With Thanksgiving in the rear-view mirror, our attention turns toward Christmas decorations and checking items off our gift lists. Yesterday, I blogged about a gift idea for any toddlers on your list. Today, the focus is on decorations.

The most iconic and important Christmas decoration is the tree. There are three routes you can take to acquire this symbolic pine:

  1. You can walk out in the woods or go to a tree farm and cut down your own tree
  2. You can purchase a pre-cut tree
  3. You can buy an artificial (fake) tree

There are pros and cons to each of these options.

  • The tree you cut down, haul to the car, tie up and tote home is rewarding and can provide some fun stories of you having a lot in common with a plumber while sawing. The downside is the effort, getting dirty and the process can be embarrassing if you run into someone you know while on the ground with your butt hanging out of your pants
  • The tree you purchase allows you to have that authentic Christmas symbol without the effort. The downside would be spending more money and having to live with yourself knowing you took a shortcut
  • The artificial tree can be beautiful, perfectly symmetrical and used annually. Unfortunately, you can't duplicate the smell a real tree emits and going cheap with an artificial tree is obvious. Good, quality fake trees are not cheap

Since I can remember, my family has gone to a tree farm in Rochester, MN and cut down our own tree. It's a tradition that's provided so many memories and I wouldn't trade them for any fake or pre-cut tree.

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