Magical Childhood Memories

During our four years in New York City, one of my favorite stories from our life there happens to be one of the things that bothered me incredibly when we were actually living it. Each year at Christmas time, we’d shuffle around the boxes from underneath our bed and unearth our plastic, pre-lit tree. Justin would assemble it section by section, each piece feeling like a blatant violation of tradition; void of that perfect spruce scent and void of any soul. It was perfect though, that little tree. It was narrow and perfectly fit into the teeny corner, sandwiched between the living room window and our television. We’d adorn it in handmade ornaments from each of the children and top it off with an angel given to me by my mother, and I’d go out and buy a real wreath to hang on the inside of our front door to give our home that Christmastime scent.

Now that we’re back home in the Bay Area, we are back to our normal tradition of visiting the Christmas Tree farm that Justin and his family have been going to for 20 years. It’s one of my favorite things to do all year, and I always love looking at the photos from those days, marveling at how big the kids have gotten since the previous year and lamenting a bit for the same reason. Jack was just a baby the first time we visited Mountain Charley Tree Farm, but I remember exactly what he wore that day and how Beau wore the same set when he was that age. This year, we headed out early to the farm, the kids dressed in holiday outfits from Gymboree. I’m always so pleasantly surprised about how much we all love Gymboree clothes; They are cute, nicely made and well priced and really allow kids to be kids. They really like to dress somewhat alike right now, and I’m taking full advantage by making sure to grab the moments to keep in our holiday memory book.

It wasn’t terribly cold out, but mornings on the coast tend to be a bit chilly and damp no matter what so it still felt like hot chocolate weather. We ended up finding the perfect tree after about 45 minutes of looking (I happen to be incredibly picky when it comes to Christmas trees). We strapped the tree to the roof of our car and drove home to string popcorn with Theo while listening to Christmas carols in matching Gymboree gingerbread jammies. It’s one of my all time favorite traditions, and I’m so glad to have it done a bit early this year, so we can enjoy the rest of the festivities without feeling rushed.

As a part of this campaign, we filmed our Christmas Tree tradition and it’s now edited and live over at http://www.thebesttimetobeakid.com
along with one from Ilana Wiles of MommyShorts.com and Mario Lopez

Here’s a look at our video:

Special Gymboree Discount: For one week only, MGC readers can get $25 off a $100 purchase by using GONECITY at check-out (in stores and online). 

A Chance to win a $2,500 Gymboree Shopping Spree: You can also upload photos of your special holiday moments in your home with your kids using the #BestTimetoBeaKid #Contest hashtags for the chance to win a shopping spree from Gymboree!

Thank you to Gymboree for sponsoring this post, and thank you for reading!