Christmas is by far my favorite holiday! I love the reason for the season, spending extra time with family and fun holiday parties with friends. I especially enjoy seeing the excitement and wonder through the eyes of my children and bringing back the memories of years past, as we decorate our Christmas tree with ornaments from decades ago.
Do you know what I don’t love? BUGS! Yes, insects do have something to do with this happy holiday, unfortunately- especially in South Florida. You see, every year there are countless reports of creepy crawlies infesting live Christmas trees. Infesting!!! (Let that thought sink in for a moment!)
As your festive family is welcoming a real Christmas tree into your spotless home (O.K., it may not be spotless if you have children, but you get the picture) you could also be inviting in who-knows-how-many bugs. Eww! There have been stories of beetles, aphids, spiders, lice, ticks, and mites inhabiting trees in recent years. I feel itchy just thinking about these little critters being anywhere near my home.
Real vs Fake
Until recently, I was always Team Real Tree. I couldn’t imagine celebrating Christmas without the smell of an evergreen tree lit up in my carefully decorated living room. It was an iconic symbol of the holiday that I just couldn’t let go of… that is, until the news articles about bugs started a few years ago. Story after story about insects crawling, flying, or dropping out of Christmas trees was just too much for this slightly OCD mama! So, after 3 decades of having the most beautiful real trees as part of our Christmas tradition, our family made the decision to switch to team Fake tree. And ya know what?! We haven’t regretted the decision once!
All of the things that I thought I would miss about a real tree, like the smell of pine filling the entire house, the natural fullness, the experience of picking out the perfect tree with family… I have found ways to make up for with our fabulous fake tree.
The latest artificial trees are light years away from the older types that I was remembering from my childhood friends and family that had fake trees back then. The new ones are delightfully full and extremely easy to set up. In fact, I now love our fake tree more than I ever thought possible. It’s pre-lit, has multiple lighting options, and doesn’t shed needles everywhere (score!!). The time I save by not having to wrap lights around the branches, by not needing to vacuum up pine needles daily, by not worrying about if the tree has enough water (so that it doesn’t catch fire-ahh!), is absolutely priceless. It gives me more time to enjoy and appreciate the rest of this beloved holiday. The best part is that I don’t have to worry about bugs invading our yuletide joy.
My family still has that beloved pine tree scent wafting through our home thanks to essential oils in our diffuser. We still go to Christmas tree lots and pick out the best one to take our traditional picture. Only now, we leave the live tree there, and come home to our own tree that’s guaranteed to be free of pests. We bought the top of the line artificial tree, and it’s one we will thoroughly appreciate for decades to come (and in the long run we also save money too).
No Bugs= No Bugging Out
I no longer need to bug out about bugs being in our Christmas tree. I’m not anxious or worried about the what-if’s of insects ruining my favorite holiday anymore. I’m not preoccupied with checking to be sure there aren’t bugs near my children or pets. I can focus my energy on the dozens of other tasks that take over during the most wonderful time of the year, and rest assured that cleaning up critters won’t be added to my already busy holiday to-do list.
If you’re not sure about making the leap from team real tree over to team fake tree, I completely understand. It was a hard decision for my family too. However, in the end, we are thrilled to ditch and switch to what works best for us. So if you are even considering making the change, take a look at the newest artificial trees. They just might surprise you (but bugs certainly won’t). And if you just can’t fathom leaving team Real tree behind, be sure to do your research. There are natural tree lots around that take extra care with their live trees. Either way, I wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! May your days be merry, bright, and bug free all season long.
Last year, on Christmas Eve I found an infestation of praying mantis in my living room. The Christmas tree went out the front door and my children didn’t have a tree on Christmas morning. I know there are worst issues we could face as a family but besides the point, we are teamfake this year! No water, no dropping needles and No bugs!
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