My Santa gave me a better gift than anyone has in YEARS! He asked if I wanted anything "special", so I said the weirder the better, then shared a small note about my excitement over my new “Halloween Christmas” tradition (below). HE KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK!!!! I couldn’t stop smiling ALL DAY! The best surprise was when I flipped up the sequins on the pillow… PRISON MIKE FOREVER! I have the Halloween tree next to my bed and plan to keep it there all year round. This made me SO HAPPY!

Back story: This year was a rough one for my daughter (7y/o) and I. We had a loss in the family that was extremely painful. I took that as an opening for us to create NEW traditions, forge NEW memories, and could not be happier with the results.

When my daughter was younger, she asked me about a story I was reading (The Call of Cthulhu - H.P Lovecraft), so I told her a rundown of the tale. Realizing my mistake - she was a small child and the thought of monsters might give her nightmares - I told her Cthulhu and I were best friends who often shared a beer together. I promised that he protected us and made sure no monsters would ever come after her. She continued to talk about Cthulhu like he was part of the family and it helped her feel safe in the dark.

I dislike Christmas in general, so I choose to NOT have Santa visit my home (he still visits her at other relatives’ houses). I said it was because Mommy was friends with Cthulhu and Santa was scared of him (and we never desert our friends just because someone else doesn’t like them!). She enjoyed that explanation, so I never changed the story. Side note: Yes, she still got a tree and gifts! We still celebrate, just no Santa.

Fast forward to this year, after the loss of one of the members in our household.

I was shopping for a small black tree to hang my spooky decorations on (I have a bunch of creepy ornaments because I love Halloween) and my daughter spotted a pink one. I asked her if she wanted a FULL-SIZE pink tree and her eyes lit up. I knew it had to be done. HELLO PEPTO-PINK CHRISTMAS TREE! (It is actually quite pretty. The perfect “protest” tree).

This year we do not have a Christmas tree. No. We have a "Mommy and Lizzie Forever" tree. A new tradition that shows WE make our life what WE want. Even if it is a little odd, even if others don't like it, we will let our weird light shine... and our light is BRIGHT!

Yeah, we're a weird duo... But I wouldn't have it any other way.

P.S This year she also received her FIRST letter and gift from Cthulhu. It was a pair of Astro-binoculars because he knows science is important to us and astronomy is one of the oldest sciences. She was over the moon when she saw he left a gift hahaha.