What kind of lights should be on a Christmas tree?
This is the million dollar question, I've found. It seems no married couple can quite agree on white/colored, small/big bulbs. For Daniel and I, the issue was simplified by a serious lack of selection our first Christmas (compounded by a serious lack of $$, but that's not unusual for most newlyweds). Small bulbs were everywhere in stores, but since Daniel and I both hate the miniature lights (at least we agreed in that), we hunted and hunted and were satisfied with the first big bulbs we found that weren't for outdoor use and were marked 35% off. They happened to be clear, which was my preference. Colored lights were Daniel's preference, but beggers can't be choosers and neither can people decorating their tree the week before Christmas, so we took what we found.
Five years later, I'm really glad we don't have colored lights since the big clear sparkles we've got somehow fit better in our formal dining room (where we set up the tree) than blue and green and red would. I'm not always sure Daniel feels quite as pleased, and I'm almost sure my kids wish our lights weren't so plain.
Actually, the only time I feel a twinge of regret about having settled on clear lights is when I see my kids' eyes as they take in a tree blinking with colored lights, but then I think about how much I hate blinking lights and remember why I'm the decorator and my 2- and 3-year-olds aren't.
Nonetheless, tomorrow we are off to cut down our Christmas tree and decorate it. In the afternoon, while our kids nap, we will string our three strands of big, clear bulbs around it. By evening, it will be perfect, especially since Gabriel is now old enough to really take part in the decorating, which means the finished product will have an uneven distribution of ornaments. (This, to me, is required for a tree to look right.) I will sit in my living room and wonder how the lights of a tree at night in my home makes the whole world seem more peaceful.
*sigh*
Too bad both spouses can't be so satsfied.
I must admit that I feel for Daniel. I come from the colored lights background and have since changed Matt's opinion! I will say that white lights look better outdoors but I love looking at all the different colors and how it reflects off the tree and off certain ornaments. Maybe someday you'll change your mind...just try it once!
ReplyDeleteI like the clear lights, or lights all the same color anyway. I switched to decorating a nativity scene instead of a tree this year and used all blue miniature lights. My husband is a "tree" person. I see it as a waste of space and only a temptation for little fingers for me to chase after all day long, but I'm fine if he wants it set up IN THE DEN (where the children don't play). I agreed to decorated it if he'll set it up (artificial). So far so good!
ReplyDeleteThe reason I like clear lights is because I can "put it together" a lot easier. I grew up with the tree always a mess of junk hanging off of it. I like a clean, together look. And I found I can change the tree from year to year using the same clear backdrop. One year I only put white and red ornaments on the tree. Last year it was a catch-all. Don't know about this year because I got rid of all the meaningless ornaments and he hardly have anything! And the two cute marshmallow snowman ornaments Cassie and I made last year got eaten by Seth this year! YUCK! (I didn't catch him in time) Not into blinking lights unless they're distributed evenly (not half the tree blinking or blinking in chunks).
Sonny and I disagree on home decorating preferences anyway. For example, I like things asymetrically most the time. I'll put a chair in a corner before I put it straight on a wall, and then Sonny will come by and straighten it out. Ugh! Looks like a doctor's office waiting room! I hang a lot of my picture in abstract groupings of like frames. He'd prefer one photo per wall, right in the center. Boring. I guess it's the engineer in him.
We are supposed to beautify our homes to bless our husband/family, right? So we make it beautiful to our liking. And then husband doesn't always like it and requests we change it to a bothersome look that doesn't work. But as I always laughingly protest to Sonny, "But WHO has to look at this arrangement all day long while you're at work, hmmmmm?" Who has to squirm around an over-abundance of furniture just because they're antique? (Sonny is half my size now that I'm pregnant. He can reach Grace's crib fine where it is, but I have to squeeze in there sucking my pregnant belly in to pick up a dropped toy! LOL) He wants a golden retriever, I want a lab/mutt. Who's going to have to vacuum all the long, golden dog hair and make sure he's brushed, hmmmmm? He wants to move all six of us into 1/3 of the house around a wood stove to save $$ on heat instead of getting the house heater fixed. Who has to live with four children under the age of four, keeping them from getting burned on the woodstove all day, in 600 sq/ft of space out of the 2,000 sq/ft we're paying mortgage on? HAHAHAHAH!
I know it sounds "unsubmissive" of me to have such an attitude. Maybe it is. I'm just always trying to find the balance. And I'm not bickering... it's kind of a joke between us with stuff like this. We usually find an agreement or suitable compromise anyway.
Have fun! HAHAH!
I've always liked colors and Doug grew up with white. We used to do the tree outside white one year and colors the next. We pretty much take turns, now the tree inside is prelit and it's white. The cost of lights isn't worth fighting about, you can get them after Christmas cheap...so we've done both. Doug actually bought colored larger lights this year, but when I found out they were led's and would last "forever" I realized why he bought them, techno money saver guy....he hates replacing light bulbs.
ReplyDeleteTo the last commenter, I've had the same aggravation about feeling like 'why don't you want to take care of us and give us heat and you spend money on other things that I don't think of as important'. It makes you want to go back to work. So you fight back by not letting him have a tree, or the chair in his position. Passive agressive, I've been there!! Just because he's the leader doesn't mean both of you aren't important. Those are valid things you have to say about the wood stove. I think Brietta probably has this book, The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace, it's very good and she also tells how to make a respectful appeal....it's helped me a lot. Also Dr. Emerson and Sarah Eggerichs are excellent, I saw them speak at a conference and my husband loved them too, which is really important! Don't wait for 25 years(like me!) for stuff to build up....thinking it's ok when you're holding a bunch of stuff in your heart thinking you're the godly woman and you're just getting angrier and angrier..
"To blink, or not to blink" has always been the question in our house. I'll let my eyes do the blinking, thank you. I have resigned myself to colored lights. Or maybe I'm just too frugal to buy more lights when we finally have enough of the same kind of colored lights to cover a tree.
ReplyDeleteI'm constantly "fixing" my tree's decorations for days after I decorate because I like "even" ornament coverage. (Just a little OCD, don't you think?) I can't imagine what I'll do when Larry is old enough to help - just sit back and enjoy the effect, I hope!
Sounds like so much fun to me! One day Bronwyn will understand and greatly appreciate your clear non-twinkling lights. :)
ReplyDeleteWe had the color vs. white lights discussion, as well. I was for color, Tim was for white. So, we have alternated, but this year Tim seemed to resign himself to the idea of colors. I really don't mind the white lights on a tree, but I grew up with colored lights, so they offer a nostalgic element that isn't there with white lights. In either case, I am also quite opposed to any blinking lights, and I think white lights are best for outdoor decorating.
ReplyDeleteIf it makes you feel any better, I hate blinking lights and love white lights. I think they add a more charming and elegant look to the tree.
ReplyDeletebut thats just me =)
Colored Lights - White Lights - Blinking - Non Blinking - Who Cares??
ReplyDeleteThe loving family gathered around the tree is all that is really important. You have each other and Christmas is not the time to worry about lights. Just sit back and enjoy your time and the children in your home and the tree with the lights turned down low and who cares what color they are. It is a spectacular time and before you blink your eyes - the children will have moved away - and you will be home just the two of you and you will miss this oh-so-special time with your little ones around you. I know you have heard this before but it is true. Enjoy the moment. Love