Growing up we never decorated our Christmas tree until mid-December at the earliest. It was simply THE best day of the year, better than Christmas day itself! I loved standing at the foot of the stairs watching dad wrestle with the familiar dog-eared box full of ancient decorations. They were like old friends who we really could not wait to see! The smell and touch of the tinsel and its balding bits with last year’s sellotape still attached, sent my stomach in a spin. I loved digging out the several-times-repaired concertinaed golden ‘thingy’ that mum would stretch from one corner of the room to the other. And then there was the cardboard Santa on his sleigh, with his reindeer attached by red rope that we would hang on the wall…until the Blu Tack failed leaving Santa literally hanging by a thread.
There were new additions over the years but the stalwarts were always the best. I missed them very much when I moved into my own place, sniff sniff. How embarrassingly sentimental am I?
Since those halcyon days, I have steadily built up my own respectable collection of decorations, mostly thanks to the children, who like to pick out a new one every Christmas. This year, I am going to surprise them with a gorgeous personalised glass bauble each, which has a little angel inside. They are simply beautiful and I can’t wait to see their faces when I hang them on the tree for the first time! Not only that, I have pushed the boat out and also ordered two personalised Santa sacks which they will no doubt love (and will hopefully last a few years too he he).
I quite like the idea of them seeking out the old familiar decorations just like I did. And I’m sure our new glass baubles and santa sacks will see many more Christmases than my mum’s golden concertinaed ‘thingy’ ever did!