Christmas tree disaster

[coffeerevelsrock]

How bad does it look? I feel so deflated and frustrated and I know I need to get a grip but I just can't at the moment.

Getting the tree is one of my favourite aspects of Christmas and I have really loved doing it with my two boys since divorcing 7 years ago. As they are 12 and 14 now I don't expect them to be gleeful about it but need their help, Today we got our usual 6 footer and it just won't sit straight. It's fallen twice and I just feel defeated. we have the usual foot-operated stand we've had for 3 or 4 years and ds1 is usually the expert, but this year it's just not happening. I have no illusions that it will stay up and I'm just waiting for it to fall again and obviously it's massively wonky and I daren't put the star on the top.

We've all fallen out with each other and I just feel like a failure. We also have to go on a fucking Christmas walk with lights that I've paid £60 for that I just can't be arsed with, especially as it's wet. Kids wanted to go at the time but I know they'd rather not tonight now.

To make it all worse, there's a fucking fly in here in December - how!?

Can anyone cheer me up, tell me to get a grip or something? Please.

[Bringonsummer19]

Yours looks lovely OP! My children put paper chains and (horror) coloured lights on mine…

[Twiglets1]

Sorry but I chuckled out loud at your tree - it’s too fat! I was only laughing because I’ve made exactly the same mistake some previous years. They sell them by height so you think you will choose a nice bushy one to get your money’s worth.
Don’t fret it’s only a tree ... just get a skinnier one next year

[coffeerevelsrock]

Updated pic! Obviously decs and lights need a bit of work and redistributing - ds2 had t multitask being on his phone while picking them up, obvs, but we're off for the walk so I'll adjust tomorrow. Love the string idea- will definitely do that if in need again.

So glad to hear I'm not the only one who struggles - it's so easy to think others just pop theirs up in a jiffy which makes me feel crap so, in a good way, it's heartening to see others sometimes have tree issues!

[Flobbertybillop]

Omg, are you me? Same age kids, and our tree fell over 3 times haha. We used the Christmas beads, and tied it to a cupboard using sellotape.
It looks fine

[ErrolTheDragon]

Hurray!
And it's not 'too fat'. It's cheerfully rotund.

[BigRedDuck]

It looks lovely OP. You are NOT a failure. Enjoy your walk x

[TheChosenTwo]

Oh I love it! So cheerful and chunky
A delightful tree op, you’ve all done a brilliant job.

[LindyLou2020]

Please can someone enlighten me as to what is a "foot operated stand"?

[TheChosenTwo]

Enjoy your walk.
This thread has reminded me of when we’d not long moved into our house and it was possibly the first Christmas we’d had here:
Had all the family round, lovely, all sitting around in the front room, some people were sitting on the floor including my stepdad and dh when all of a sudden out of nowhere the tree just toppled and fell on top of both of them
Well I’d never laughed so much in my life, my sister in law (both of us quite squiffy at this point)!and I tried to wrestle the unruly tree off them, when we got it up they were covered in the decorations that had fallen off in the kerfuffle, honestly it was a brilliant
We decided the floor must have had uneven boards that had been disturbed by people sitting on the floor. It was a monstrous 8ft tree, too bloody big really and definitely too bulbous around the bottom it was the best tree ever!

[S2617]

£60 for a walk? Around where ? Sandringham?

[ShirleyPhallus]

I personally really dislike the Instagram perfect trees which are totally coordinated and usually accompanied by empty boxes wrapped in paper

Much prefer a charming real tree like this. Happy Xmas OP, get your hip flask on and get out on the walk

[TowandaForever]

It looks much better now. Well done @coffeerevelsrock

[liveforsummer]

Mine did the same one year and I did the same as you and took a saw to it then fiddled about with the stand and it was ok after that. It did however go on to drop every last one of it's needles on to my carpet and was still finding them months later. After a couple more years of real tree disasters I went back to fake 😆

[Musmerian]

I disgraced myself by having a full on tantrum two years ago because the tree was too big! Tears and all - I had to hide in my bedroom til I got over it. Last year I bought a really expensive fake tree and it’s ace. Never wonky and no traumas.

[Kitkat151]

It’s beautiful 🥰

[CPL593H]

Christmas trees are like babies. They're all beautiful.

[NovemberNovemberDarkNights]

@coffeerevelsrock

It looks lovely now! And with a small tweak to the lights to brighten the dark bit it'll be fantastic.

I would love a 'Real' tree, but I live alone & don't see how I could get it to stand by myself. Especially as I've had a shoulder replacement this year (after an accident). I can't do much with my right arm at all.

Secondly I have an old 'fake' tree who has been with me through thick & thin & id have to find space for him too! I couldn't leave him in the loft!

Everything is still in the loft as getting it down, on a ladder, with only one arm has felt a bit daunting.

I've tried very hard not to ask too much of friends & neighbours. I'll see how I get on before I ask any of them. Not helped by the fact that they seem to be old or pregnant 🤣

Tell me about your walk you booked! Was it around a special display in private grounds? There one near me & I'm sure it would be lovely, but I think I'll stick to the walk around the neighbour hood & where I work, lots of them go 'all out'.

[KaptainKaveman]

Commiserations OP. In your shoes I'd open the wine.

[Kitkat151]

@CPL593H

Christmas trees are like babies. They're all beautiful.

I love this comment!

[Hoppinggreen]

One year I was 8.5 months pg and not well at all
I as so not in the mood for putting up a tree but DH put the bloody thing up and disappeared to work so I did it.
Stepped back to look and it fell over, smashing lots of the lovely decorations we had collected on our child free travels.
I cried for a bit and then left it for DH to deal with when he came home

Your tree is lovely OP, much better than some of those awful Instagram type ones and the fact that you and your boys did it together makes it special

[AdventStar]

It looks lovely, OP! Hope you've all made up now and are enjoying yourselves.

[SwtPeasOnEarth]

This will be the tree that is talked about and laughed about for years to come...perfect trees are easily forgotten.
How was The walkabout, OP? Sounds like a great idea

[SwtPeasOnEarth]

@coffeerevelsrock
BTW, your tree looks lovely! Merry Christmas to you and yours!

[SmallProvincial]

Don't you worry OP, my tree is has more.of a lean than the tower of Pisa and is only staying upright as it's propped with a cookbook under the stand.

I need to invest in one of these foot powered stands. I'd never heard of them before.

It's not just you... I thought it was just me!

[DysmalRadius]

My husband once has to call me at a charity event I was hosting (fortunately, only around the corner) with two children (one only months old!) to come home and rescue him from underneath the tree! It had started falling on him, but the lights were already plugged in and he couldn't get it back up or let it fall without me untangling him and it! In contrast, this appears to be a near-professional job of tree management and should all be proud of yourselves!