I love Christmas, so much in fact that I even talk about it in multiple blogs. I also talk about here the fact that I am actually allergic to Christmas Trees and having one real tree in my house would cause me to have a major asthma attack the longer I am around it to the point that I may end up in the hospital (Which I did normally around Christmas when I was a child).
The short of a long story is the reason why I don’t have a Christmas tree in our home is I am allergic to them. When it comes to my particular allergies I am mainly allergic to nature. Grass, pollen, and Pine or Fir Trees are one of them. The needles are what really gets me as well as the smell and sap. We discovered this after I had gone to an allergy specialist and this was one of the most predominant bumps that happened after I had the test performed.
The smell is something that I do miss incredibly though even though it does make me sick. To the point, I even spend money on a special Scentsy wax every year called “Iced Pine” which, you guessed it, when I warm it I normally have to pay attention to the smell, turn if on and off a few times once the smell comes out because if I let it warm totally to the full force I find myself with a scratchy throat as well as coughing far more than without it. This is something that I do to try to “compromise” with my body and hope that I am not causing myself to have a full blown asthma attack. This is the closest thing that I have ever gotten to having my home smell like a Christmas tree again though. I know how crazy that may sound but I really do miss it. And, without being too obviously this goes for having a wreath on our door or even garland that is real. WE literally cannot have any type of greenery that is real inside of our homes.
A funny story is when my partner and I first got together many moons ago he even stated after buying our house (This was 12 years ago) that he wanted a real one while we visited my parents, my mom literally laughed and said that if he wanted me there that we would not be having one. He didn’t really understand and my dad kind of laughed and looked at him like, no she is right. Needless to say once my mom said he would be spending the holidays in the hospital with me he changed his tune and we got a very nice fake tree. In fact so nice that it looks real!
Picking out a Christmas tree is also something that I miss. Mind you for years we would go to a tree lot just as we did when I was a child, and we would pick out a tree for our family friends, It just wasn’t the same when you drop off the freshly cut tree at a family friends and you aren’t the one dragging it into the house. Though I will say, one thing I am thankful for (Life is about balance and not being negative right?) Is that because we are not able to have a real tree, we don’t have to worry about watering a fake tree or the abundance of needles that fall (even if a fake tree still loses some needles though too!).
The other thing that I do miss incredibly is the ambiance. Sure you KNOW when a tree is obviously fake. Ours looks so full though it looks real. But even if it looks real it is a fake tree which means everything is even, branches are basically the same, the same is not awkward at all. When you have a real tree you have some spots that may not be as perfect as the others, sometimes it can look a bit strange too even if it is a close to perfect as possible there still will be some imperfections. Look at the tops of them for example, how many people do you know have to cut the top off in order to fit the star or in order to squeeze the angel on top because they may have miss judged the height of their tree. Even though I do love our fake tree and even though it does look super real I know that at the end of the day it is not real.
That being said, especially having a family of my own now. I am thankful to be able to have a nice, real looking fake tree to put in our home. From the fake tree my parents had to the one we have now, there is quite a difference in quality to the point I think more and more people are opting to have a fake tree. Not to mention, if you pay for a tree and use if for years essentially you will find yourself saving money! I know our Christmas tree we have had nearly 11 years and we paid 125$ (Or around there), divide that and you have a tree that has cost 10$ or so which is less than the what, 20$ minimum they charge now to buy a tree. You can also forget to water it too without the risk have setting it on fire when you light up the tree in the evening before winding down.
I wish I could have a Christmas tree in my house, I feel like I am still missing something, but I also am very happy for many reasons why I don’t have a real Christmas Tree in my house also! Especially having to drag it out to the garbage after the holiday season is finished.
Stacey J. Girard 