Of all the grown-up things I have to do, I think my least favorite is taking down the Christmas tree in the beginning of January. There are two main reasons for this. The first is obvious, it is the absolute, no kidding, real end of the holiday season. The second is the stress.
I know that eventually everything comes to an end. That doesn’t mean I have to like it, though. A Christmas tree changes the whole home. It brings a little bit of magic into our lives. Then, as the new year starts, we remove the decorations and dump the tree by the side of the road. It’s an awfully unceremonious end for something that’s literally magical. At least we can set it up again in eleven months.
It doesn’t seem like taking down the Christmas tree would cause that much stress. There’s some stress with the cleanup, trying to get all those pine needles off the floor. But the bulk of the stress is the undecorating. What if you miss something? An ornament disappears forever. And it’s even worse if it’s an ornament that your kid made. That would be a disaster. So, you check and check again. Then check with a flashlight. Then check one more time. Ok, not really one more time, because you have to use the flashlight again. Finally, you take it outside and check it again at the curb. You’re just never sure. It’s stressful.
Hopefully today will wind up being my least favorite day of the year. I’ve lost a bit of magic and had to deal with too much stress. I can’t wait for December.
