One holiday season, I was helping Grandmommy by putting ornaments on her Christmas tree. During this time, she always bought a real pine tree with sticky sap.
Anyways, she had left the room for a while, and I was successfully decorating the tree. Eventually, I filled the lower branches and needed to place ornaments near the top. Being a crafty child, I used the couch and chairs as stepping stools in order to reach the highest branches. However, reaching to place one ornament near the very top of the tree required me to lean off of my unofficial step stools. Once I put a little bit of my weight on the trunk of the tree, the whole thing toppled over.
I do not recall what broke or the mess I made because all I remember is Grandmommy running out of the hallway, past the grandfather clock and into the room. She made sure I was OK and asked me to explain what happened. After all this mischief, I received no punishment (probably why I can’t remember what all I broke).
She was such a loving and understanding person to not punish her grandson who was only trying to help her prepare for Christmas. Since I was never disciplined, there was no sulking. Instead, we focused on picking up the pieces and enjoying Christmas time together.
