This year, a very important question has come up in our house. Do we buy a real or fake? Here is the list of pro's and con's that I went through in my head this Christmas season as Bart and I deliberated about getting a tree.
Real:
Pro's
- Smells great
- the tradition of picking it out together
- it's REAL
Con's
- a pain to put in the house
- a pain to water 1 or 2 times a day in this dry Utah weather
- a pain to clean up after
- Safety hazard - if I had kids I would say dangerous that the babies could eat the needles, and combustable
- a pain to dispose of
Fake:
Pro's
- you only have to buy it once
- installing is very easy
- no mess to clean up
- saves lots of money over the long run
- no watering
- no safety hazards
- Environmentally friendly
Con's
- no smell (although a candle does fix that)
- it's FAKE
Can you tell which one I am leaning toward? Am I just getting lazy in my old age? Or cheap? ;) Please, let me know if you have any other pro's or con's for either list. I feel like the Real/Pro's side isn't living up to my childhood memories.
Regardless of the right answer, we did not get a tree this year. So sad, but with only 11 days of actually being at home between last week and Christmas, it just wasn't worth it. Is that depressing? I did put out our christmas stockings and my new advent calendar I made (I'll post a pic later - so cute!) so I do feel a little Christmas cheer in my house.
8 comments:
I'm kind of indifferent- every year that we've been married, we've had a real tree, but mainly because we have no place to store it. I've been shocked at how little I've actually had to water ours this year- we just dump a ton in every 2 or 3 days, not a biggie. I have a crap sense of smell, so I can't really smell the tree as much, but Hazen hasn't messed with the needles (other than falling off the couch into the tree the other day), and I haven't had to vacuum too much. So, being that it was only 25 bucks from Smiths, and a decent tree would be at least 200, and don't last FOREVER, I feel like we got a good bargain for our needs this year!
We were going to go with real... but went the same route as you instead - no tree. There just wasn't enough time to really make it worth it.
I'm totally fine with fake...no mess, it lasts forever- and you can buy cool colors like white or pink! And then just light lots of candles to make your house smell good. By the way, loved amy ruth's chicken and waffles...did you crave it for days after? we need to get together, I just talked to bart...call me, let's do lunch or dinner.
Hello Meems!! I thought I would put in my insight! I would do both! Wait to get a fake tree till the day after Christmas, Eric & I got a fake one at Target for 40$!!!! And it is 7 feet and looks real! Also we like to do a fake one and then a smaller real one . . .so you can enjoy both without all the hastle! Hope all is well!
Real all the way...we like the tradition and the mess and the hassle are way worth it!! (don't you have a housecleaner now?) As for the safety aspect I guess the fake could just as easily be a fire hazard.
You HAVE to go real!! Though I do see the economics of a fake one. My parents and my oldest sister went fake this year and my niece cried for 2 days straight and I think I would do the same!! I am a big real tree fan if you can't tell and I don't think Christmas would be the same with it being fake! That is what I tell Lane every year anyway!
Also, Jack totally leaves ours alone. We haven't had a problem with him touching anything, plus the ornaments are more of a hazard to him than anything else.
I'll admit I did get a fake tree. But to make up for the lack of smell there are Christmas tree candles and sprays. As much as I love real I am enjoying my fake tree.
We totally didn't get a tree this year OR put up Christmas lights. It all happened so fast and it's almost over, so it's a sunk cost, you know? December is always a blur.
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