In my opinion, trips to the Arboretum during the winter is a more appropriate holiday tradition, or decorating a pine tree with lights that is comfortably planted and growing outdoors.

Please recycle your cut tree into woodchips if this is possible in your city/suburb, so it can be used as mulch and doesn’t take up landfill space. The city of Chicago does offer this for free immediately after the holiday.

Perhaps the Arboretum readers could offer contact info for the various tree recycling/wood chipping opportunities?

As an adult, I’d viewed getting the tree as the first item of a loooooooooog list of things to do to decorate the tree and merely the beginning of getting ready for Christmas.

In the past, we’d bring the tree home and while Paul was cutting off an inch to give the tree a fresh cut, I’d be in the basement sorting through boxes and pulling out lights and ornaments and looking for his toy train that we put up around the tree’s base.

Our first daughter who was only two back then was sitting on the couch watching me grapple with the boxes and said, “Mom, sit. Tree pretty,” while patting the open seat next to her.

And, oh what a great reminder! She was right. Simply bringing such a gorgeous and fragrant tree into our home is a big deal.

So, thanks to her reminder, we have a new tradition. Before lugging out all the boxes and missing this first important step, we sit together on that same couch and admire our “tree pretty.”

And, thank you, Morton Arboretum, for the Enchanted Railroad. We can’t wait to see it. What an outing that will be. We got some Hansel and Gretel books from the library to bring the experience to life and plan on making and decorating a gingerbread house again this year. – Kelly