Meager

I am the worst. And the worst part of being the worst--the part that makes it the worst--is that I'm afraid that an ugly precedent has now been set...

It came close to happening a few years ago when, instead of getting a full-sized Christmas tree and carting boxes and bins of ornaments down from the attic, we bought a small Norfolk Island Pine, hung a few simple ornaments on its branches and set it in front of a window.

"It's Christmas!" I declared.

"That's bullshit!" answered my kids.

And now, Halloween.

I have two boxes of Halloween decorations--gourds carved like jack-o'-lanterns with little lights inside, witches, candles, a glittery tree adorned with tiny pumpkins--even a Dracula windsock to hang outside. But this year I did not decorate. I brought the boxes downstairs and set them beside the coffee table two weeks before Halloween. Every night for a week, I promised that tomorrow was the day I was going to decorate. Eventually, I stopped promising. The day before Halloween I bought a string of orange lights from the "junk" bin at Target and hung them on a small Christmas tree that hadn't made it back up to the attic last year. I pulled out a few pumpkins--the ones without faces, so they could transition into Thanksgiving decorations--and arranged them on the mantle.

No one said a thing. I don't think they even noticed. But I did. The day after Halloween, I pulled out my twisted paper pilgrim and placed her beside my pumpkins.

"It's Autumn!" I said to myself.

"Big deal!" I answered.

I felt sad. I remember when things were different. A lot more stuff used to get decorated around here!

Oh, well. Christmas is coming. Maybe I can make up for it then!