My Family Christmas Tradition is Weird

I have a special arrangement with Santa Claus.

I'm cool like that, yo.

Santa Claus made a deal with my family three generations ago that he would deliver our Christmas tree (versus our putting one up ourselves).  There are other holiday decorations, but no tree, all the way to bed time on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas morning, we get up to the beautiful, fully-decorated tree, with all the presents (previously hidden) arranged around it.  From nothing to everything, overnight!

Of course, since this deal is with my family, my husband insists that the lack of the childhood tradition of setting up and decorating the tree together as a family - stringing popcorn and such - is just plain weird.

From his point of view - and probably the majority of Americans - he's right, it is weird.  But it's only part of the story - why do we do this weird Christmas Tree/Santa thing in the first place?

I'm saying Grandpa would
 have been thrilled to get a saw.

You see, until very recently, my family was pretty darn poor.  We simply couldn't afford much outside of the basic necessities of life, and sometimes, not even those on a regular basis.  It was during this period that the deal was struck with Santa.

The reality was that my ancestors would wait for the tree lot to close on Christmas Eve, and they'd go steal a tree off the lot and bring it home.  They were often crooked, with bald spots and dropping brown needles.

By all accounts, it didn't matter - the kids always woke up Christmas morning with the most beautiful tree they'd ever seen.  This was the sign that Santa hadn't forgotten them, and that the spirit of the season wasn't necessarily about getting presents.

In modern times, we simply put up our artificial tree after our kids have gone to bed - so now, the arrangement is more "Santa sets up the tree" than outright brings it, but the core of the tradition remains.

When my older daughter let us know she no longer believed a few years ago, I let her know the full story, and why it's important to keep it in place.  We should remember and honor where we came from, and how we took something weird, and made it wonderful.

This blog will be on break over the holidays, and will return in 2014.  Thanks for reading, and I hope you have an wonderful (and weird) holiday!