Oh, Christmas Tree ...

First, an update: Gwen did not go to the doctor today, but she has an appointment on the 21st to talk about her throwing up issues. When Adam called and started with, "We are concerned that our daughter has been sick so much in the past nine weeks," the nurse immediately headed him off with, "Did your daughter start kindergarten this year?" Evidently, getting sick a lot is pretty common amongst kindergarteners as they adjust to a new cesspool. Anyway, she didn't have a fever (Gwen, I mean, not the nurse. Well, probably neither of them had fevers), and the nurse felt that one incident of throwing up is not worthy of an emergency visit. So ... the 21st. And she does seem fine today, so maybe it was just one of those things (that we will hopefully learn more about ... on the 21st.)

Anyway, we will now join our originally scheduled BLOG with ...

Gwen had an elevated temperature for most of the weekend (coming down with a cold, evidently.) Aside from a small spike on Friday night, it never seemed to rise into the fever range, but between that and the excitement of Xavier's birthday, and having Nana and Papoo down, she was a little wiped out on Sunday afternoon (plus both kids were suffering a little from post-party and post-grandparent let-down.) To try to cheer them up, I suggested that we run out to Lowe's to look for a nice artificial tree.

Now, I have to admit, it was with severe reservations that I suggested to Adam that we break from (our) tradition and get an artificial tree. In our town, a live tree is the environmentally and community friendly choice: there are a number of Christmas tree farms around (I can think of three off the top of my head), so it is good for the local economy; live trees produce oxygen while they are growing and are a replenished resource; and our town collects the trees after Christmas, turns them into mulch, then gives the mulch away for free to whoever is willing to haul it away. On the other hand, I have a daughter with allergies and a son with asthma, and I don't have time to sweep needles more than once a week. I found myself telling other family members apologetically that we were making the transition, and they all looked at me like I was crazy and said, "We already have an artificial tree."

Anyway, the kids were not psyched about going on this errand, but luckily they are smaller than we are, so we have strength and physical mass on our side. We got to Lowe's and headed straight for the Christmas tree section.

Now, I had already checked out artificial trees at Target when getting party favors Saturday morning, and I found myself facing the same dilemma at Lowe's that I faced at Target: none of the green Christmas trees looked realistic at all to me, and I could not get excited about any of them. There was, however, one white tree with white lights. Although there is nothing remotely realistic about a white tree, this one was better shaped than some of the green trees (and cheaper than a lot of the green trees), and it was also quite pretty with irridescent needles interspersed amongst the white ones to give it a crystaline look. I have to admit, I favored it myself, but I knew that Adam would hate it.

Of course, since I had the kids with me, there was no way we were going home without a tree. I walked with Gwen over to the section with the green trees I disliked the least, and asked her, "Which tree do you like, Gwen?"

Without hesitation, she said, "The white one."

I looked back at Adam, who immediately said, "I would prefer a green one."

I steered Gwen over to another section of trees, hoping to distract her, but when I questioned her again, she persisted: "I want the white one."

I glanced back at Adam, who was trying to balance Xavier (aka the Wiggler) on his shoulders. "I think Daddy would prefer a green one, sweetie. Which of the green trees do you like best? Do you like gold lights or colored lights?"

Gwen looked up at me, her cheeks red, lips pouted, and tears brimming in her eyes ...

So, the white tree actually looks quite nice in our living room. Having come to terms with the fact that it is frankly fake, even Adam thinks it is nice and bright. But, perhaps most importantly, Gwen completely loves it. Her morning ritual now is:
1. Come downstairs, with groggy eyes and tousled hair;
2. Give her Daddy a hug;
3. Say, "I think I'll go look at the Christmas Tree for awhile."
4. Sit on the couch in the living room and gaze sleepily at the tree until it is time for breakfast.

I'm almost dreading taking it down after the holidays.

Now, in my defense, lest you think my child is spoiled: I do not always give in to my child when she goes all teary-eyed. But I actually prefered the white tree, and, really, I think Christmas is for children. And, okay, on Sunday I was recovering from post-birthday stress syndrome, and I was weak, weak, weak.