At this time last year our son was running, climbing and mega-curious, we had debated whether to put up a tree of any kind, and finally decided on a little 2 footer...behind plexiglass. Yes, you read correctly, we put our tree behind plexiglass. For Finn, it was perfect he could ooh and ahhh over it without breaking ornaments or knocking over the tree. We referred to it as our Christmas No-Touch Museum.
This year is quite different. He now knows what Christmas is, and has been saying, "Christmas is coming" since he noticed all the Christmas hoopla on display in the stores. We have been reading "The Grinch" for months (since July, because Christmas essentially starts in July right?) and when we get to the Whos in Who-ville gathered around the tree he sings, "Fah who foraze! Dah who doraze! Welcome Christmas, Come this way!" So again the discussion began on what to do as far as a Christmas tree. We decided he would have his own "fake" tree in his playroom, that would have colorful ornaments with a "Who-ville" theme. My favorite find in this was what we now call "Who-sie Doo-sies", these slinky like ornaments that boing and bounce, and look like a colorful spiral spring. Now we put this tree up several weeks ago, as a test to see what he would do with the ornaments (all plastic, child-friendly, of course!). At first, he just was fascinated by it all, but like most children, he quickly began testing them. Pulling them off, moving them here and there. So after careful consideration we decided that we could get a real tree this year, but that we would not use any "real" ornaments.
This year, our tree is filled with origami paper cranes, glittered pine cones and old-fashioned Christmas garland of popcorn and cranberries. What was great about this is he helped with all of it. It began with going to pick out our tree at Clark Farm, we had a blast running through the trees and playing hide and seek and then finding "our tree". When we got home, he enjoyed watching through the window as Kyle trimmed the tree to fit in the tree stand. Once it was inside we strung the lights and showed him you have to water it. Then began the fun of stringing our old-fashioned garland. This was so much fun, because Finn enjoyed eating the "pop pop" as I strung the popcorn and cranberries. He enjoyed telling his dad, how messy mom is with the popcorn. He watched me fold the paper cranes and string them to be hung on the tree. He loves making them fly by blowing on them. The glittery pine cones were fun too, we collected them from a tree in our yard and glittered them with glitter glue. Now our tree is looking quite festive and every day Finn looks at the tree with amazement.
So here are the tips:
1-Discuss what level of curiosity your child(ren) are at and use that as your marker.
2-Connect to their world...let them have a part of the decorating.
3-Store-bought decorations should be things that can take a beating and survive...plastic and felt are my suggestions here.
4-Handmade...have fun, remember to let the child's creativity unleash...don't push them to be perfect, ...remember the magic of the holiday!
5-And sing along with your little who(s), "Fah who foraze! Dah who doraze! Welcome Christmas! Come this Way!"
Have fun making your Christmas mean so much more!!!
