Christmas Tree plan

If you recall from an earlier rant about rushing into Christmas, I put my tree away last year, fully decorated with a sheet covering it.   By December 26, I'm so ready for the tree to come down...but I don't really want to put forth the effort it takes to properly put the decorations away...I'm so lazy sometimes.

This year my plan (I've always got them, you know) is to start early (still haven't started) and go through all of my Christmas stuff and weed out the things I no longer use and give them to the second-hand store so that someone else could enjoy them.  Most of the time it's not that there's something wrong with them, I am just ready for something new (spoiled, oh yeah).  My kids enjoy decorating the tree so I  was thinking I must force myself to undecorate it and let them put the ornaments on (then when they're asleep or gone, I will re-arrange them to be just right because at times I'm OCD...I know that is so wrong).

Every year we say we're going to buy a "real" tree, you know, take the kids out like the Griswalds and let the kids pick one and do that whole experience.  Maybe this is the year.  We usually have a tree upstairs and downstairs...because Santa comes down the firewood drop in the garage to get in the basement.  Our chimney is much too small for a roly-poly Santa.  Meepie is too old to bother the tree, I think...he used to, that stinker.  And Little Black Sambo was notorious for knocking the ornaments off the bottom of the tree.  (RIP, Little Black Sambo).  I have no earthly idea how bad Hank the Tank II is going to be with a tree, ornaments and presents.  I'm goingbnm j (to kill him he just stepped on my keyboard!)  What I was saying is that I'm going to pretend he will leave it alone.

I've asked my kids a couple of times in the past few days if they want a real tree.  Lane says "I like our fake one."  (Awesome, but somewhat disappointing.)  Madolyn didn't really have an opinion...which is amazing.  Lane and Madolyn both agreed they wanted colored lights and not just that plain white ones (which I love).  So I'm starting to think that I will resurrect the fake and fully-decorated tree from the basement, undecorate it, put colored lights on it (which I'll have to buy, ugh) and let the kids have 100% control over the decorating of it.  I will then keep my mouth SHUT tight and my hands in my pocket so as not to do what I said I would most likely do above if it was "my" usual tree.  I suppose I can have a tree that is perfect and coordinated after my kids are grown, right?!

How sad is it that they are 7 and 11 and I'm just now allowing this to happen?!  What is wrong with me?  Do not answer that...I'm still learning.  This weekend we will implement our Christmas tree plan.