'We never put lights on the tree': Son shares how his father's Christmas lie changed the course of family Christmas for 30 years

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Dec 4, 2023 7:00 AM EST

Families and tradition are synonymous with one another; it might be as simple as some small silly thing that you do together every year during the holidays, or it might be a serious, all-encompassing system of decorum that members must abide by. As most of us aren't part of some pseudo-royalty billionaire trust or vying for the succession of our father's multinational mass media company—chances are, more often than not, that most of our family traditions land towards the sillier end of the spectrum… We might not even know why we continue to do these things or why the family started doing these things in the first place—but we rest easy in the relative peace of knowing that no matter what happens or changes in our lives or in the world at large, at least we can look forward to the annoying, but wholesome, dependability of family tradition.

This family had one strange tradition: They never, ever put lights on their Christmas tree. Throughout the duration of their family Christmases, lights were strictly forbidden from the tree on account of the fact that they apparently presented a "fire hazard," a risk that was evidenced by the tree apparently catching fire during one of the couple's first Christmases together. Well, as it turned out, that's not exactly what had happened, but, rather, this tradition was the result of a not-so-convincing lie that had been told 30-odd years ago.

See this eye-watering tale of family Christmas affairs, as shared by this internet user on a popular online community.

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  • 01
    "He had developed cancer and it was his last Christmas, so she decided to come clean..."
    via Stephen Paterson
  • 02
    Posted by u/1pinksquirrel1scotch Christmas Pettiness that Kept on Giving. This is a story about my mom, and the absolute depths of pettiness she could sink to. Growing up, we could never put lights on our Christmas tree. My parents would always say it was a fire hazard, and would recount a story about one of their first Christmases together when their tree caught fire.
    via u/1pinksquirrel1scotch
  • 03
    Apparantly, my dad had fallen asleep on the couch and was woken up to the kitchen and living room filled with smoke. He woke up my mom and got her and the dog out of the house, then ran back inside to check things out. He came out a few minutes later with the tree wrapped in a blanket and threw it into a snowbank, saying it had caught fire. Ever since, they had a no lights on the tree rule to prevent a repeat occurance.
    via u/1pinksquirrel1scotch
  • 04
    So my whole life, we never put lights on the tree, despite nearly everyone else we knew (including both sets of grandparents) putting lights on their trees. I'd occasionally question my parents about it, and would always get the same fire hazard story. My mom did go to some lengths to make up for it though with a lot of colorful glass that would catch the light, as well as other reflective ornaments. Anyway, years pass and I'm now an adult. One year I'm talking to my mom and the tree fire story
    via u/1pinksquirrel1scotch
  • 05
    Turns out, that night many years ago, the tree did not catch fire. What actually happened was my dad decided to fix himself something on the stove late at night. He fell asleep on the couch with the pan still on the hot burner and it eventually began to smoke, waking him up. After he got my mom out of the house and realized what caused the smoke, rather than take the tongue lashing about the ruined pan and irresponsible stove use, he decided to pin the
    via u/1pinksquirrel1scotch
  • 06
    blame on the tree. A few theatrics later and he thinks he's gotten away with it. He even brought the "burnt" tree back inside the next day saying it must not have burnt much because it still looked alright. He might have pulled it off too, had he done more than just thrown the ruined pan into the kitchen trash can. My mom found it in the trash the very next day and put two and two together pretty quickly.
    via u/1pinksquirrel1scotch
  • 07
    She could have nailed him to the wall right then and there, but she decided to play the long game and didn't say a word. See, it turns out she never cared that much about lights on the tree. It was my dad that really liked them. So next year (and every year thereafter) when they were decorating the tree and he'd go to put lights on it, she'd remind him that they couldn't put lights on the tree because of that time it caught fire. I don't think she ever intended for this to
    via u/1pinksquirrel1scotch
  • 08
    be a long-running thing, but my dad was stubborn to a fault and never admitted it was really the pan. So every year she kept his lie going, knowing he was the one paying for it. She did eventually tell him that she knew the truth, some 30 years later. He had developed cancer and it was his last Christmas, so she decided to come clean.
    via u/1pinksquirrel1scotch
  • 09
    He just laughed and laughed about it. She gave him the option to do lights on the tree that year, but by then he'd had more years without a lit tree than with, and had grown to prefer the tree the way we always decorated it.
    via u/1pinksquirrel1scotch
  • 10
    PotatoesPancakes I laughed, and then teared up at the end. I'm glad your mom gave your dad a good laugh at that last Christmas. 717 Reply Share
    via u/1pinksquirrel1scotch
  • 11
    Baltimore Badger23 Your mom is a legend. And a nice end to the story (the laughing, not the cancer, that ). 436 Reply Share AdElectrical 2521 Yes! FORKING FORK CANCER!!! 107 Reply Share
    via u/1pinksquirrel1scotch
  • 12
    baka-tari I love how your mom lit him up, ever so gently, every year after the incident. He only had to come clean with her to get the lights back on the tree, just maybe a little too prideful to do so. Great story, and perfect time of the year for it! ↑ 137 ↓ Reply Share
    via u/1pinksquirrel1scotch
  • 13
    zyzmog Your mom is a champion, and your dad sounds like a pretty lovable guy as well. What a fun family story. You're a lucky person, OP. I'm sorry that you lost your dad. I hate cancer. 44 Reply Share
    via u/1pinksquirrel1scotch
  • 14
    D Coconut Oilz4 Hahaha this is delightful, thanks for sharing. 13 Reply Share Compulawyer I see what you did there. Take my upvote. 49↓ Reply Share
    via u/1pinksquirrel1scotch

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christmas marriage petty-revenge-reddit christmas tree revenge-stories petty revenge parenting christmas lights married revenge-stories-reddit parents family drama family
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