Floofing - A Christmas Tradition

Gather round and hear the story of old...

Well, ok, not that old. It actually started about seven years ago when I learned that live Christmas trees contain allergens like pollen. I know, right, who knew?

Because of these nasty allergens, we had to do the unthinkable - get a fake Christmas tree!

It was painful for me as I am very much the traditionalist. Since returning to North Carolina, Scott and I had always gone to the NC mountains to cut our own tree. But, given that each fall both Eliza Grace and Scott would battle the elements with copious amounts of Claritin and Musinex, we decided buying a fake tree was the prudent and healthier thing to do.

Traditions always have a way of evolving. We used to drive to the mountains, don hats, coats, gloves and boots and traipse through the...well, not snow but some tall grass perhaps - cut down our own tree and haul it back home. These days, typically donned in our pjs, Scott hauls himself to the storage room and carries down the tree in a box, at which time the kids shout, "let the floofing begin!"

Floofing, for those of you unaware, is the process one must go through when preparing the fake branches to be placed on the fake tree trunk. After spending 11 months of the year in plastic bags shoved into a box, each branch needs to be properly adjusted or floofed. This process is key to successful tree trimming, as a poorly floofed tree looks even more fake and the ornaments do not hang well.

The funniest thing about all this is that I am pretty sure my kids believe that this is a normal occurrence in every household. Eliza Grace was telling a neighbor the other day that we had finished floofing our tree. She did not even notice the questioning look on the neighbor's face.

Well, let 'em wonder I say. Because we are floofers...and we are proud of our floofing family tradition!

Will helping with the initial tree-limb-in-a-bag extraction

Assembly begins

Eliza Grace demonstrates her floofing technique

Will performs a floofage inspection

The final product.
And no, it is not listing....apparently my camera was tilted!