“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, cries of anguish and the fetal position at any moment.
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.
Decoration began late this year as my husband Jason pulled up last night with our first artificial tree.
“I can’t believe we got a fake tree,” he said, pulling the box out of the truck. “All my life, I have never had a fake tree.”
The Pattersons have always had a real tree, and we even go and cut a fresh one from our land. It has been a tradition for a few years. But with the wet weather and chainsaw difficulties, the tree-cutting ceremony never took place. So, we settled for a fake tree because our youngest son Jase said all he wanted for Christmas was a Christmas tree.
“That’s it,” Jason announced. “I am getting a tree this afternoon someway, somehow.”
Hence, the fake tree in our living room. I think it looks nice, but Jason tries to hide his disappointment in not having a real tree.
“How come it doesn’t smell,” our son James asked. “The other trees have always smelled good.”
With a mistletoe in his hand and a strand of lights around his neck, Jason looked like a man on the edge as the other children agreed the tree didn’t have that “special” smell.
I tried to distract the kids with the setting up of the Christmas village as Jason continued to string lights around the tree.
“It’s kind of a like the Charlie Brown show,” I said. “It’s not what the tree looks like. It’s the love that goes on around it.”
Jason didn’t say anything, but he continued to decorate the tree that at this point I realized was about the height of our son. It’s a little small, I admit. But it’s still our tree.
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.”
“Who moved the star? Why is the angel missing an arm?”
“If you don’t leave baby Jesus alone…”
“Those are outside decorations! Quit touching them.”
As Jason and I continued to catch falling ornaments and nearly break our necks stepping over boxes of decorations, the hum of the Christmas record I had playing reached its end. The familiar sound of the record reaching its end hummed through the living room.
“Why do we have to listen to these old songs,” James asked. “They’re not that good.”
“Because it’s Christmas,” I bellowed, with fake snow hanging off my nose. “This is what you are supposed to do. Why can’t we just be normal?”
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 snow men.
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 fake tree glows in the night and the armless angel figurine sits on the mantle, we gather together in happiness. We might even laugh at the chaos that we just experienced. But we got the job done and ended the night together laughing.
That’s our family. And it beats any Hallmark movie going.
