The Tree that Almost Wasn't

Our tree is a small 4 footer that I got several years ago. I've always had trouble putting it up and taking it down, the base just never wanted to come apart without a lot of trouble. I even tried greasing it this year to make things easier. Well, earlier today Aydi had grabbed at a bell and (luckily I was standing right there) the whole thing began to topple to the side. I couldn't get it to stay up, but I shifted one of its 3 legs and it stayed up. Earlier this evening I warned everyone that it was especially fragile this year and to really make an effort to not touch it.

Not 2 hours ago my husband, David, and Ari were yelling at the top of their lungs for me to come (I and Jess were having a 'chat' about attitudes... go into that later though), when I went in the whole tree was leaning precariously sideways. David was sitting in the chair and said it just came over on top of him. He managed to catch it though. I looked and sure enough, that one leg was completely off. I had the girls take off all the glass ornaments, then I laid it on it's side on the table. When I looked at the base I realized there was no saving it. The place where the leg slides in had completely sheared off.

We don't have the funds to replace the tree, so I was becoming very disappointed (and so were the girls). Then I happened to mention to David that I still had the iron base my mother had given us ages ago that we normally use when we get live trees. I even knew where it was too. I was thinking about maybe trying to get a small live tree. Then David had an epiphany and he took all the legs off the old tree's base, then said, "will this fit in the iron base do you think?"

It looked like it might, so I got the iron base just awhile ago and dusted off the cobwebs and oiled the screws and tightened it down on the old base. And surprise, it works!! So the kids will have a tree this year after all. Yay!!