Decorate the Sukkah, not the tree

This year I'm hoping (b'ezrat Hashem) to have my first sukkah ever. We never had one growing up and it's always been problematic in places I was renting. This year, however, will be the first in our own home, so although it's the start of September, I'm already starting to think about Sukkot.

Now that I have a daughter, I was thinking about the juxtaposition of Jewish life and living in the secular, non-Jewish world. While other kids will excitingly decorate their trees come Christmas, she will not. However, she won't have to wait! Decorating the sukkah can, and will, be just as much fun. And for those people that didn't grow up Jewish and miss the family tradition of decorating a tree, well just move it up to Sukkot and decorate that sukkah! Even if you won't be building one this fall, you can make a mini-sukkah for the kids to decorate. And when they find something nice in December, well just put it in that box marked Sukkot and you'll have it ready for next year.