Putting Up the Christmas Tree

There is a time in a music teacher's life that she/he cannot be sick....like, not even have a sniffle or a cough...and December is that time.  Yes, I'm talking about the entire month.  The month of December is our busiest time of the year....programs are many and sleep and correct eating is few.  And guess what....I woke up Monday with my ears aching and my nose and eyes feeling so much pressure I felt like a kid was sitting on my face.  Seriously.....of ALL the months in the year, I just can't be sick in December....and this week on top of it all....a church program and three school programs.  I've been carrying grapefruit, eucalyptus, lavender, and frankincense essential oils everywhere I go.....I could probably slip and slide through the hallways at this point.  I've also started carrying around my own box of tissues....school toilet paper is harsh and thin.  YUCK!

This week has been crazy with three school shows.  I haven't really seen my family this week and the only night that I am home (tonight), #2 and and #3 took a bath and #2 fell asleep in my bed watching tv at 7pm.  I mean, I'm not complaining, it's been nice to do laundry, run the dishwasher, work on school, rub oils on my ears....heck, I wish those #s were up and we were playing video games!

So as I'm sitting here while the DVR is playing and I'm paying no attention to it, I'm looking around the room...trying to find the perfect Christmas gift for Hubby....watching the twinkling lights on our 12 foot Christmas tree....listening to the washer and dryer going.....I start laughing at the tree.  I see ornaments all in one spot and a few bare spots all around.  I see lights not working.  And that brings me to the Saturday after Thanksgiving.....

This is our annual time to put up all of the Christmas decorations.  Hubby gets everything out and he puts up the tree and I start working on the garland in the loft.  The #s help Hubby for a bit and then come to help me.  They pretty much go back and forth because they get bored or someone pulls something out of the box and they want to help with that new thing.  It always starts off as a fun occasion for our family.  Everybody is so excited!  Everybody is in smiles!  And then it hits....
*arguing over not wanting to help anymore because they are done with this and it isn't fun anymore and they don't care about putting this up

*complaining that it's taking so long to put up one tree and can't we just put it up and call them when it's over and they can help with putting the ornaments on the tree

*rearranging furniture because the 12 foot tree has to go in the corner where Momma likes it cuz she's paranoid with it being in front of the window cuz strange people can see the gifts and break into our house and steal it all (yeah, I'm a bit paranoid)

*crying cuz the fake tree gave them a fake splinter and when I look at their hand, there is no splinter and it's driving me crazy that they are complaining about NOTHING BEING THERE

*rolling of the eyes cuz there is no splinter and then the #s being mad because I can't see their fake splinter

*moving of furniture cuz it doesn't look good in the first place it was put and I have to have the den perfect cuz we still have people come to the house and I don't want it just anywhere

*fighting over which # puts up which ornament cuz apparently some are better than others and nobody wants to put up the girly ornaments

*crying cuz one # doesn't have the same number of school made ornaments.....never realizing that one kid has been alive 12 years versus the 8 and 7 years the others have been alive....not to mention that #2 absolutely hates making crafts so he probably passed on making anything

*taking turns on who goes up the ladder and making sure that no # gets more times up the ladder than another one and then not wanting to go up cuz they're afraid of heights and need help getting down

*breaking of the annual ornament cuz someone can't hold on to the string or someone is mad or someone isn't looking

*cleaning of the annual Christmas ornament which means we have to check feet, check socks, sweep and vacuum to make sure we can finish putting up the tree

*crying for random reasons....seriously no clue why there are tears, but something is wrong and tears are pouring down his face

*moving more furniture around cuz I am still not happy with the way the den looks...time to tear apart the sectional

....you get the point....it's just not fun at this point.  Everybody is upset, angry, feelings hurt, everybody needing to be in separate rooms......and then Momma pulls out "the box".

"The box" is the one with all of the Christmas stuffed animals that sing, talk or shake something.  It's the most annoying box of the season, but as soon as that box comes out, it's like the Heavens opened and angels started singing again.  Everybody comes to me and waits for the bag of batteries to come out.  Oh yes, we keep batteries in "the box" so that each year we have enough for these Christmas creatures to come to life.  As I pull the creature out of the box, the #s search for the correct batteries out of the bag and hand them to me.  They place them in my hand ever so gently and wait patiently as I put the batteries in the holder and screw the cover back on.  I will hand the creature over to a # and they will play it and laugh as they pass it between each other.  Sometimes they'll sit and watch it, sometimes they'll dance, and sometime they'll have to figure out how to work it because some of these things are almost 16 years old.  "The box" is the thing that brings us back together after hours of trying to make our home look Christmas-y....keeps us sane....and best of all, "the box" keeps me the keeper of happiness in our life by numbers!