekend. Let me tell you, nothing makes me giddy like well organized closets, basements, cabinets, etc. I heart organization.

Picture my home. It's not as organized as I'd like. I live with kids under the age of 5, a collie that sheds faster than my twice-daily vacuuming can keep up with, and a home that is in constant refurbishment. I do keep up with chores as best I can. I am the person that stays up all night after moving into a house to unpack boxes, puts shelves back in order at the market, and will go back to any place that smells like bleach because it means clean.

You can imagine my feelings about our Christmas tree. The needles are falling, the boxes from the decorations are cluttering up my walkway in the basement, my ever-expanding preggers stomach makes watering the tree daily into an escapade that resembles freeing a whale stuck in a fishing net, and I've had to move the elaborate train set-up that ran around the tree skirt to clean up the ridiculous amount of glass that shattered when an ornament broke, which then meant I had to explain to my two-year-old why the trains had to be moved (ha!). But yet, despite the hassles, the tree remains.

As much as I love organization, I detest rushes and losing the meaning of important events. Don't tailgate me when I'm going the speed limit on a winding road in a snowstorm. Don't expect my children's birthday parties to be anything but an expression of who they are, even if it means that we're eating chili-cheese dogs, asparagus, and corn salad while we're in the backyard with the sprinkler on. And, please, for all the chocolate in the world, don't try to convince me that Christmas is about Santa and Easter is about the Easter Bunny.

Why is our tree still up? Because it's not time to take it down. Christmas is not over. It is the season of Christmas that will end on January 6. Epiphany is when the wise men reached the Christ child. There is more to the Christmas story. We need to celebrate all of it.

So, on Sunday, we'll be making a camel craft, a ridiculous star-shaped confection from white icing and sprinkles, and celebrating the whole Christmas story.

Anyone want to join me in ignoring the pine needles a little longer?