Every year around this time, my family puts up Christmas decorations. Through past experience, I’ve realized that one thing can make my 6-foot-4, ex-army uncle break down: a string of plastic lights with tiny light bulbs attached every two inches. It’s ridiculous. You’re telling me that the same guy who can stop an entire car with his body can’t handle Christmas lights?

Thankfully, my uncle isn’t the only one who shudders at the thought. It’s a common issue among men across the country. We should really invest more money into research for this. But that’s beside the point.

I’ve always loved helping with decorations, and I’m usually in charge of the Christmas lights. This typically means holding the ladder and getting nails to hang the lights. My favorite part, though, is always the music that plays while we set up these decorations. That nostalgic feeling I get comes from the music.

I’ll be in the middle of belting out, “Sleigh bells ring. Are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening. A beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight. Walking in a winter—ah sh.. sizzles… ZOË!” Yup, it’s indeed the most wonderful time of the year.

Of course, this also means that a light bulb will go out, because why would we check them while they’re still on the ground? Then we start checking one by one, unscrewing and rescrewing, with me running inside to grab a new bulb—rinse and repeat. 

By the end of the process, we were exhausted, and for some strange reason, my uncle thought it would be a good idea to do this again next year. Every year, I wonder: why can’t we be a candy cane family?

Happy Holidays from all of us at The Current. If you’re putting up Christmas lights, good luck!