Dateline Boston — It’s the Christmas season, my favorite time of year. I was really on top of it this year. We took our Christmas card photo in October, got the cards printed at 40 percent off, and they have been stamped and sealed since Thanksgiving. I took out the Christmas decorations and decorated the mantel. Next came the stockings—one for me, Husband, each of my two stepsons, my dad’s, and the original, my mom’s, made in the 1940s. This year the kittens each got their own stockings, too. Adorable.
I got out the Christmas tree skirt and the stand, and the small tinsel tree that goes in the entryway. One year I divided the ornaments into small and regular sized. I put all the small ones, and a string of lights, in a special box for the tinsel tree. I am very organized. The tree sits in a KFC bucket atop a small table so that guests are greeted with the ambiance of the season as soon as they walk in the door.
Very Moving Moments
We put the lights on the tree, and Husband made an alarming sound, which is rare for him. “Get her! Get her!” Kitten Elise was chewing on the string of lights, right next to the plug. All my dreams of instant Christmas spirit were dashed. I took the tree to the spot where the big tree would go, just to see what would happen. It was chewed on within two minutes, and knocked down within five.
I moved the tinsel tree back to its original spot, sans lights, and dug out our last big decoration—a plastic bush shaped to resemble a tree. Scored that decoration from the Chinese restaurant around the corner a few Januarys ago. I gathered some stuffed animals and a plastic goose (another rescued treasure) and put them around the tree. Both cats raced around our little scene and into it over the next few days. It doesn’t scream Christmas. It screams, “Toddlers and kittens welcome!”
A friend suggested getting a poster of a Christmas tree to put on the wall. I found a really cute cardboard cutout, lifesized. I am not above cardboard cutouts, especially when cleanup will be as easy as pulling something off the wall. No needles to vacuum up, no lights to untangle! No smell of pine…well, the jury is still out on what kind of tree we’re going to get. Husband votes for a naked tree.
This morning we found Bertram’s stocking on the floor. She can’t fool us. It was Elise who got it down. Off a teacup hook, I might add. She’s a crafty one. Siberians are known for being athletic. Would the kittens scale the tree? Knock it down? Get electrocuted by the lights? Break our heirloom ornaments? Guess there’s only one way to find out!
No matter how it goes, I’m sure our Christmas will be simply…purrfect.
Ms. Vaillancourt may be contacted at snobbyblog@gmail.com
