It's here

Christmas.

Whether I like it or not.



We decorated the tree tonight, and for the first time in my life it was so much more about Rye's excitement than anything else. I cared about three ornaments -- all from my childhood -- but the rest ... I could've taken or left.

Rye, though, was so excited to be decorating the tree he was basically jumping up and down. I'd worked late, and he'd been picked up early. But they waited for me to decorate and I think his patience was at its limit. The minute my car pulled into the garage, he was standing in the doorway, asking, pleading, please Mommy, can we decorate the tree now?

When I tried to say I wanted to change my clothes first or eat or feed the cats since they were swarming me, he whined just a little and I could tell how badly he really wanted to hang those plastic ornaments on the tree he'd helped pick out the night before.

He dug into the box as if they were all mini presents wrapped just for him. He said how cute all the cat ornaments were (there were years, it seems, when all anyone in my family gave me were cat things as presents), and at one point, he said, "I LOVE that Cinderella castle."

Yes, he's a boy. But that castle -- it lights up -- is pretty cool. And he just knows what's cool.

He helped the whole time and was very careful about not breaking anything (minus one ornament that was old and brittle anyway) and asking for help if he needed it.

When we were done, he looked up at the tree and said, "Wow, this really is beautiful. It even has a star on the top."

For how happy it made my little boy, I'd decorate the tree every night, if he really wanted to.

Here is a picture of him helping hang lights outside on Sunday:



And one of him and his blankie two nights ago, just because it's cute: