I have a confession: For a moment, I considered not decorating the house for Christmas this year. What?! Shhhh…don’t tell my kids…and don’t worry, our halls are decked. But I have to tell you, I did give it serious consideration.

You may ask, what’s the problem? Well, as I’ve mentioned ad nauseum, my kids are older – 21 and 16, to be exact. When they were young, I decorated to the hilt. Every nook and cranny was filled with holiday cheer. And, of course, many of the decorations were created by the kids. They loved seeing their handiwork on display, and I did too.

As the years went by, some of those blessed little creations were left in the Christmas boxes. Little by little, I’d pare down my display. Items like the reindeer head made from a coat hanger covered in pantyhose seemed a little less charming with each passing year. And, honestly, the kids haven’t really noticed that anything is missing.

I don’t know about your house, but here in Casa Karen, I’m the primary elf. I haul up the boxes, unpack the stockings and would decorate all by myself if it weren’t for the fact that our artificial tree is too heavy for me to carry alone. And sometimes, when I’m hanging the umpteenth ornament on the tree while everyone else is watching The Office, I can’t help but think about the fact that I’ll be packing it up again in a few short weeks, I wonder if it’s all worth it. Aren’t I just creating more work for myself?

But as I was considering going sans hall-decking, I realized that it would send a very bad message. It would paint me as an Ebenezer-in-waiting and tell them that Christmas was an inconvenience that I was avoiding. I realized, in that moment of decision – to deck or not to deck – that it was never more important than now for me to keep the tree lights burning and hang on for dear life to our sometimes fading traditions. Why? Because, in my opinion, I think that’s a big part of what a mom does – set a backdrop for family memories. Pretty important, when you think about it.