Silly anxieties...

I freely admit when it comes to my Christmas ornaments, I border on being O.C.D.  I began collecting Hallmark ornaments with my mom and sister several years ago.  What started out as a "filler" gift (you know, those gifts you buy to round out a person's gifts, or to make sure you spent the same amount on each person) in the past has now become the focus of much of our Christmas holiday.  Needless to say, I've got multiple tubs of Hallmark ornaments.  Tubs of wrapped and boxed Hallmark ornaments.  Yes, I am very particular with my ornaments.  And, there is a process for getting the ornaments out, hanging them up, and putting them away.  I know it's excessive...I make fun of myself for it...but, I LOVE my ornaments!

So, last night when it was decided that we would put up my Christmas tree, I was excited and a little leery.  Scott helped me decorate my tree last year, so he had a pretty good idea of my system.  This year, my help were O. and M., and their excitement for all these tiny unopened boxes, while absolutely adorable, was completely nerve racking for me.  Though Scott says I looked calm sitting there with the boys digging through my beloved ornaments, my anxiety had to be transparent.  My offers to open the ornaments and have them hang them were pretty much ignored...I can't blame them, as Scott later told my sister, "it was like hundreds of little Christmas gifts sitting right there in front of them"...and I held my breath as I watched them delve into the tubs.  Fortunately, with a lot of prompting and careful observation, both boys followed my rules of carefully opening the box, carefully pulling out the ornament and unwrapping it, then carefully putting the bubble wrap or tissue paper back in the box.  They were a little disappointed when I told them they couldn't pop the bubble wrap, but they quickly got over it once they started to look at and play with the animated ornaments.

In the end, no boxes were torn, most packaging was returned to its correct box, and only one ornament had to seek a touch of superglue.  It was fun to see M. and O.'s excitement as I pointed out different ornaments and showed them where buttons and levers were to be found on them, but I was more able to breathe once we'd gotten through the opening of all the boxes.  I'm not proud of my anxiety in regards to the ornaments...I know it's silly, but I really do LOVE my ornaments.  I love reacquainting myself with the ones I have forgotten over the past eleven months and having the opportunity to put them on the tree for the very first time.  Though the "putting up" process is a bit tedious and I am a little particular about their placement on the tree (what...I have to showcase my favorites!) as well, the end result is a thing of beauty!