CONTROLLING Craziness: Christmas Tree Decorating

We usually put up our tree on December 1st. I like to get through one holiday before decorating for the next. However, this year we put it up before Thanksgiving. Why so early? Because the Wyoming grandparents came to visit and we celebrated Christmas early.

I even got a little smarter with how we put the tree together. Maybe you've done this all along, but I never thought to put the tree skirt on first - before I put up the rest of the tree. I usually get our tree put together and then have to crawl under the lower branches to fix the tree skirt so it looks nice. Not this year. I put the tree skirt on first then added the rest of the tree. Next year, I'm going to be even smarter and add the angel on the top before adding the top piece of the tree. Why has it taken me so long to learn these simple tricks? Or why hasn't anyone told me about it before?

Another thing we did differently this year was in the way we decorate. As the kids have gotten older, or maybe it's because I've gotten older, either way I've given up control over how to decorate the tree. Plus this year we have a newborn and I don't have as much time to fuss over how the ornaments are placed. We decorate our tree in red and gold. I don't do a new theme or color each year. I like the red and gold and don't feel like storing multiple color schemes anyway. In addition to the red and gold we have lots of handmade and other special ornaments. Each child has ornaments that are theirs including ones they have made at school. I have been storing each child's ornaments in separate bags. So when it came time to decorate, I gave each child their bag and asked them to hang up their ornaments. They hung all their ornaments in one section or cluster. Usually we have them spread all throughout the tree. I liked this new arrangement. Each person has their own section of the tree. I even put my husband's ornaments in a cluster.