My Christmas tree is already up for a special reason. I don’t care what trolls say

A mother who has already put up her Christmas tree says she isn’t bothered by trolls who think it’s too early, saying: “Ultimately it’s our choice.”

This is the second year Caroline Roddy has put up her decorations in early November, a tradition she plans to continue every year.

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The Tipperary mum revealed there is a very special reason why she started the tradition last year.

Her son Alfie, now eight, had a tumor removed from his mouth in June last year, but just three weeks later it started growing again.

As the tumor grew back, little Alfie was referred to Crumlin Children’s Hospital.

And while the family waited for a bed for Alfie, mum Caroline decided to put up the decorations so he had “one less thing to worry about” during his recovery.

She told The Irish Sun: “I said look, we’ll put up the Christmas tree because there’s one less thing to worry about when we get out of hospital for his recovery.

“We put the tree up, I think it was a week before we got the call, so he had surgery and we actually just got home the night of the toy show.”

During the operation, brave Alfie had part of his jaw removed and needs a plate in his mouth to cover the hole from the tumor removal.

And in a special celebration to mark the anniversary of the operation, Caroline took out the decorations last week.

She said: “We’ve had a busy year since his operation, between hospital appointments, surgeon appointments and dentist appointments in and out of Dublin, so why not?

“Life is too short to worry about what other people think, especially after what we’ve been through this past year.”

And she added: “I’m on stage when people don’t like it, they know where the door is, in the end it’s our choice.

“What’s the harm in wanting to put them on early to cheer us up with everything that’s going on these days?

“It’s nothing but doom and gloom, so this is our little cheer in life.”

And Caroline admitted she had been asked a few questions about decorating the house almost two months before Christmas Day.

She said: “There are a few who say, ‘Jesus, you’re a bit early, wouldn’t you mind leaving them in the shed for another five weeks?'”

But some friends also see the benefit of “getting rid” of the mammoth task.

‘TOO EXPENSIVE’

And Caroline revealed the decorating process took hours, even with the help of her other son, Alex.

She said, “It took us a few hours by the time you got it all figured out, until the time the house was semi-organized afterward, but we enjoyed it.”

Despite Christmas starting early in their household, Caroline reuses the same decorations, admitting it would be “too expensive” to buy a new decoration every year.

She said: “I’d say in another two years I’ll have to change the baubles just to make it look different.

“Of course I couldn’t do it every year. It’s too expensive to change all this.”

‘I LOVE THEM’

Despite the decorations being finished in early November, Caroline plans to leave them up well into the new year, saying she can’t get enough of them.

She said: “I’ll keep them going until the second week of January.

“I think they’re great. It’s just fun when you sit there at night.”

And she added, “It’s nice, it’s relaxing, just to have the little glow from the tree.”

The family are planning to make the most of Christmas this year, having spent most of last Christmas helping Alfie recover.

She said: “We are spreading our Christmas cheer as last year’s joy was swallowed up by the aftercare of the operation.

“So we are compensating for it.”

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