Simple Pleasures of Christmas

As a single parent I stopped having a Christmas tree once my daughter left home. It was the thought of taking it down that prompted this choice. Everyone loves the smell and memories of Christmas, but almost no one enjoys taking down the tree. Once my daughter had her own family I decided to gift her the ornaments we had made and collected together over the years. I now get to enjoy those at her house with my two granddaughters! <- (hint: where I don’t have to take down the tree).

I saved a nice collection of meaningful Christmas decor which now my granddaughters help me put up each Christmas. What I love about them helping me is that they will pick new places to put the items that I would not have considered. It also is a fun activity to do together and each year, they get to see the familiar items come out for the holidays. Here is my collection below. It fits nicely into a drawer in my garage and take down is about 5-10 minutes. Even though my collection is simple, it allows me to enjoy that holiday spirit!

For me this has been a nice way to enjoy the holidays and all the good memories without the hassle. It’s okay to adjust what celebrations look like as we enter new phases of our lives. The other ways I enjoy the holidays are twinkle lights for that magical feeling and music. My daughter reminded me that we used to play The Judds Christmas album as we decorated our tree and as soon as I played those songs the memories began to flood in. I also love playing YouTube holiday coffee cafe music videos on my TV and binge watching Christmas romance movies this time of year. All part of my celebrating!

Anyone else miss taking down an item or two like me, only to discover oh yeah, that goes into the Christmas stuff? Let me know how you enjoy making the holidays special below. Here’s to a wonderful 2023 for each of us!