The Christmas Poo

As a kid, I loved trimming the tree.  In my childish opinion, our tree had the best ornaments in the whole world.  They were all unique, collected by my mom from elementary school Christmas projects, vintage items from her grandmother's tree, and of course the occasional Hallmark purchase.

Each year, my brother and I would fight over who got to hang the collective favorite ornaments.  There was the miniature skiing scene inside a hanging basket, the "my first ornament" for each of us kids, and the candy canes that looked like reindeer.  None, however, surpassed the popularity of one in particular:
The Christmas Poo.

 The festive feces was originally supposed to be a hand-dipped candle, which was given to my mom for Christmas the year I was in Kindergarten.  Either I was left unsupervised during the candle-making process, or some mishap occurred during the drying cycle; regardless, the outcome was less than stellar.  Pretty sure I didn't get any gold stars for that art project.

My mom, being the sentimental type, couldn't part with the hideous thing, so instead of trimming the wick and using it as a candle (or even better, "accidentally" throwing it away when no one was looking), she tied it to an ornament hook and voila:  The Christmas Poo was born.

The reason my brother and I fought over the honor of hanging it was because *I* wanted to hang it at the back of the tree, safe from onlookers' stares and rude comments... my brother, however, wanted it displayed front and center where he could be sure to draw it to the attention of innocent passersby.  If he found it first in the ornament box, he would swing it around, gleefully screaming, "Ewww, ewww, The Christmas Poo!" which of course prompted me to burst into tears.  The last time that scene played out, he was 15 and I was 18.

This year I let Rory do the honors.  She chose to hang it where she can see it from her place at the kitchen table.  Gross.

What are some memorable moments you've had while decorating the Christmas tree?