“Can you believe we haven’t broken a single ornament yet,” my daughter Elsie asked.
Those few simple words sent chills down my spine as I attempted to erase the “jinx” moment in my head. I halfway expected the entire box of glass ornaments to spill across the hardwood floor, breaking into a million pieces.
It’s Christmas time in the Patterson home. Yes, it is filled with love and fellowship during this special time of the year. But it is also overflowing with stress and the occasional cry of anguish at times.
For some reason, I always have this notion that my family and I will be reliving a Hallmark Christmas movie scene during this time of decoration and joy. I envision our small family baking cookies together, hanging ornaments on our tree, drinking hot chocolate and laughing as we place bows on perfectly wrapped gifts.
Let’s face it. That never happens. We are a walking, breathing Griswold family right here in Yazoo City.
We have a colorful tree up with a variety of hand-me-down ornaments and several ones created by the kids at school. But it was a journey getting the tree in its final stage.
I had extra help from the kids with the setting up of the Christmas village as Jason continued to string lights around the tree. And the whole time our pet cat was trying to chew the light bulbs and knock ornaments off the tree. The poor cat may have even swallowed some tinsel. Trust me, we will know later.
The decorating took about an hour, and it was not the Hallmark card moment I envisioned.
“Quit putting the heavy ones at the top.”
“Don’t even touch the glass ones.”
“Has anybody seen the star? Why is the angel missing an arm?”
“If you don’t leave baby Jesus alone…”
“We’re missing one of the three wise men. You can’t just have two wise men.”
As Jason and I continued to catch falling ornaments and nearly broke our necks stepping over boxes of decorations, the Christmas vinyl record I had playing reached its end.
As the night came to an end, I must admit, our hard work paid off. The Patterson home is in full Christmas mode. The tree is decorated. The Christmas village is glowing. The mantles are covered with Santas and snowmen.
And we managed to pull it off without killing each other.
When it is all said and done, none of the glitter and gold matters. It really is all about family and celebrating the birth of Jesus.
We are a dysfunctional bunch with short fuses, sometimes questionable manners and flared emotions. But we love each other with our whole hearts.
And as the tree glows in the night and the two wise men sit on the dresser, we gather together in happiness. We might even laugh at the chaos. But we got the job done and ended the night together laughing.
That’s our family. And it beats any Hallmark movie going.
