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‘O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree’

The Christmas season and all the shopping that goes with it is well underway now that Thanksgiving has passed. Christmas at our house began just after Halloween, mostly because our son Henry now wants the house to be decorated all the time.

Once we took down the Halloween stuff it just looked too bare to him. I tend to agree. There was a brief moment when we had some Thanksgiving touches here and there, but it usually gets mixed in with Christmas. And that’s OK.

Before I barely had my eyes open the other morning, Henry was busy decorating the tree with his dad.

“Do you want to come down and decorate the tree with us?” Henry said enthusiastically.

“Huh? I’m not ready for that,” I garbled, still in bed and wondering what time it was.

The time was before 5 a.m., but not too early for a kid who loves Christmas! After a cup of coffee and my eyelids becoming unglued together I was (mostly) ready to face the day and enjoy the scene.

I have to admit we do have a cute tree. It reminds me of the tree from my youth: imperfect yet beautiful. A mixture of all types ornaments, most all with a lot of love behind them.

One ornament has a picture of Henry giving his first real smile when he was an infant. Another includes a photo of our old dog Buster, a border collie mix who passed away about six years ago and who we miss dearly.

Every year Henry’s Granny Nanny gives him a new ornament to put on the tree. She writes his name and the year somewhere on it.

When I was a kid I remember us making ornaments at school that we would put our school picture on. Maybe Henry will get to do the same. If not, we’ve got plenty of paper and glue at home to make one. If they do make one at school, maybe we’ll make some of our own anyway because I still love glitter and glue!

Hanson can be reached at shanson@timesleaderonline.com.

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