O Christmas Tree

This Christmas the bane of my existence has been my Christmas tree.
Or more specifically, my sister's cat Puck and his relationship with my Christmas tree.

He only looks sweet and innocent

Backstory: when I moved in to my studio apartment a few years ago I knew that the six foot fake tree I had would not fit so I got rid of it during the move and at Christmas I bought a two foot pre-lit tree. It's the perfect size for my space and the last two Christmases it has sat on an end table pretty much ignored by my cats. This year however.... I no longer have that end table because my desk now sits in that spot. The desk is designed for small spaces so there is just enough room on top for my laptop and my printer (no Christmas tree). So this year I decided to put my tree on a stool from my dining set in roughly the same spot as it has been the past two years. I took the tree out of the box and it's missing one of its feet. Okay, speed bump, but luckily one of my school books is an almost perfect size for the tree to rest on where the third foot would be. However, this does mean that the least amount of pressure on the tree makes it start twisting and moving. Problem number one. The stool and/or the floor are not straight. The stool wobbles a bit and I know the floor is crooked so there is not a stable surface for the tree to rest on. Problem number two. Now we get to the cat. More brief backstory: I have been fostering my sister's cat for her since August while she waits to get her own place. So don't you know, Puck has now decided the best thing for a late-night snack is my tree. Problem number three.

I can't tell you how many times I have woken up in the middle night to hear Puck chewing on the needles and then the tree falling over. I've only come home a couple times to the tree being knocked over. This means I can't catch him in the act to spray bottle water in his face to try to discipline him. Instead, almost every night, I've had to crawl out of bed to pick up the tree and all the ornaments that

Every night.

have fallen off, put the tree back up, place the ornaments in a pile, and try to get a little more sleep before Rocky (one of my other cats) decides I should get up and starts meowing in my face. In my tired frustration I even found myself just this morning telling Puck "You've practically ruined Christmas you know!" More than once I've had the thought: "I should just not have a tree this year."

But I go on. Every morning I get up, feed the cats, put away the dishes, and start my coffee. While it brews I redecorate the tree. Luckily it's a small tree with not a lot of ornaments on it. But I was thinking the other day that there must be a lesson in this. It would be easy to just pack away the tree and ornaments and wait until next year. It would be easy to not decorate it so I wouldn't have to go through with putting them back on almost every day. But I don't. A Christmas tree makes me happy. I have so many fond memories of decorating the tree as a kid. We always had a real tree and Dad was in charge of stringing the lights (accompanied by a lot of cursing). We had those big colored bulbs that you can't really find any more. And then we would get to put on the ornaments. All the ornaments that we girls had received from our Grandma over the years. The Baby's First Christmas ornaments. The ones that were family heirlooms. I love when you turn all the lights off and there's nothing but the flow of the tree lights. Christmas day was the one day of the season we would turn the lights on first thing in the morning and leave them on all day, a tradition I still carry on today. So much like the tree, any time I feel knocked down, I need to pick myself up and shine just as bright, no matter how many times it happens. I can still stand tall, even if my foundation is a bit wobbly and I need a little bit of support.