December 29, 2007 / Perspective / Parenting / Smartmom

Smartmom’s Xmas

By Louise Crawford

The Brooklyn Paper

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It was like Rockefeller Center in Smartmom’s apartment last week. The Oh So Feisty One kept bringing her friends in and out of the apartment to see the tree.

She and her friends just sat on the green leather couch and stared as if intoxicated by the white lights and the glittery gold ornaments.

Even Teen Spirit said it was a nice tree. So did Hepcat. Grudgingly. He was still mourning the fact that they spent Christmas in Brooklyn for the third year in a row rather than in California. But he came around.

Here’s how they got such a great tree: Two Saturdays ago, when it started to snow, Smartmom, OSFO and Hepcat went out in search of a tree. What a perfect time to shop. It was 10 pm in the wet, slushy snow.

The three of them (and Teen Spirit in spirit) sloshed down Seventh Avenue to browse trees first at the Apple Tree then at the Key Food. They even went to the Food Co-op to see if those “organic” trees were still there, but no go.

Back at the Apple Tree on Garfield, OSFO fell in love with a short, squat tree at and they made a split-second decision to buy it.

Forty-five dollars later, they were lugging the tree back to Third Street. Smartmom hoped they wouldn’t run into any of their Jewish friends — she’d have some explaining to do.

“It’s our inter-faith Christmas tree, we’ll decorate it with Jewish stars,” she would have said. But truthfully, Smartmom felt no shame about having a tree because as an inter-faith family Christmas and Hanukah are both meaningful.

And since deciding to do Christmas in Brooklyn, it felt perfectly right to have a tree. Besides, it gave them somewhere to put the presents.

Once home, they decided to put the tree in the living room and just admire and inhale its luscious aroma. They didn’t even decorate it.

Actually Hepcat found it so fragrant, he had to open the window because it was making him sneeze.

But it didn’t make Smartmom sneeze. It made her think of moonlight in Vermont and the Christmas scene in “Fanny and Alexander” and the Bing Crosby movies “White Christmas” and “Holiday Inn.”

It made her think of Christmas on the farm in Northern California where Artsy Grandma decorates a live tree with timeless ornaments — some homemade, some vintage glass ones from the 1950s and ’60s.

Smartmom’s living room seemed so much smaller with the tree in it. She had to disassemble the Noguchi coffee table and rearrange the furniture. The tree took over.

Diaper Diva and Ducky came over to help decorate it. Diaper Diva is a pro at decorating. And so is 3-year-old Ducky, who delighted in selecting ornaments and finding a spot for them on the tree. Hepcat strung the lights. OSFO put candy canes everywhere.

When they were done, they all just looked at the tree and sighed. It really was gorgeous.

Smartmom liked to stare at it as she sat on the green couch in a state of reverie that really had very little to do with the birth of Jesus and more to do with how damn pretty that tree looked in her living room.

Truthfully, it surprised her how much she loved that tree. In the past, her trees were a cut above Charlie Brown’s. She was sure that Hepcat was disappointed. But this year’s tree was wonderful — maybe because Smartmom was finally comfortable with the decision to spend Christmas in Brooklyn and make their own traditions here.

It looked perfect in their living room because it was theirs.

©2007 The Brooklyn Paper