No Tannenbaum

I am ALL for traditions. This is by far my favorite time of year, and I am absolutely giddy about all of the preparations, celebrations, and decor. With that said, we made the decision this year to forego a tree. I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty devastated at first. Part of the reason, honestly, is that I just don't have it in me to continuously put down efforts made by Grayson, the human tornado, to dismember my tree. But also, I had to question my initial reaction to the very idea of "Christmas Without a Tree". While I like to think I'm able to keep the correct perspective on the Reason for the season, I can see that the last several years I've really fallen in to the trap of focusing on buying the perfect gifts (cost be darned), decorating "perfectly" (as perfectly as things ever get in this house), etc. etc. I don't mean to say that any of these Christmas traditions is inherently wrong. There's just MORE to this holiday than that, and I keep wondering if James and I are truly teaching our kids the right message about Christmas. Is there something more/different/radical, even, that we could be doing? I'm certain the answer is yes. For this year, what this will look like is not having a tree adorning our front window, waiting for its plethora of presents to protect. I also want us to look more intentionally than we have in the past for opportunities to spread the message of Christmas to those who might not otherwise hear it.

*Disclaimer: I did end up breaking down and buying a dinky tree for the boys to decorate and put in their room. And I have been pushing pretty hard the idea of putting lights on the house for the first time ever. I didn't say I was ready to throw in the towel on Christmas decorating altogether. :)