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Original poster

Is my environmentally friendly christmas tree going to ruin christmas for the kids?

50 replies

Dragonbrandybutter · 18/12/2008 22:52

I am a ponce.
I know this.
But i can't stand tinsel and plastic crap.
Last year i bought a real tree in a pot about 2 foot high. DS1 and i decorated it with felt hangy things and tied some red gingham bows onto it. I couldn't find the lights and didn't want to buy new ones.

DS1 was 3 and expressed that it wasn't as good because it doesn't have lights, and absolutely loves other peoples trees with all the shit on them, especially coloured flashing lights.

This year i plan to bring the same tree back in from the garden and do the same. No lights again.

He's 4 now and i'm fairly sure he's going to think it's crap and i am an awful mum.

I don't really like christmas anyway.

Does anyone have a horrendously awful flashing tree just because the kids love it?

OP posts:
Original poster
Dragonbrandybutter · 19/12/2008 09:46

i MAY get some lights.
IF they are cheap and i don't have to hunt for them in a shop AND there are no queues.
Otherwise it's just a tree in a pot on the shelf.

I'm not even christian.
But christmas can be fun so we do it anyway.

OP posts:
Fennel · 19/12/2008 09:51

Get some lights. £2 in a cheap shop. And put them on for about 2 hours a day.

It's not a Christian tradition anyway. My father is a rather serious Christian and wouldn't let us have a Christmas tree, it was too "pagan". So all of us children, now adults, of course have big trees covered in lights.

I get stressed about eco Christmas v Christmas-for-Children but in the end we do all the excess and trivia and (shudder) all the waste it entails. I don't mind not getting any presents for me but I don't want my children to grow up feeling we had serious adult fun-less Christmases.

misdee · 19/12/2008 09:53

i have lights here spare.

tonnes of them this year havent been put up.

but have a small string of non-flashing multi coloured lights. you are welcome to borrow them if you are in herts.

Original poster
Dragonbrandybutter · 19/12/2008 09:57

thanks misdee. but am in devon.

i like a small tree in a pot because you just stick it outside for another year and there's none of the squeezing an oversized tree through the door while all the needles get pulled off by the door frame.

glad it's not a serious christian tradition. but it does brighten up the winter, and the kids like tree's in the house for some reason, probably because it's not quite right somehow.

OP posts:
CliffRichardSucksEggsInHell · 19/12/2008 09:59

We don't have a Christmas tree yet, I don't have a car so can't pick one up and dh isn't in the mood. He's a bit depressed and hasn't felt up to getting a tree.

Fennel · 19/12/2008 10:00

Otherwise, your children will grow up and dine out for years on stories of how their parents wouldn't even let them have lights on the Christmas tree (trust me, that's what we do).

There are some things your parents do to you as children which do make sense (Sensible Healthy Packed Lunches, Limited TV) and others (like no Christmas trees or decorations or lights) which just don't hold up, in the long run, there aren't good enough reasons for not doing them.

SummatAnNowt · 19/12/2008 10:20

My dad didn't allow lights on our Christmas tree when we were kids. We all have lights now... lovely lovely magical lights.

psychohohohoho · 19/12/2008 10:22

xmas trees just are not xmas trees unless they are dripping with lights and baubles.

think of how bereft the poor tree feels, thinking he is going to be all pretty and sparkly and then nothing.......

awwww........poor tree

Fennel · 19/12/2008 10:25

What about candles? the Scandinavian and eco-friendly option?

I wouldn't cos of the fire risk, but it would be more eco-friendly (at least before the house burned down, releasing tonnes of carbon into the environment).

DumbledoresGirl · 19/12/2008 10:28

Rhubarb: the advantage of being in your situation is that when your dh does feel like getting a tree, he will find they are all half price! I went to buy mine the day before yesterday and discovered the garden centre was selling them all off cheaply, presumably because they felt most people had already bought their trees! I did not leave it deliberately late. I never put the tree up until school has finished (today) and I didn't want the tree hanging around for days before I was ready for it. I was pleased everyone else was in such a hurry to get Christmas started though as it meant I got a much larger tree than the one I was expecting I could afford.

Re OP: get some white lights fgs. I do think you have a bit of a duty to make an effort for the sake of your son. TBH, my personal circumstances being what they are, I could quite easily have not bought a tree this year but I did so for the sake of my children.

psychohohohoho · 19/12/2008 10:31

I still feel bad for the tree.......it wants pretty lights, not just your son.

the tree needs to fulfil its destiny.

CliffRichardSucksEggsInHell · 19/12/2008 10:33

Yeah, will make an effort to get one this weekend. House is far from Christmassy atm.

ScummyMummy · 19/12/2008 15:47

rhubs. Hope things pick up soon.

DoesntChristmasDragOn · 19/12/2008 15:50

If he whinges, breathe a huge plume of fire at the tree and reduce it to a twiggy cindery thing. That's what a proper dragon would do.

expatinscotland · 19/12/2008 15:54

bah humbug.

we have an artificial tree we bought in woolies years ago.

with loads of lights and tacky deccies the kids made.

the girls have a completely naff pink LED tree in their room.

christmas is supposed to be tacky, not tasteful.

DoesntChristmasDragOn · 19/12/2008 15:55

You can do festive without it being tacky [superior] [smug] [snigger]

GrimmaTheNome · 19/12/2008 16:02

Me again... my tree looks gorgeous with no lights. Its got a lot of really good thick shiny tinsel, and baubles of course, which all catch the light.

Ripeberry · 19/12/2008 16:03

Don't you know? The latest thing thesedays is to have an upside down xmas tree.
I kid you not! You can actually buy plastic trees that are upside down!
WTF?!

MilaMae · 19/12/2008 16:28

My tree is crap free/hidden and the kids love it. We do have white lights though with gingerbread and tin/straw/wood/fabric decs. I don't buy anything new my mother and other relations have given me/made lovely things over the years that are quite Shakerish. We've done the popcorn thing before-looks lovely.

I'd get the lights-just make sure they're white

Original poster
Dragonbrandybutter · 19/12/2008 19:18

This afternoon he was pointing and wowing at the christmas tree outside exeter cathedral.

It was flashing.

I said, 'Why do you like the flashing lights?'.
He said, 'Because they are like an alarm for the hospital....and a fire engine....and a police car!'
How very festive!

i will get him some lights. even if it's just so he doesn't rebel in adulthood to have a hideous multicoloured tree and house with giant reindeer across the lawn and neon santa stop here signs. I'd hate to have to visit that for christmas day in my old age.

OP posts:
MilaMae · 19/12/2008 20:05

We're getting haircuts at Nippers tomorrow(God help me) will check out the cathedral tree.

mumeeee · 19/12/2008 20:45

We have lights on our tree as we don't think a tre without lights looks right.

expatinscotland · 19/12/2008 20:46

'You can do festive without it being tacky [superior] [smug] [snigger] '

Not when you're a 4-year-old!

nappyaddict · 21/12/2008 15:08

Grimma - why don't you have lights on your tree? I just can't imagine a tree without lights.

Original poster
Dragonbrandybutter · 24/12/2008 20:59

Found the lights!
DS1 and 2, very pleased.
Now we have a garish tree but at least it's not very big.

Happy Christmas

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