Every household decorates Christmas trees in its own way. Some like tinsel. One family we knew used simple straw stars. Another preferred candy canes and gingerbread cookies. My parents mixed keepsake ornaments with glass globes and icicles.
We haven’t collected much in the way of Christmas decorations this early in our marriage. Carl fondly remembers satin ornaments from his childhood trees, so we have red satin ornaments for him, lightly gilt pinecones, and a few individual items. It’s simple and very pretty.
The problem is that I did not grow up with satin ornaments, though I’d seen them as decorations in stores. Then, when Carl and I first met we lived in different states. The next year we were engaged. I lived in my own apartment up the hill from Carl’s place. Carl had to work that Christmas, and we each had our own tree. The next year we decorated with Carl’s ornaments, flew up for a whirlwind Christmas with family, then packed up the ornaments and moved cross-country a few months later. The next year (last year) I didn’t buy a tree since Carl was deployed. So, I’ve decorated with satin ornaments once, and I’ve packed them up once before this.
We got a tree on Sunday and unpacked the ornaments. At that point, I realized experienced people probably don’t leave the hooks on when packing satin ornaments:
This (literally) knotty problem never appeared on the marriage advice list. Future brides, consider yourselves warned: think before tossing your husband’s unfamiliar Christmas ornaments in a box together.
Yellow Pencil Stub 