Phil,

Oh, that's horrible. I'm praying for you and Sandy and the loving little
ones who probably love the Christmas tree as much as you and Sandy do.

I'm praying for Gretchan, that she will receive a talking to, from The
Lord, and that she will realize that it didn't hurt her to put up the tree
every year.

Oh, did you know my parents abused me by making me do the dishes, and
ironing? <grin> lol.

Love and Blessings,
Pat Ferguson
At 11:24 AM 12/18/2005, you wrote:
>We started our Christmas out as it often has come down and that is, with
>Gretchen, when asked to put up a small two foot tall Christmas tree on our
>entertainment center.  When she was asked to help, since our youngest son
>had helped by doing some grocery and Christmas shopping, she got home last
>night at almost 11:30 and a few minutes later, she came upstairs.  She did
>something in the kitchen for awhile, so when I got up this morning, I hunted
>for the Christmas tree and Christmas decorations.
>There were absolutely none to be found.  Later, when a good old Scovell
>holiday fight broke out, Gretchen informed us we forced her, at age nine, to
>begin putting up our Christmas tree.  Boy, I wish I had a dime for every
>freaking Christmas tree I had, when our children were little, that I had to
>cut the base evenly, get put into the base stand, and work with to get it
>straight.  Then I well remember all those times, crawling around under the
>tree trying to pour water into the base to keep the thing alive.
>Admittedly, I was a little younger and a little slimmer then than I am now
>but today is the first time I realized how abusive Sandy and I were to our
>children around Christmas.  Gretchen said that every Christmas she has been
>forced to put up the tree.  I hope, at our age, we don't get arrested for
>child abuse.  Let this be a lesson to you.  Don't have Christmas with your
>older adult, I stress the word adult, children who still have a bad
>attitude.  They will screw it up every time.  This is far from our first, by
>the way, so I know where of I speak.
>
>Phil.
>
>
>And God Divided The Light From The Darkness
>www.SafePlaceFellowship.com