Wednesday, November 16, 2011
To Tree or Not to Tree: That is the Question
Today is November 17, 2011, and I am already disgusted with the amount of Christmas commercials I have seen on TV and paraphernalia for sale in many stores. I realize that they need to start advertising early for people who begin their holiday shopping the day after Thanksgiving, but in September, REALLY!? I saw Christmas displays in the Camden Reny's back in SEPTEMBER...I kid you not! Don't get me wrong I LOVE Christmas as much as the next person...ok...maybe a little more. I listen to Christmas music 24/7 starting the day after Thanksgiving and I have been known to wrap, unwrap, and rewrap gifts (ones that I am giving, not my own of course...at least not since I was young). In college, I was known on my dorm room floor as "The Wrapper". Friends would bring me a roll of wrapping paper and tape and I happily wrapped their gifts for them...no joke. For me, all this holiday merriment begins the day after Thanksgiving...not a moment sooner. Yet here I sit on November 17, toying with the idea of putting up one of our artificial Christmas trees this afternoon. Let me explain...
Last Christmas Tanner and Abigail were seven months old. They couldn't walk or crawl, heck...they could barely roll over. You put them down and there they stayed until someone moved them. I didn't have to worry about them pulling the ornaments off the low branches, yanking the electric candles out of the windows, or playing in the Christmas tree water. This year I won't be as fortunate. Since both Twinkies have mastered the art of walking and climbing, nothing is safe. I sit and think about how much destruction they will cause in our home this holiday season...and it frightens me.
While I ate my breakfast this morning I had an idea, "Maybe I should start the decorating process now and kind of wean them into it." If I put up one of the small artificial Christmas trees with no lights and no ornaments now I can work on telling them "NO TOUCH". I can gradually add the lights and ornaments and by the time we get out BIG tree up in the living room they will be over the whole Christmas tree thing...right? It sounds reasonable to me. By doing so I will be breaking my own, "Not until after Thanksgiving!" rule...so I am conflicted. Do I put the tree up now and see if my plan actually works or do I wait until after Thanksgiving and hope for the best?
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That's a legitimate quandry. We have many times had a toddler sneak up to the tree, snatch an ornament, and take of shrieking down the hall as we chase after him to retrieve it. We smartened up after a few years and put all the plastic ornaments within kid reach. We strung the lights far enough into the tree that with their short arms, their usual 12 ft reach couldn't penetrate the Christmas tree shielding. After a poke or two in the face, they left that alone as well. Don't be silly enough to put a damn train around the tree. You'll be asking for it (tree falling over, kid getting stuck, someone sucking all the water out of the stand). But I've found that no matter when you start decorating, EVERYTHING becomes a toy. The blinky lights? Check. The singing/dancing Santa? You WILL find him in their bedroom. The garland? Just a pretty snake that shreds when they run through the house trying to step on it. You have children. Your years of clean Christmas time are now another several years away. Enjoy it! In fact, give them the plastic ornaments and practice chucking them at the tree so the kids can "help". :-)
ReplyDeleteNicole Gervase Ball wrote: "Tree for sure!! Just keep the traditional ornaments off and put on lights and then small kid toys or homemade ornaments that can be broken. They'll love it!"
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ReplyDeleteBrian Wastella wrote: "GOTTA GO BIG YOU ARE NOW OFFICIALLY SANTA CLAUSE."
ReplyDeleteRobert Souther wrote: "Enjoy the toddlers and the holidays just like we did with you and your sister!! Love you, Dad"
ReplyDeleteDawn C. Harmon Murphy wrote: "You have to expose them to the tree and teach them to behave around it... If you don't, then they won't know what to do. It may be challenging but I know you are up to it!"
ReplyDeleteBj Souther Kopishke wrote: "The question isn't whether to put up a tree or not. The question is whether I put the artificial one up NOW to begin teaching them about touching and/or not touching before the REAL one comes in in December. I will have a tree...just thinking about breaking them in a little sooner with a small artificial one first."
ReplyDeleteDawn C. Harmon Murphy wrote: "Maybe a small table top one... to begin the teaching... just a thought."
ReplyDeleteAlison Libby Winslow wrote: "Laurelai could almost walk last year, but we had a very SMALL tree for our very small house and it was up on a table. I say just put up the regular tree with unbreakables within reach (and secure it to a wall) and let them play :)"
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