LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- An Indiana man is telling a story from his own family's Christmas experience from years ago.
Tyler Mitchell lives in Indiana, but is an active duty U.S. Army major at Fort Knox. When Mitchell was 12 years old, his 17-month-old twin brothers Brady and Brody started to become quite the little troublemakers.
"They were getting ready to talk. They still had pacifiers and stuff, they were pretty young," Tyler Mitchell said. "Life changes obviously with any family that has twins, but when they started walking is when things got really busy."
About 30 years ago, Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW) in Evansville caught the boys red-handed.
Boys play with the upside down Christmas tree in the 90s in Evansville.
"We spend most of our day already, going no no, get down, get away, no no," April Mitchell, the boys' mother, said to the Evansville tv station.
The more the tots moved, the more their parents tried to keep them away from the Christmas tree.
"They would not stay out of the Christmas tree," Tyler Mitchell said.
So their father had to get creative. He decided to hang the tree upside down.
"When you're a little boy and that happens, you're like 'this is crazy,'" Tyler Mitchell said. "Like why can't my brothers just stay out of it. I don't understand."
Tyler Mitchell admitted he was worried about Santa bringing gifts as a child.
"No one ever really believed it at the time unless they came by the house and saw it. Friends didn't believe it, and here I am, 39 years old now and people still sometimes don't believe it," Tyler Mitchell said.
This holiday season, Tyler Mitchell wrote and published a book on Amazon titled "Double Trouble and the Upside Down Christmas Tree." The inspiration -- when he found a VHS tape at his grandmother's with the video of the boys in the 90s.
"Once I got that tape, I was like that's a sign. I have to do this. I have to write a book," Tyler Mitchell said. "It's naturally just like a home movie that people watch from back in the day in their own family, so it's just like a part of me. But I can tell you when my kids watch it, they are like so it's true and I'm like yeah, yeah, it's true!"
The illustration book teaches children the importance of helping their parents with their siblings, respecting their grandparents and how to land on Santa's nice list.
"So inside the book, you'll see day by day, the list of chaos that happens while the tree is still standing up," Tyler Mitchell said. "At the end, you'll see that things work out for the boys and girls that are on the nice list."
From the backroads of Indiana's Boonville, the boys and their upside down Christmas tree are now making their way into homes all around the world.
"I want little kids to know that that's why grandparents are important," Tyler Mitchell said. "It really is for any family. If you like Christmas stories and family stories this is the book for you."
Mitchell started writing the book about a year ago.
Throughout the past few weeks, Mitchell has also been visiting schools and reading the book to children at various Barnes & Noble locations throughout the Kentuckiana area. To follow his journey on Facebook, click here.
To purchase it on Amazon, click here.
To reach out to Tyler, email him at Tylergmitchellbooks@gmail.com.
Copyright 2023 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
