Decorating The Tree With Memories

It’s the holiday busy season and I used to love and hate it at the same time. I hated the busy expectations of Christmas but loved the moments we could slow life down and enjoy life. One of our favorite simple Christmas traditions is decorating the tree with memories. For me, decorating the tree helps kick start my “holiday spirit”.

My brain seems to use the tree as a way to organize my internal Christmas checklist of “all the things” that need to get done. When I have the tree up I can then start to prepare mentally for the extra busy season ahead.

I’m feeling a bit weird to admit that to you (and I’m hoping I’m not the only one that feels this way). My husband and I were never really on the same page when deciding on when the tree should go up. I’m an “early as possible” kind-of-girl and he’s a “late as possible” kind-of-guy. We now compromise and I’m still able to settle my busy brain and prepare myself for the weeks ahead.

Although over the years, we’ve simplified Christmas considerably and found ways to slow life down enough to focus on what matters most. This has helped reduce my own overwhelm and helped me enjoy the holiday season without the busy expectations that usually come with it.

Our Christmas traditions start with setting up the Christmas tree. Years ago I dreamed of having the “perfect” Christmas tree that looked like the catalog or department stores. I would stress about where each decoration would go and what it needed to look like for our tree.

Yep, I’m that Type A personality!

I was away at a friend’s wedding one winter and picked up a Christmas decoration as a memento of my trip. At the time, I wasn’t into collecting much of anything, but this simple purchase triggered a very cool Christmas tradition that we all enjoy today.

When any of us travel we purchase a small ornament or an item that could be used as an ornament for the tree. Then at Christmas, we are decorating the tree with memories of that trip or when that person gave us that decoration.

Our Memories

We have decorations of anniversary trips that my husband and I took to help celebrate our anniversary. Family trips to Hawaii, Vegas, and Arizona adorn the tree. I purchased a small Korean cell phone decoration on a business trip one year and I now use it as a Christmas decoration to remember my time in South Korea.

There are a few ornaments that have special meaning beyond the places we’ve traveled. We have an ornament from my husband’s grandparents’ Christmas tree. That one is called “Grandpa Joe’s” ornament. Another ornament represents the year we got married and there a couple of angels that my mom purchased in Mexico that represent our two babies that I lost to miscarriages.

Our two oldest boys have traveled with school and cadets over the years. Each time they would bring back a decoration to represent their time on that trip. I have a hand-blown glass ornament from Venice, a Santa-on-the-beach ornament from Florida, an ornament from Bermuda, and a telephone booth from England.

As we set up the tree and when the boys arrive home we find these special ornaments and remember those trips. This year we laughed as we found an ornament we purchased years ago during a summer curling camp one of our boys attended. We now live in that city so our “travel memory” now represents our “hometown”.

Our tree may not be “perfect” according to a catalog or a department store, but when we are decorating the tree with memories it is perfect for us. This simple Christmas tradition in our home helps slow life down and remember those we love and many many memories that life has blessed us with.

May you find a simple Christmas tradition that will help you slow life down.