Family Tree

 

So, the whole Family Tree project. It's finally done and turned in. Well, it was a few weeks ago. Funny enough, it was one of those things that, even though we've known about it for like 3 months, got done at the last moment. Because, well, my life is chaos. At any rate, after my initial, "holy hell it's due in 4 days" moment of epic panic, we got that thing done.

 

I randomly came up with the idea to use a Christmas tree. It was my favorite idea of how to go about this project, though I did offer the kid a few alternatives. This was the one he decided on. 

 

There were a couple of reasons I wanted to do it this way (though I - seriously - tried not to sway him one way or another). First, I thought it was appropriate since the project was due near Christmas time. Second, we're planning to pull it out as a cool Christmas decoration every year. Third, I love the idea that there are no branches, roots, etc... 

 

And lastly, to me, there was this idea of equating our family to ornaments. As in, the people in our lives - our family - make our lives more beautiful, just like ornaments make a Christmas tree beautiful. The ornaments are what makes a Christmas tree a Christmas tree. Without them, it's just a tree. A beautiful tree, self-sufficient in its own right, of course, but not a Christmas Tree. And, in my head at least, the people we consider family, well, they are who make our lives have meaning. They are what life is about. (Does that even make any freaking sense? It does in my head at least, ha!)

 

So, this is what we ended up with.  



 

 

 

The back was covered with pictures of different important people and times in the kid's life, including his birthday, his Adoption Day, visits with his birth family, etc... We also traced each of the four of our hands in our favorite colors, stacked them (hubby's on bottom, going up in size) and wrote our names and birthdates on them.

 

All in all, though I still think the project was stupid, and I still don't get the reason for doing it, I am satisfied with how it turned out. And the kid is happy with it. So I'm happy.

 

 

Today's Lesson: Some of the ornaments in our lives are broken, scratched, missing parts or pieces. Certainly none of them perfect. But when we look at the tree as a whole, it's beautiful, even in its state of imperfection. I am beyond grateful for my tree and ornaments. Merry Christmas, all!