According to Wikipedia, Christmas trees could possibly be traced back to Roman times, when houses were decorated with evergreen wreaths for the feast of Saturnalia. Alternately, they may be traced back to the Vikings & Saxons, who worshiped trees. They would decorate barns & houses with evergreens at the New Year in order to scare away the devil. Yet another theory traces their origin to medieval plays held on December 24th, where a tree was decorated with apples to symbolize the tree with the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. It's generally agreed that modern Christmas trees began in Latvia, Estonia, and Northern Germany during the Renaissance, when Lutherans would bring decorated trees into their homes. From there, is caught on, and eventually spread to other sects of Christianity. Regardless of where, why, and how it started, it is a little odd, especially when you think about it. You bring something that normally grows out of doors inside your house, and cover it in bling.
We recently put up our (artificial) tree when E was taking a nap. When he woke up, we brought him into the room, when he pointed, and exclaimed "tree!" He initially was quite interested in it, and pulled off a few ornaments. Lately, he's been better about leaving it alone. Yes, E, it's a tree. I'm not entirely sure why we do it, but it's been a tradition passed down through numerous generations, and now it's going to be a tradition of yours. Hopefully, it will be something you can pass down to your own kids, should you be able to, or choose to have them.
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| E, probably trying to figure out why there is a tree INSIDE the house. |
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