Christmas Day is just around the corner (well may­be two corners) and there are still so many things to do - well, maybe not really, anymore. If you’re like most empty nesters with kids hav­ing families of their own then you would know the exact feeling. After getting used to the years of Christmas busy­ness and excitement, the ar­rival of the season now brings a mixed feeling of anticipa­tion and dread. One of my exciting memo­ries of Christmas as a child was going with my Dad to buy our tree. In those olden days they’re always fresh - I don’t even remember if there were artificial trees around. I remember trying to help carry the tree even as I’m more than adding to the load than helping out. But that’s just about it. I can’t remember if I ever helped out preparing the tree. Anyways, I grew up loving the smell of fresh pine so until two years ago I’ve always insisted on real, fresh tree, even if my wife kept on bugging for a pre-lit authentic fake one from Costco. The bad news about a fresh tree is that you have to cut the bottom (to help soak up water better) then shim it up and level it on a tree stand. Now that may not be a prob­lem for others but it was for me as the kids always wanted the biggest and fattest tree, something like an eight-footer one. And try cutting a six-inch diameter moist trunk with a handsaw - with freezing hands while the needles keep on poking your hands, face and eyes. Once the tree has been prepped my arms and neck would be covered by bruises and scratches and my beads of sweat barely turning to icelets. I never cared about the rest - like putting the lights and ornaments on the tree - those were the kid’s job under the mom’s supervision.

And of course, there’s stringing the Christmas lights outside and around the house. Now that is a man’s job and I can’t even remember a single enjoyable moment frozen on top of a ladder trying to clip those light strings with gloves on. Of course, the kids’ excitement and an­ticipation make all these pain and labor worth it. But now that they’re gone these have become my biggest dread when the season comes. At my age it’s forbidden to climb ladders anymore, much so work un­der the weather, so now I have a good ex­cuse not to put up lights around the house anymore. And the fresh trees have long been gone - replaced by that authentic fake one from Costco (well my wife sprays an “authentic” pine scent so we still can have that smell). But with just the two of us we don’t even want to bring the tree out any­more. I told my wife let’s just get a picture of a tree (like those fake fireplaces). We have to admit that without the kids around it’s not fun anymore.

Of course, we still need to dress up the home for when the kids and the grandkids come. Well, with heavy hearts and creak­ing joints we put up the fake tree but just couldn’t find the time (or the inspiration) to light and dress it up with the ornaments. The bare tree just stood there for a couple of weeks. Then something special hap­pened - our grandkids came - and decided to help Nona (they prefer to call grandma in Italian) with the tree. So in the next couple of hours the grandkids took charge, creat­ing havoc and transforming the living room into a war zone, pouring ornaments out of boxes onto the floor, then up the steplad­der hanging them up the tree up to where they can reach. The really best part was they were actually singing carols and having a grand time.

I sat back, watched and took pictures of our little elves going up, around and under the tree, simply enjoying every bit of it, keep­ing Nona’s hands full as she made sure they don’t fall off the ladder or step on broken ornaments. By the time they were done the tree looked more like the trees in Occupy Vancouver than a Christmas tree, but we thought that was the best tree we ever had.
I can’t describe the feeling but I felt a fang of shame as I realized that it was one of the things that I began hating to do on Christ­mas as we became old, but was an exciting moment for our grandkids, which I know they will remember too, one day as they grow old. Yes - you can say that Christmas is indeed for children!

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