Lolligags: December 2017

Good morning and Merry Christmas faithful friends, followers and readers! Let me start by saying how much each and every one of you mean to me. I know just how precious time is, so the fact that you’ve taken some of yours to read my post(s) really means the world to me.

How’s the final push of Christmas prep going for y’all? Are ya ready and waiting? Or will you be braving the masses today in hopes of finishing up your shopping? Either way, I just love this time of year. Whether it’s the hustle and bustle of the mall or being cozied up at home, Christmastime is my favorite. The parties, the break from school, the gift giving and the decorating, I love it all.

In the past, our house has been one that’s divided when it comes to a very ‘touchy’ Christmas decorating subject.

White lights or colored lights.

Every year I’m the captain for team white lights and, if you know me or have ever played a board game with me, then you know that I’ll do whatever it takes to win. What. Ever. When the girls were younger they were usually on team colored lights with daddy, but as the older two have grown they’ve come around to my purest ways of thinking.

A few years ago, in a moment of weakness or guilt, not sure which one, I agreed to alternating between colored and white lights every other year. However, truth be told, I wasn’t totally and completely faithful in that agreement. I would put up the tree and the decorations while the kids were sleeping or at school and the husband was at work. When they’d say “Hey, isn’t it a colored lights year”, I would innocently say “Is it?” then promptly change the subject and distract them with baked goods, hot cocoa and/or presents. One year my husband insisted on colored lights. It didn’t go well. I threw a monumental fit and told him that he was ruining Christmas. I hung the colored lights and my dignity on the tree that year.

In early November, as I began planning this year’s Christmas décor theme, (because apparently the theme can’t just be Christmas) I had a revelation. I thought about the Christmases of my childhood and what those looked like. My mom had knack for transforming our house every year with a beautiful fresh tree, miles of garland, handmade stockings and, you guessed it, colored lights. In fact, I can remember when she did her first white light tree (somewhere around the early 90’s white lights became the must have in Christmas décor). While I was instantly sold on the white lights, there was a part of me that was going to miss those sparkling jewel tones that had faithfully and perfectly lit up our living room year after year.

In that moment of Christmas pasts reflection, I made a decision, and what lights I’d be using that year was only a byproduct of this epiphany. You see, when I decorate every year it’s not just for the family and I. Nope, I’m thinking about everyone else and what they’ll think of my Christmas décor. Will people like how it looks? Will it be Instagram worthy? It was a slippery slope of aiming to please that I’d been sliding down for far too long. Here I was setting aside the wants and likes of my own family in hopes of getting them from complete strangers.

That settled it. My family, the only demographic that I should have been focused on pleasing all along, was getting their colored lights, and I was getting a whole new outlook.

We’ve decorated and displayed messy, imperfect gingerbread houses, looked through piles of handmade ornaments from years of classroom projects and laughed at the stories each one told. We’ve had dance parties by the light of our colorful tree and I proudly displayed a beautiful brightly colored Christmas decoration made by my Great Grandmother. Simply put, it’s been perfect. It seems silly to say, but I feel a little like the Grinch when he realizes what Christmas is really all about. While I knew it all along, it just took a few boxes of colored lights to remind me.

I’m excited to share a little tour of our home with you this Christmas! I hope the pictures offer more than just décor inspiration and encourage you to fully embrace all that this season has to offer.