Toddlers and Christmas trees

[Santi2]

Repeat after me in most authoritative cop voice you can muster:

“PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND BACK AWAY FROM THE CHRISTMAS TREE!”

Worked like a charm for years! LOL

And keep the glass boxed for a few more of them.

I make that announcement every year!!! My son is 26 and my daughter is 29 with children of her own. Both have homes of their own and Christmas trees of their own. They also still poke around the presents. There’s something about Christmas that turns them from very responsible adults into children once again. I still hang up macaroni garlands they made when they were in kindergarten. They insist on it!

 

[TweetyBird]

Funny, true story: when my mom was little, my grandma used to bake Christmas cookies and hang them on the tree. Day after day the cookie ‘ornaments’ at the bottom of the tree would go missing (translation: they were eaten by my mom). So Grandma tells mom to stop taking the cookies off the tree. Next day, all of the cookies near the bottom of the tree had bites taken out of them. But she did obey Grandma - she did not remove them from the tree.

 

[Zooey]

Funny, true story: when my mom was little, my grandma used to bake Christmas cookies and hang them on the tree. Day after day the cookie ‘ornaments’ at the bottom of the tree would go missing (translation: they were eaten by my mom). So Grandma tells mom to stop taking the cookies off the tree. Next day, all of the cookies near the bottom of the tree had bites taken out of them. But she did obey Grandma - she did not remove them from the tree.

http://bestsmileys.com/lol/5.gif
http://bestsmileys.com/lol/22.gif

 

[Arlene]

ok, not a kid story, but an anecdote just the same. Last year we bought our tree, but before we could bring it in to decorate it, it rained, never had a chance to dry out between rains, so ended up staying outside for almost a week before we brought it in.

When we would take my dog to go potty, we had to walk right past the tree. The VERY FIRST time we passed that tree, dog lifts his leg on it before I can stop him. From then on, I would have to tell him NO as we passed it.

So we finally brought the tree in and decorated it. Put presents under it…it looked great. I walked into the room to see my dog with a VERY guilty look on his face, skulking out of the room. I went to check the tree, and sure enough, the wrapping paper was wet. Yup, the dog peed on our Christmas tree, (and the presents)

 

[BeeSweet]

Funny, true story: when my mom was little, my grandma used to bake Christmas cookies and hang them on the tree. Day after day the cookie ‘ornaments’ at the bottom of the tree would go missing (translation: they were eaten by my mom). So Grandma tells mom to stop taking the cookies off the tree. Next day, all of the cookies near the bottom of the tree had bites taken out of them. But she did obey Grandma - she did not remove them from the tree.

That’s awsome!

Specific instructions yield specific results!

 

[BeeSweet]

ok, not a kid story, but an anecdote just the same. Last year we bought our tree, but before we could bring it in to decorate it, it rained, never had a chance to dry out between rains, so ended up staying outside for almost a week before we brought it in.

When we would take my dog to go potty, we had to walk right past the tree. The VERY FIRST time we passed that tree, dog lifts his leg on it before I can stop him. From then on, I would have to tell him NO as we passed it.

So we finally brought the tree in and decorated it. Put presents under it…it looked great. I walked into the room to see my dog with a VERY guilty look on his face, skulking out of the room. I went to check the tree, and sure enough, the wrapping paper was wet. Yup, the dog peed on our Christmas tree, (and the presents)

Mine did too one year, but I didn’t catch him, and thankfully there were no presents under it yet. The tell-tale yellow spot on the tree skirt snitched on him later though. Although, I’m still suspicious it was actually the cat, considering the spot was behind the tree against the wall. I think the dog would not have been that sneaky… We’ll never know.

 

[deb1]

my grandmother gave me a collection of felt ornaments when I got married, made by her and other ladies in her retirement home, and I used them all the while my kids were little (and while we had cats and kittens, worse than a 2 yr old for trashing a Christmas tree), added to them every year, including other crafty ones of wood, straw, paper etc. from various ethnic traditions. broke up the collection and gave it to my kids, when we sold the house and moved down here, so most are still in use. I never did end up buying glass balls or other breakables, now I am getting old and arthritic and would not want to bother with them anyhow.

tip for parents of toddlers (and cat owners) insert good eye bolts in the wall with sheetrock anchors, or in the molding, so you have at least 2, preferably 3, so you can anchor the tree to them with monofilament tied around the trunk about 3/4 of the way up. if you paint the bolts to match the walls you can leave them up permanently.

no tinsel (the foil looking icicle strings) it can destroy the intestines of a teething baby or a cat.

Last year one of my dogs and the cat knocked the tree over.

 

[deb1]

We taught our children what “NO” means. It meant their hands got slapped a few times, but they are smart and caught on quickly.
This year my grandson is just over a year old. My daughter and son-in-law have the tree up already and it’s barricaded into the corner with those plastic storage bins you get at the dime store. The little guy is fascinated by the lights.

Matthew

I popped my first two children’s hands. They were stubborn and I had to be vigilant. By the time the last two came along I wanted to relax so the balls went to the top half of the tree. I am not anal though about my Christmas tree decorations. Some people get really upset if their tree looks imperfect, so it would bother them to have only half a decorated tree.