Day 336
The holiday spirit is here. The barn is decorated and the inflatables are inflated. I wouldn't consider myself a Scrooge but I definitely don't get into Christmas decorations as much as some people I know. In fact, I prefer Halloween, but that's a whole different story. Being a father of three holiday-loving hooligans, I have softened a bit at the idea of some holiday traditions though I promise you, there will NEVER be an elf overseeing the kids in December.
The day after Thanksgiving,we begin the process of decorating. We kick off the festivities with the assenby of our pre-lit artificial cat climber, I mean tree. The kids have an absolute ball putting ornaments on every possible inch of the tree. My wife and I get reminiscent looking at how our ornament collection has grown over the years.
Once the family tree is done, we usually set up our hutch with stockings and assorted holiday knick knacks, including a growing collection of snow globes. Once that is done, we move to putting up various holiday school projects the kids have accumulated and scatter them around the walls. The next and final step is the assembly of trees in all three kid rooms. We have been able to accumulate three different kid-sized artificial trees. Each child has their own unique decorating style. They are too excited to really care about the end product. The process is what they enjoy the most, even though occasional squabbles occur when dividing up different ornaments.
The holiday spirit continues as we watch different holiday classics and listen to holiday tunes over and over again. Let’s just say Christmas Vacation is usually on repeat on one of our screens. The Polar Express, The Grinch, and Home Alone aren’t far behind. When it comes to the songs, we all have our favorites. I prefer Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmastime while my better half adores Santa Claus is Coming to Town by Bruce Springsteen. Our choices don’t matter all too much as the kids take control and belt out Last Christmas, I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas or Snow Miser versus Heat Miser.
The Dargatz Family is definitely invested in the holiday spirit.
