Monday, November 29, 2010

The thinking tree

When I was teaching I had a little guy in my kindergarten class who said his mom was putting up the tree that day, so that when he got home, it would be finished and waiting for him.

Downhearted.  That's how I felt, because I knew the mom was wanting everything to be perfect.  Just so. But, in her quest for perfection, what message was her little boy getting?

I can't imagine not having my boys in on the fun. It's the process that they'll remember when they're older.  Not the final product.  They'll take out the ornaments year after year and say, "oh, I remember this one."  And yes, an ornament was dropped and broken....but we got out the glue and put it back together.  Because that's what we do in our family....we don't throw away what isn't perfect.  The imperfect things still matter to us.



decorating

christmas tree

Big boys

3 comments:

Becca said...

I love that you all do it together. My issue is that Steve's tradition is to put the tree up on December 1st. If it falls on a weekday, I'm at work during the day and I get home just before Samantha goes to bed. And often, Steve is working in the evening. So I have to get creative. Perhaps it can't be all 3 of us, but I may keep Sammi awake just a little bit longer on Wednesday and have her help me out a bit in the decorations department.

Carol N. said...

I hear you, Becca! Sounds like you and Steve will be working in shifts for the tree. Samantha will love it no matter how it's done!

I guess I sound pretty judgemental towards the mom. Maybe he didn't like putting up the tree. Maybe he preferred the surprise when he got home. Maybe.

Oh, well. It's just something that stuck with me over the years.

Anonymous said...

I hear you on the people who want their trees to be perfect. It has always struck me as an odd tradition - though the element of surprising the littles pushes me towards understanding their position by a sliver. Love your blog, it took me a while to find it, but I'm glad I did :) Ali