My wife grew up with two alcoholic parents, so Christmas was always full of problems. She found her father beat to death (after a binge) when she was 14 years old. So, she over compensates for every 43 Christmases we've been together. For 25 years, we had one giant tree and train layout smack-dab in the middle of the family room. I couldn't wait to get it out in January. Seven years ago, at the birth of our granddaughter in Louisiana, live trees were no longer an option as we spend most holidays traveling, so we went artificial. With live trees, we'd spend hours and in at least two states finding the right one to cut down. No worries now with an artificial. This year, we have two trees - one in the family room and one with a train layout in the living room - so we can keep 3 year old grandchild #2 out of it when not directly supervised.... She spend about four days perfecting the new train layout. Happy wife....you know what they say.
I would say its less stressful now, then 20 years ago, when our daughters were young children. I remember numerous trips to stores to find presents, and standing in line at checkout for 30 minutes. Those days are over. With two grandchildren, we buy presents than ever, but order online via Amazon, etc. I spent about 10 minutes this year in a store, picking up a few items for my wife's stocking.
Haha, bold talk I’ll regret.
