To be honest, I had serious misgivings about having a Christmas tree long before I dragged the box out while my son was sleeping at the beginning of December. When I pulled the bag of decorations out and onto the kitchen table, I felt nervous.
At the same age, I was able to wedge the tree behind two armchairs so that my daughter could look... but not touch. And it worked, for the better part. But I know boy-o better than that. The boy can leap tall buildings with a single bound; Ive seen him do it. And an armchair would be simply a launching pad to greater heights. No, short of suspending the tree from the roof there is no option to have it at ground and intact 5 minuteds later.
With apprehension, I added a few wayward felt decorations to the tree. Maybe I could get away with a minimal approach this year?
But I knew better.
And sure enough. Once sonny-boy awoke from his afternoon slumber he was like a bee to the honeypot. Decorations as far as the eye could see. Christmas lights wrapped around little neck.
Glass baubles - ones carefully brought back from Europe years ago - smashed into smithereens. The kitchen table, as it would turn out, was not high enough.
And the tree? Within 24 hours, knocked to the ground, decorations spilling under every piece of furniture.
So, I packed it all away. Call me a defeatist. But I could not think of what else to do!
But there was plenty I could have done of course, much more creative than the glass hurricane vessel of colourful baubles I've arranged on the table as a Christmas compromise. But how am I to lay the presents on Christmas eve out on the kitchen table under a hurricane vessel?!
I ask you.
Too late, I discovered some alternatives I should have considered. That maybe next year I WILL consider. But next year is next year. Maybe my son will have matured. Maybe my son will have lost interest. Maybe my son will have moved on from his relentless passion for destruction. And maybe pigs will fly.
If you are in the same predicament, you too might gain some inspiration from some of these alternatives to the 'traditional' notion of a Christmas tree. All of which you can make yourself. All of which you can find here:
What say you? Do your young kids allow a Christmas tree to sit unscathed on your living room floor? Or are you forced to seek alternatives like moi? Do share!! xx
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My first son was fine with the tree at 13 months (not quite walking) and two.
ReplyDeleteMy second son is Mr Destructo - he has bashed all the decorations off the tree as high as he can reach. He uses anything he can get his hands on as a battering ram to whack the tree at any chance... (He was 2 in September - I'm hoping next year is more succesful!).
Ha ha ha. My 14 month old daughter would do the exact same thing. Except.....this year our tree is in our entrance/hallway as it is off limits thanks to gates in the family room (as the stairs to the next level depart from said entrance). I did think of putting the tree in the playpen, but then where would I put bubs when I swept the floor/ hung out the washing/ emptied the dishwasher/ just plain had enough of her climbing up my leg etc etc etc? Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family
ReplyDeleteCharlie has just started crawling....our christmas tree is only about 60cm tall so it's on our table. Def. no presents under it though, the boys would find a way of getting to them and ripping them apart!
ReplyDeleteWe put our tree in a playpen last year and the year before. This year my 3 year old was banging two baubles together and one smashed to pieces which resulted in me getting glass embedded in my foot. The glass ones are now up high and out of reach and the non breakables are at kid level. So far so good though. The tree is standing and the kids are largely ignoring its presence.
ReplyDeleteHope it gets easier for you when your little man gets bigger
Oooh, I like the rolled paper tree idea. Might have to try that. We've got the same problem chez nous. I've successfully managed to put the tree on an old coffee table and wedge the whole thing between a sideboard and our current very low, very wide coffee table. It looks ludicrous, but so far it's working!
ReplyDeleteAhh, someone else who shares my understanding! I posted about this just a couple of weeks ago too Nicole:
ReplyDeletehttp://anglix.blogspot.com/2011/12/festive-spirit.html
NO WAY I was even attempting the tree thing this year... and you're right, there are so many beautiful alternatives.
Bummer you had to go through setting it up in the first place :o/
xo
last year we did the tree in the play pen thing too and it worked a treat.. this year i gave it a go free range, and had my christmas tree up on a side table and that seemed to work but i didn't put any presents under it.
ReplyDeleteI dont have kids but can imagine it would be impossible to keep them away from the tree and decorations. Sorry about your glass baubles, I'm sure when your son is old enough he'll travel back to europe and buy you some new ones :)
ReplyDeleteI've been really lucky this year. Even though Max can be an absolute terror (and has taken to playing 'decor tennis' lately) he has stayed away from the tree and other decorations so far. Fingers crossed it lasts through Christmas :)
ReplyDeleteOMG! You have my son!!! At nearly two this year our christmas tree was a twig suspended from the ceiling with fishing wire...worked a treat! Tho he did manage to climb over the playpen which we put the pressies in, and unwrap a couple...only one his, the rest belonged to very understanding family members...
ReplyDeleteEnjoying your blog! xNicole