Baby vs Tree
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Family on Monday, December 07, 2009 7:46 PM
My daughter can’t wait for us to get our Christmas tree. She knows exactly where it will stand in the living room, and talks excitedly about the decorations: pretty lights! ornaments that look like balls!
If my son understood, he’d probably be excited to get the tree too. It will have strings of lights and tinsel and shiny hanging things, all very enticing. I imagine he’ll be thrilled when he sees all the great new objects we’re providing for him to attack.
I love Christmas trees, and I’m looking forward to putting ours up this year. Sitting with a cup of tea in the light of the tree after the kids are in bed is one of my favorite things. On the other hand, I am nervous about what’s going to happen with an eleven-month-old Destructinator (as we like to call Blaise) on the loose.
This is going to be a new experience for us. Camilla was an immobile two-month-old her first Christmas and an obligingly tractable fourteen-month-old her second Christmas. We’ve never had to deal with a baby who was old enough to cause havoc and too young to understand that’s he’s not allowed to do so.
In the three years of Camilla’s life we have, fortunately, amassed enough shatterproof tree ornaments to cover the bottom third of the tree. I’m not worried about shiny balls breaking. But strings of lights are still pullable, and tinsel is still pullable, and the tree itself is still pullable. I’m shuddering just thinking about it.
I know that a lot of families choose not to have full-sized Christmas trees while their kids are young because of the potential for havoc-wreaking. I can understand this position, but I would be incredibly sad to do Christmas without a big decorated fir tree in our house. We’re also hoping to have a bunch of children, and if God blesses us as we hope he will then we’d have to go without a tree every second or third year. Just not an option.
Bryan and I have already brainstormed and I think we’re up to tackling the baby vs. tree problem, but it’s going to be a challenge. If you have any unique ideas, please share! I’m also curious: what have you done in your family?
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