November 16, 2012

In the not too distant future, we are all going to be inundated with pictures of the perfect Christmas trees our friends have created and then we’ll really know the race towards the festive season has commenced. Since the advent of Facebook, and other social media channels, our lives have changed dramatically, and a significant change for me has been the collective sharing of photos around special annual  events – First Day of School, Thanksgiving feasts, 40th b’day parties, kids birthday parties, birth photos, annual holidays, Halloween costumes, etc, etc, etc… I love it as I feel more connected to all of the wonderful people I’ve met around the world and it makes me feel I’m still a part of their lives. However, the Christmas tree sharing season gives me the chills. Firstly, it means the end of another year has come too quickly, and secondly, I’m about as good at decorating a Christmas tree as I am at decorating a bloody birthday cake! Another feminine quality I missed along the way… But the Christmas festivities have moved to centre stage in our home, because Lex was absolutely DEVASTATED when we took the Christmas tree down last January. Our little man cried and cried, ‘cos he just loved it and took on 100 per cent responsibility for light management. Dealing with these intense emotions, we said to him that as soon as his birthday was over, we’ll put the Christmas tree up. Well his birthday was November the 12th, and that meant the tree had to go up on November the 13th. We’d made him a promise and he did not let us forget it. So here it is – the first social sharing of a Christmas tree within my community and also my first ever sharing of a self-decorated Christmas tree, because I cannot compete with the decorators I know and love! However did you notice how I only captured a small segment of the tree – showing off my signature colour red? Yes? Well that’s because as a total image, it looks like shit, and I know this, because very soon my friends will share magnificent trees, with brand new decorations brought just for this years’ tree, all colour themed, with decorations perfectly placed because symmetry is important, but more than that, it will be featured in a beautiful place in the house, with loads of space around it, everyone will go awwww ain’t that pretty, and the perfection will be complete. Yeah well that ain’t my tree, which is currently bunched up between a couple of kids’ tables holding the boys car racing track and a shitty side chair we hate, but it needs to be there so the lights can reach the closest electrical socket….. It’s not perfect but my boys love it, it’s a cheery little addition to the home, and here we go again, facing yet another another lead up to Christmas – may it be a jolly time for one and all. Also from this day forth, I can promise you one thing – for the foreseeable future (i.e. until Lex is a teen and Christmas ain’t cool anymore) I won’t be sharing the prettiest Christmas tree, but I will be sharing the first! Yours, without the bollocks Andrea PS: if you’re an annual buyer of Christmas decorations, it seems IKEAhas gone for a bit of a gingham theme this year…