Parents

Posted on Dec 16, 2019

I'm A Mom Who Did Not Put Up A Christmas Tree This Year And Here's Why

I didn't plan to not put up a tree. It just happened.

by Krista Torres

BuzzFeed Staff

This past weekend I realized Christmas was only two and a half weeks away (while in the 99 cent store).

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It's not that I hate Christmas – I actually really like it – I'm just not one of those people who gets all giddy about going through the holiday aisles in Target before it's even Thanksgiving. Which is exactly why I didn't have anything Christmas-themed in my home yet.

So, as I was grabbing rolls of gift wrap and tape, I started having an internal breakdown thinking about all the ~mom~ things I* still needed to do: getting teacher gifts, decorating, wrapping presents, buying the outfit required for my son's holiday program, YOU GET IT.

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*My husband does help, but he's the kind of person who never lets anything stress him out and he hates shopping. He's also the kind of person who would try to buy every single thing he needed for Christmas day on Christmas eve night. So, I get stressed, OK?!

When I got home, I thought about the tree and how it was tucked away in storage with all the Christmas decorations. I thought about how much a pain in the a$$ it was going to be to get to it.

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I also didn't feel like listening to my husband complain about how we "have too much stuff" as he helped me unpack the holiday accessories. So, instead, I decided to knock one other lingering thing off my list: Wrapping the presents that were hidden in my closet.

As I sat there alone in my room, feeling like a failure for doing such a poor wrapping job, I tried not to cry thinking about how I am always falling short in the motherhood department.

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I started thinking about the time I forgot it was spirit day at school, the time I was late for his school play, and the time I sent him to school in pants that were clearly too short for him, but I hadn't done laundry, so I told him they looked fine.

Feeling like crap, I pulled my oversized hoodie over my knees and a mini Snickers fell out of the pocket. It's silly, but it changed my mood. I thought about how the only thing I want for Christmas is to be with the ones I love – none of the other crap matters to me. I never paid attention to things like my mom's wrapping job growing up. And, yes, it was fun decorating the tree, but I don't think I would have loved my mom any less if we didn't do it. So, I brushed myself off, and decided to call a family meeting.

Warner Bros.

Before I get into the whole "no tree" thing, I think it's important to note that my son is 11. He figured out Elf on the Shelf and Santa a couple years ago. But, he LOVES Christmas. It's his favorite holiday. What I am trying to say is: He looks forward to decorating!

New Line Cinema

But, I'm a working mom and I'm busy and doing a tree this year was just...a lot. I didn't want to do it! I decided I needed to propose my "no tree, no decorations" idea to my fam. (I know some people are going to attack me in the comments, saying I'm "lazy," so I would just like to say: First of all, you don't know what personal stuff I have going on in my life right now, and, second of all, you're mean.)

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Note: I didn't actually wake my son up, he was in the living room watching Impractical Jokers with my husband.

After the initial shock at my suggestion, I started explaining the reasons behind it. I talked about how I wanted to focus on each other this year. We could still have hot cocoa and play games and have fun – just without the decorations...or the tree.

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We ended up spiraling into a conversation about how people less fortunate don't even get presents or a tree. I explained how I wanted our focus this year to be spending time with each other – no electronics – and not worrying about everything ~looking~ perfect.

Maybe it was my son seeing how excited I was about NOT having a tree, but he immediately got excited about not having one, too. He ran into our junk drawer, got some paper and tape, and did this to the lamp:

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I'm A Mom Who Did Not Put Up A Christmas Tree This Year And Here's Why

This past weekend I realized Christmas was only two and a half weeks away (while in the 99 cent store).

It's not that I hate Christmas – I actually really like it – I'm just not one of those people who gets all giddy about going through the holiday aisles in Target before it's even Thanksgiving. Which is exactly why I didn't have anything Christmas-themed in my home yet.

So, as I was grabbing rolls of gift wrap and tape, I started having an internal breakdown thinking about all the ~mom~ things I* still needed to do: getting teacher gifts, decorating, wrapping presents, buying the outfit required for my son's holiday program, YOU GET IT.

When I got home, I thought about the tree and how it was tucked away in storage with all the Christmas decorations. I thought about how much a pain in the a$$ it was going to be to get to it.

I also didn't feel like listening to my husband complain about how we "have too much stuff" as he helped me unpack the holiday accessories. So, instead, I decided to knock one other lingering thing off my list: Wrapping the presents that were hidden in my closet.

As I sat there alone in my room, feeling like a failure for doing such a poor wrapping job, I tried not to cry thinking about how I am always falling short in the motherhood department.

Before I get into the whole "no tree" thing, I think it's important to note that my son is 11. He figured out Elf on the Shelf and Santa a couple years ago. But, he LOVES Christmas. It's his favorite holiday. What I am trying to say is: He looks forward to decorating!

After the initial shock at my suggestion, I started explaining the reasons behind it. I talked about how I wanted to focus on each other this year. We could still have hot cocoa and play games and have fun – just without the decorations...or the tree.

Maybe it was my son seeing how excited I was about NOT having a tree, but he immediately got excited about not having one, too. He ran into our junk drawer, got some paper and tape, and did this to the lamp:

So, that was that. I finished wrapping the presents peacefully that night and the next morning woke up to this beautiful sight:

I'm A Mom Who Did Not Put Up A Christmas Tree This Year And Here's Why

This past weekend I realized Christmas was only two and a half weeks away (while in the 99 cent store).

It's not that I hate Christmas – I actually really like it – I'm just not one of those people who gets all giddy about going through the holiday aisles in Target before it's even Thanksgiving. Which is exactly why I didn't have anything Christmas-themed in my home yet.

So, as I was grabbing rolls of gift wrap and tape, I started having an internal breakdown thinking about all the ~mom~ things I* still needed to do: getting teacher gifts, decorating, wrapping presents, buying the outfit required for my son's holiday program, YOU GET IT.

When I got home, I thought about the tree and how it was tucked away in storage with all the Christmas decorations. I thought about how much a pain in the a$$ it was going to be to get to it.

I also didn't feel like listening to my husband complain about how we "have too much stuff" as he helped me unpack the holiday accessories. So, instead, I decided to knock one other lingering thing off my list: Wrapping the presents that were hidden in my closet.

As I sat there alone in my room, feeling like a failure for doing such a poor wrapping job, I tried not to cry thinking about how I am always falling short in the motherhood department.

Before I get into the whole "no tree" thing, I think it's important to note that my son is 11. He figured out Elf on the Shelf and Santa a couple years ago. But, he LOVES Christmas. It's his favorite holiday. What I am trying to say is: He looks forward to decorating!

After the initial shock at my suggestion, I started explaining the reasons behind it. I talked about how I wanted to focus on each other this year. We could still have hot cocoa and play games and have fun – just without the decorations...or the tree.

Maybe it was my son seeing how excited I was about NOT having a tree, but he immediately got excited about not having one, too. He ran into our junk drawer, got some paper and tape, and did this to the lamp:

So, that was that. I finished wrapping the presents peacefully that night and the next morning woke up to this beautiful sight:

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