Real Christmas Trees vs. Fake Ones

Growing up, we always had a real tree in the living room decorated with both homemade and store-bought ornaments alike. My mom, and in turn, us kids, loved everything about a real tree:

The smell, the quirky sizes they come in, finding and picking out the perfect one each year. All of it was such an experience and one that shaped my love of this season, which is why it’s all so surprising now that we do fake trees in the McKay household every year.

The main reason? We like to decorate for the holidays the day after Halloween so that we can enjoy our favorite season a little longer, and they don’t have real trees in stock by then, at least not where we live. So we have to do what we can, and that involves putting up a fake tree and doing what we can to make it look as real as possible.

I adore real trees, and we still do them from time to time, like last year, when we got a real one and then planted it on our farm (a tradition we hope to continue every now and then). It’s just in this busy season of life we find ourselves in, even if it’s only for a month, keeping up with the maintenance of a real tree by watering it and picking up the needles that inevitably fall to the ground, feels like more work than we’re willing to put in.

We got a new fake tree this year, after living with our old one for over eight years, and we absolutely love it. PJ and the kids decorated it and it’s the perfect shape and height for our living room. It feels warm and cozy and inviting, and I could (and do) stare at it for hours.

What about you? Do you put up a real tree or a fake tree? I’d love to hear how you and yours do the holidays!